Kudos to my friend Frank Steele for his excellent coverage of the 2007 Tour de Georgia on his site TdGblog.com. Earlier this Spring, it looked like the race might not happen because organizers had failed to recruit a title sponsor. However, AT&T stepped up as a major sponsor and the race began as planned.
The big development in the early part of the race was a breakaway of 13 riders that finished 29 minutes ahead of the peloton on Stage 3. Gianni Meersman of Team Discovery Channel won the sprint in that select group.
Since then, Levi Leipheimer has won back-to-back stages including Stage 4’s mountain time trial to the top of Lookout Mountain, and Stage 5’s road race to the top of Brasstown Bald.
The race to the top of Brasstown Bald has proven to be one of the great one-day races in North America over the past few years. When I covered TdG in 2005, Tom Danielson won the stage. This was a truly amazing day, complete with snow at the summit on April 23. For fun, you may be interested in reading How I Made it to the Top of Brasstown Bald, Living on Clif Bars and 100 Calorie Snack Packs, and Getting Off of Brasstown Bald. This gives you some perspective on what it’s like to try to cover a pro cycling race as a member of the credentialed media.
Janez Brajkovic of Team Discovery Channel should be able to hold the yellow jersey for the remaining two stages of the race, but I’m still planning to watch the highlights on Versus on Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29 at 5:00pm Eastern Time. Update: I mixed up the dates of the broadcasts earlier. They are now correct.