Today’s race was from Fayetteville to Rome. The finishing circuit in Rome was what made this day interesting, as there is a steep (19% grade) hill right before the finish called Clock Tower Hill. This super steep climb right before a very quick descent to the finish line made for some technical racing. I was pretty close in my guess of the winner, as Haedo came in second. The winner was Popovych of Discovery Channel, with Fast Freddy coming in 3rd. He’ll win a stage this year, I’m willing to bet.
Popovych surely benefited from the experience of the Discovery Team, since the finish was so technical. It took some good tactics, and that’s what won it for them today, with Popo accelerating over the hill and getting a good gap on the downhill to the finish.
There was a Lance sighting as well. I’m not so much interested in Lance, he’s retired, and I already got a picture and autograph back in 04. I’d like to see Bob Roll again, and maybe get some good pics of Tom D and Floyd L dueling it out up the final switchback on Brasstown.
Tomorrow’s stage is from Chickamauga GA to Chattanooga TN and is the individual time trial. We’ll get a very clear idea of who’s in this to win it tomorrow. You’ll see Ekimov have a good showing, along with Tom D, but I think it’ll come down to Dave Zabriskie or Floyd Landis. Floyd has kicked ass this year so far, but Dave Z took the individual time trial at last years tour de france to get himself the yellow jersey. He’s good. So we’ll see.