[editor's note, by chris] Since people are already using this for the live commenting, let's stay with it.
Well, Daniele Contrini (Tinkoff) won first stage of the 2007 Tour de Georgia. While it was a decisive win (:29) over second place Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net), there's only 1'22 between him and the rest of the peloton. So he'll have to work pretty damn hard to keep his yellow jersey out of the hands of the likes of Tom Danielson, Pat McCarty, and Ivan Dominguez.
From a TdG press release:
The 33-year-old Contrini said it was "the biggest win of his career", when asked about the significance of the victory. He said the win also helped set up his team leader Tyler Hamilton of the United States. "We (Tinkoff) basically talked this morning and we only had six guys versus two guys down to start with but we knew there would be a relatively early breakaway and it was clear we wanted to have at least one rider in that breakaway. .... Luckily for us (Daniele) Contrini got in the break... and that was it."
Amusingly, the press release goes on to say that Hamilton is "best known as the gold medalist in the Time Trial at the Athens Olympic Games[.]" Really, now? I think I'll just let that stand on its own.
In addition to the leader's jersey, Contrini also won the most sprint points. The sprint jersey, however, will be worn by Viktor Rapinsky (who hit the wall in a really unfortunate way right near the end, not only losing his place in the breakaway, but ultimately a full minute on the peloton). Ben Day gets the Most Aggressive Rider jersey. The Best Young Rider jersey went to Australia's Tommy Nankervis (Jittery Joe's). If the race video had worked, I might be able to tell you why. But since it didn't, I've no clue. So make up your own story.
Stage 2 will be tougher than Stage 1. Not only is it longer (135 miles), but the first half is something of an uphill run. Leaving Thomaston at 11:00 a.m., it is to finish between 4:00-5:00 p.m. Not only are there are two sprint points opportunities (Newnan and Rockmart) in this stage, but the initial lap of the finishing circuit in Rome brings us the first King of the Mountain points.
