Discovery Channel has made it two in a row, with a strong 1-2 finish of Levi Leipheimer and Tom Dani
PIC © GARY BOULANGER Discovery Channel director sportif Johan Bruyneel is sitting pretty after a very successful spring campaign, book-ended by strong victories on both sides of the Atlantic. Veteran American pro Levi Leipheimer not only dominated the 2007 Amgen Tour of California in February, he's laid the foundation for a solid Discovery Channel victory in the 2007 Tour de Georgia by winning his second consecutive stage today, this time by 38 seconds over teammate Tom Danielson at the top of Brasstown Bald Mountain in Georgia. Overall race leader Janez Brajkovic (Discovery Channel) raced a tactically sound stage by shadowing GC second-place Christian Vande Velde (Team CSC) up Brasstown Bald, virtually sealing up the overall victory for himself and the Discovery boys. "Fortunately I felt great yesterday and again today, I had the legs to keep it going," Leipheimer said. "Tom (Danielson) was gracious enough to lend me Brasstown Bald for this year." Danielson won Brasstown in 2006. "I waited a long time just to see what (Gilberto) Simoni would do," Danielson said about Saunier Duval - Prodir's past Giro d'Italia double victor. "Simoni was really strong and did the most work at the bottom of the climb but when Levi left, I just sat on Simoni to let the gap go. I went hard enough to make sure Simoni couldn't come with me. I gave it about 30 seconds before I started going hard too. I was hoping to win the stage but Levi was the first to attack so I let the gap go big to make sure the coast was clear and then I hit it out hard." Race leader Brajkovic felt strong on Vande Velde's wheel, and his teammates knew all bases were covered during stage 5. "They both went with Simoni when he attacked, and once they saw Janez was ok with them up the road, they went," said Bruyneel. "Obviously when we were on the last climb I had to focus on staying on his (Vande Velde's) wheel," Brajkovic said. "I didn't care about other riders, I just focused on Vande Velde's wheel up the climb. He attacked like more than 20 times and I have to say it was really hard but I was able to stay with him and that is all that mattered." "I didn't go with the guys at the bottom - I wasn't that confident," said Vande Velde. "This was not our race to win because we were focused on our own race. But in hindsight, they were right there at the end. Maybe I could have gone with them, because I ended up having to ride the whole way on my own. They weren't so far ahead of us but still, there is no way we were going to do that." "I think Janez was as good [as me] or better - so I don' think it would have made any difference," the 30-year-old Vande Velde added. "I tried as much as I could to make time up on Janez. For a second I thought maybe I could have but I wasn't able to go fast enough." With two relatively flat and uneventful stages remaining, the 2007 Tour de Georgia seems pretty sewn up at the point. But spoken like a true understudy of a historically cagey and calculated Bruyneel, Brajkovic knows that races aren't over until the final banner is taken down and the final leader's jersey is hanging on his shoulders. "For sure we got the jersey but there are still two stages more," he said. "Until the race is over we can't say that I have won the race. We need to wait for the next coupe of days, but I think we are on a good path to win the race. The guys were amazing and I have to say thank you to them. They did an amazing job today and it is an amazing feeling to be protected by those riders." Five American riders are sitting pretty in the top 10, something the team directors and their sponsors must be enjoying thus far. As for Johan Bruyneel, it certainly has to help in his quest to find a suitable title sponsor replacement for Discovery Channel. Only time will tell. Tour de Georgia - Stage 5 Dalton to Brasstown Bald (172km) Stage 5 results 1 Levi Leipheimer (USA, Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) 4:33:33 2 Thomas Danielson (USA, Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) 0:00:38 3 Anthony Colby (USA, Colavita/Sutter Home) 0:01:00 4 Nathan O'neill (Aus, Health Net presented by Maxxis) 0:01:06 5 Gilberto Simoni (Ita, Saunier Duval - Prodir) 0:01:19 6 Alexandre Moos (Swi, BMC Racing) 0:01:25 7 Ryder Hesjedal (Can, Health Net presented by Maxxis) 0:01:29 8 John Devine (USA, USAC Development Team) 0:01:30 9 Christian Vande Velde (USA, Team CSC) 0:01:38 10 Janez Brajkovic (Slo, Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) 11 Glen Chadwick (NZl, Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) 0:02:07 12 Michael Blaudzun (Den, Team CSC) 0:02:17 13 David Canada Gracia (Spa, Saunier Duval - Prodir) 0:02:20 14 Andrea Tonti (Ita, Quick Step - Innergetic) 0:02:26 15 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel, Quick Step - Innergetic) 0:02:28 16 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb, Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) 0:02:32 17 Scott Nydam (USA, BMC Racing) 0:02:46 18 Scott Moninger (USA, BMC Racing) 19 David Zabriskie (USA, Team CSC) 0:02:52 20 Hubert Schwab (Swi, Quick Step - Innergetic) 0:03:03 21 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita, Tinkoff Credit Systems) 0:03:05 22 Danny Pate (USA, Team Slipstream) 0:03:09 23 George Hincapie (USA, Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) 0:03:14 24 Brian Vandborg (Den, Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) 0:03:18 25 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi, Saunier Duval - Prodir) 0:03:22 26 Timothy Johnson (USA, Health Net presented by Maxxis) 0:03:28 27 Justin England (USA, Toyota United Pro Cycling) 28 Thomas Peterson (USA, Team Slipstream) 0:03:36 29 Preben Van Hecke (Bel, Predictor-Lotto) 0:03:53 30 Lucas Euser (USA, Team Slipstream) 0:04:20 31 Swindlehurst T Burke (USA, Toyota United Pro Cycling) 0:04:32 32 Kurt Asle Arvesen (Nor, Team CSC) 0:04:40 33 Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukr, Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) 0:04:50 34 Craig Lewis (USA, Team Slipstream) 0:04:52 35 Ivan Santaromita (Swi, Quick Step - Innergetic) 0:04:55 36 Peter Hatton (Aus, Colavita/Sutter Home) 0:05:00 37 Tyler Wren (USA, Colavita/Sutter Home) 38 Cesar Grajales (Col, Jittery Joe's) 0:05:15 39 Jeff Louder (USA, Health Net presented by Maxxis) 0:05:18 40 Rory Sutherland (Aus, Health Net presented by Maxxis) 41 Jason Donald (USA, Team Slipstream) 0:05:30 42 Jonathan Garcia (USA, BMC Racing) 0:05:33 44 Ian Mckissick (USA, BMC Racing) 0:05:38 45 Maarten Wijnants (Bel, Quick Step - Innergetic) 0:06:03 46 Ben Brooks (Aus, Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) 0:06:09 47 Cameron Wurf (Aus, Priority Health presented by Bissell) 0:06:31 48 David Mccann (Irl, Colavita/Sutter Home) 0:07:05 49 Pavel Padrnos (Cze, Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) 0:07:13 50 Geert Steurs (Bel, Predictor-Lotto) 51 Nicolas Gates (Aus, Predictor-Lotto) 52 Christophe Brandt (Bel, Predictor-Lotto) 0:07:21 53 Anders Lund (Den, Team CSC) 54 Jackson Stewart (USA, BMC Racing) 0:07:33 55 Timothy Duggan (USA, Team Slipstream) 56 Ben Day (Aus, Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) 57 Jonathan Mc Carty (USA, Team Slipstream) 58 Philip Zajicek (USA, Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) 0:08:15 59 Davide Frattini (Ita, Colavita/Sutter Home) 0:09:00 60 Leonardo Scarselli (Ita, Quick Step - Innergetic) 0:09:09 61 Olivier Kaisen (Bel, Predictor-Lotto) 0:09:15 62 Guido Trentin (Ita, Saunier Duval - Prodir) 0:09:22 63 Douglas Ollerenshaw (USA, Health Net presented by Maxxis) 0:09:27 64 Michael Lange (USA, Team Slipstream) 0:09:50 65 Charles Dionne (Can, Colavita/Sutter Home) 0:09:55 66 Nicholas Reistad (USA, USAC Development Team) 0:10:09 67 Matthew Goss (Aus, Team CSC) 0:10:22 68 Caleb Manion (Aus, Toyota United Pro Cycling) 69 Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (USA, Priority Health presented by Bissell) 70 Edward King (USA, Priority Health presented by Bissell) 0:10:25 71 Tyler Hamilton (USA, Tinkoff Credit Systems) 0:10:33 72 Ivan Stevic (SCG, Toyota United Pro Cycling) 0:10:39 73 Christopher Baldwin (USA, Toyota United Pro Cycling) 0:10:55 74 Gustavo Artacho (Arg, Colavita/Sutter Home) 0:11:00 75 Eric Keim (USA, USAC Development Team) 0:11:08 76 Jacob Rosenbarger (USA, BMC Racing) 0:11:44 77 David Millar (GBr, Saunier Duval - Prodir) 0:11:56 78 Dominique Cornu (Bel, Predictor-Lotto) 79 Richard England (Aus, Priority Health presented by Bissell) 0:12:35 80 Alessandro Proni (Ita, Quick Step - Innergetic) 0:12:39 81 Steffen Weigold (Ger, Tinkoff Credit Systems) 82 Elia Aggiano (Ita, Tinkoff Credit Systems) 0:12:42 83 Fred Rodriguez (USA, Predictor-Lotto) 0:12:57 84 Christopher Wherry (USA, Toyota United Pro Cycling) 0:13:10 85 Mauro Facci (Ita, Quick Step - Innergetic) 0:13:28 86 Juan Jos Haedo (Arg, Team CSC) 0:13:47 87 Stefano Zanini (Ita, Predictor-Lotto) 0:13:52 88 Karl Menzies (Aus, Health Net presented by Maxxis) 0:13:58 89 Christophe Rinero (Fra, Saunier Duval - Prodir) 90 Daniele Contrini (Ita, Tinkoff Credit Systems) 91 Martin Pedersen (Den, Team CSC) 0:14:30 92 Caleb Fairly (USA, USAC Development Team) 0:14:36 93 Kirk O'bee (USA, Health Net presented by Maxxis) 94 Neil Shirley (USA, Jittery Joe's) 0:14:56 95 Pavel Brutt (Rus, Tinkoff Credit Systems) 0:17:06 96 Chad Beyer (USA, USAC Development Team) 0:17:14 97 Austin King (USA, Jittery Joe's) 0:17:41 98 Trent Wilson (Aus, Jittery Joe's) 99 Omer Kem (USA, Priority Health presented by Bissell) 0:17:57 100 Evan Elken (USA, Jittery Joe's) 0:18:28 101 Scott Zwizanski (USA, Priority Health presented by Bissell) 0:18:31 102 Hendricus Vogels (Aus, Toyota United Pro Cycling) 0:19:04 103 Sheldon Deeny (USA, USAC Development Team) 104 Eric Riggs (USA, USAC Development Team) 105 Tommy Nankervis (Aus, Jittery Joe's) 0:19:11 106 Ivan Dominguez (Cub, Toyota United Pro Cycling) 0:19:16 107 Matt Shriver (USA, Jittery Joe's) 111 Cody Stevenson (Aus, Jittery Joe's) 0:22:40 DSQ Adam Bergman (USA, Colavita/Sutter Home) DSQ Emile Abraham (Tri, Priority Health presented by Bissell) DSQ Garrett Peltonen (USA, Priority Health presented by Bissell) DSQ Brian Dziewa (USA, USAC Development Team) DNF Viktar Rapinski (Blr, Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) DNF Gianni Meersman (Bel, Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) General classification after stage 5 1 Janez Brajkovic (Slo, Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) 18:57:03 2 Christian Vande Velde (USA, Team CSC) 0:00:12 3 David Canada Gracia (Spa, Saunier Duval - Prodir) 0:03:04 4 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi, Saunier Duval - Prodir) 0:03:06 5 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel, Quick Step - Innergetic) 0:04:22 6 Scott Nydam (USA, BMC Racing) 0:05:35 7 Jeff Louder (USA, Health Net presented by Maxxis) 0:06:00 8 Timothy Johnson (USA, Health Net presented by Maxxis) 0:06:59 9 Lucas Euser (USA, Team Slipstream) 0:10:08 10 Ivan Santaromita (Swi, Quick Step - Innergetic) 0:12:15 11 Tyler Wren (USA, Colavita/Sutter Home) 0:12:26 12 Levi Leipheimer (USA, Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) 0:24:48 13 Thomas Danielson (USA, Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) 0:26:57 14 Nathan O'neill (Aus, Health Net presented by Maxxis) 0:27:15 15 David Zabriskie (USA, Team CSC) 0:28:21 16 Anthony Colby (USA, Colavita/Sutter Home) 0:28:55 17 Ryder Hesjedal (Can, Health Net presented by Maxxis) 0:29:09 18 Danny Pate (USA, Team Slipstream) 0:29:55 19 Gilberto Simoni (Ita, Saunier Duval - Prodir) 0:30:00 20 George Hincapie (USA, Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) 0:30:17 21 Alexandre Moos (Swi, BMC Racing) 0:30:30 22 Michael Blaudzun (Den, Team CSC) 0:30:37 23 Brian Vandborg (Den, Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) 0:30:49 24 Hubert Schwab (Swi, Quick Step - Innergetic) 0:31:30 25 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb, Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) 0:31:35 26 Justin England (USA, Toyota United Pro Cycling) 0:32:24 27 Thomas Peterson (USA, Team Slipstream) 0:32:37 28 Rory Sutherland (Aus, Health Net presented by Maxxis) 0:33:00 29 John Devine (USA, USAC Development Team) 0:33:06 30 Andrea Tonti (Ita, Quick Step - Innergetic) 0:33:20 31 Glen Chadwick (NZl, Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) 0:33:46 32 Craig Lewis (USA, Team Slipstream) 0:33:53 33 Jason Donald (USA, Team Slipstream) 0:34:06 34 Ben Day (Aus, Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) 0:34:08 35 Cesar Grajales (Col, Jittery Joe's) 0:34:16 36 Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukr, Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) 0:34:17 37 Scott Moninger (USA, BMC Racing) 0:35:07 38 Timothy Duggan (USA, Team Slipstream) 0:35:47 39 Preben Van Hecke (Bel, Predictor-Lotto) 0:36:05 40 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita, Tinkoff Credit Systems) 0:36:06 41 Philip Zajicek (USA, Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) 0:36:17 42 Pavel Padrnos (Cze, Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) 0:36:44 43 Ian Mckissick (USA, BMC Racing) 0:36:53 44 David Mccann (Irl, Colavita/Sutter Home) 0:36:54 45 Kurt Asle Arvesen (Nor, Team CSC) 46 Ben Brooks (Aus, Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) 0:37:18 47 Christophe Brandt (Bel, Predictor-Lotto) 0:37:25 48 Jonathan Garcia (USA, BMC Racing) 0:37:30 49 Maarten Wijnants (Bel, Quick Step - Innergetic) 0:37:54 50 Jonathan Mc Carty (USA, Team Slipstream) 0:38:23 51 Dominique Cornu (Bel, Predictor-Lotto) 0:38:28 52 David Millar (GBr, Saunier Duval - Prodir) 0:38:34 53 Peter Hatton (Aus, Colavita/Sutter Home) 0:38:41 54 Jackson Stewart (USA, BMC Racing) 0:38:46 55 Swindlehurst T Burke (USA, Toyota United Pro Cycling) 0:39:05 56 Matthew Goss (Aus, Team CSC) 0:39:08 57 Geert Steurs (Bel, Predictor-Lotto) 0:39:18 58 Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (USA, Priority Health presented by Bissell) 0:39:23 59 Christopher Baldwin (USA, Toyota United Pro Cycling) 0:39:25 60 Douglas Ollerenshaw (USA, Health Net presented by Maxxis) 0:40:08 61 Guido Trentin (Ita, Saunier Duval - Prodir) 62 Ivan Stevic (SCG, Toyota United Pro Cycling) 0:40:18 63 Tyler Hamilton (USA, Tinkoff Credit Systems) 0:40:31 64 Leonardo Scarselli (Ita, Quick Step - Innergetic) 0:40:46 65 Edward King (USA, Priority Health presented by Bissell) 0:40:58 66 Charles Dionne (Can, Colavita/Sutter Home) 0:41:38 67 Nicolas Gates (Aus, Predictor-Lotto) 0:41:52 68 Davide Frattini (Ita, Colavita/Sutter Home) 0:42:04 69 Olivier Kaisen (Bel, Predictor-Lotto) 0:42:12 70 Michael Lange (USA, Team Slipstream) 0:42:19 71 Cameron Wurf (Aus, Priority Health presented by Bissell) 0:42:22 72 Caleb Manion (Aus, Toyota United Pro Cycling) 0:42:24 73 Alessandro Proni (Ita, Quick Step - Innergetic) 0:44:24 74 Anders Lund (Den, Team CSC) 0:44:36 75 Karl Menzies (Aus, Health Net presented by Maxxis) 0:44:44 76 Daniele Contrini (Ita, Tinkoff Credit Systems) 0:44:48 77 Fred Rodriguez (USA, Predictor-Lotto) 0:44:54 78 Eric Keim (USA, USAC Development Team) 0:45:04 79 Neil Shirley (USA, Jittery Joe's) 80 Christophe Rinero (Fra, Saunier Duval - Prodir) 0:45:35 81 Jacob Rosenbarger (USA, BMC Racing) 0:46:08 82 Gustavo Artacho (Arg, Colavita/Sutter Home) 0:46:10 83 Juan Jos Haedo (Arg, Team CSC) 0:46:30 84 Christopher Wherry (USA, Toyota United Pro Cycling) 0:46:42 85 Pavel Brutt (Rus, Tinkoff Credit Systems) 0:47:54 86 Trent Wilson (Aus, Jittery Joe's) 0:48:15 87 Kirk O'bee (USA, Health Net presented by Maxxis) 0:48:23 88 Nicholas Reistad (USA, USAC Development Team) 0:49:53 89 Elia Aggiano (Ita, Tinkoff Credit Systems) 0:50:14 90 Steffen Weigold (Ger, Tinkoff Credit Systems) 0:50:20 91 Mauro Facci (Ita, Quick Step - Innergetic) 0:50:26 92 Ivan Dominguez (Cub, Toyota United Pro Cycling) 0:50:38 93 Hendricus Vogels (Aus, Toyota United Pro Cycling) 0:50:54 94 Tommy Nankervis (Aus, Jittery Joe's) 0:51:28 95 Richard England (Aus, Priority Health presented by Bissell) 0:51:46 96 Martin Pedersen (Den, Team CSC) 0:51:59 97 Sheldon Deeny (USA, USAC Development Team) 0:52:52 98 Chad Beyer (USA, USAC Development Team) 0:53:46 99 Matt Shriver (USA, Jittery Joe's) 0:55:31 100 Austin King (USA, Jittery Joe's) 0:55:45 101 Evan Elken (USA, Jittery Joe's) 0:56:02 102 Eric Riggs (USA, USAC Development Team) 0:57:18 103 Scott Zwizanski (USA, Priority Health presented by Bissell) 0:57:22 104 Cody Stevenson (Aus, Jittery Joe's) 0:57:43 105 Stefano Zanini (Ita, Predictor-Lotto) 0:58:37 106 Caleb Fairly (USA, USAC Development Team) 0:59:24 107 Omer Kem (USA, Priority Health presented by Bissell) 1:00:51 Got a comment? 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