Atlanta — Fred Rodriguez capped Rock Racing’s first participation in the Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T with a fourth place finish on the final stage in Atlanta Sunday.

The result by the three-time U.S. national road race champion was Rock Racing’s fourth top five finish of the seven-day, 600-mile stage race. Additionally, Rock Racing’s Oscar Sevilla placed in the top 10 overall, finishing sixth in his first international stage race in the United States.

“This performance speaks to how talented the team can be when it can race at full strength,” Rock Racing Team Owner Michael Ball said. “They just dig deep and work so well together. There are no egos. I couldn’t be prouder of what they pulled off.”

Rock Racing displayed its strength late in the race when it put its entire squad on the front to reel in the remnants of a breakaway that had been away since the first of 10 laps of a 6.2-mile (10.1 km) circuit through the streets of Downtown Atlanta. The chase was successful, setting the stage for a field sprint up the long uphill drag to the finish line.

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Atlanta, GA – On the strength of placing four riders in the top 20 overall, Team Type 1 finished third in the team classification at the Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T.

Winning the team classification was Astana, the season-long leader in the ProTour standings. CSC, the ProTour winner the past three years, was second. Team Type 1 finished ahead of three ProTour teams: Team High Road (which won the race overall, as well as two stages), Slipstream-Chipotle presented by H30 and Gerolsteiner. A first-year pro squad, Team Type 1 was also tops among the seven domestic teams in the race.

“We focused a lot of attention on this race and it paid off,” Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said. “I couldn’t have asked of any more from these guys. It was absolutely amazing how well they rode, especially on Brasstown Bald.”

Team Type 1’s impressive success in the top 20 was led by Moises Aldape who finished eighth, Valeriy Kobzarenko was 15th, Chris Jones 17th and Glen Chadwick was 20th. Ian MacGregor placed 51st and Fabio Calabria, a Type 1 athlete and the youngest rider in the race, placed ninth in the Best Young Rider (Under 25) competition and 59th overall out of 98 finishers (and 119 starters).

Other than Astana (which had three riders in the top 20), no other team in the seven-day, 600-mile event had more than two riders in the top 20. Team Type 1 also registered three top 10 finishes, including two by Aldape. On the race’s most decisive stage, the climb up Brasstown Bald Mountain on Saturday, four riders from Team Type 1 were among the first 17 finishers – led by Aldape’s sixth place.

“I didn’t expect to be so high on the general classification,” Aldape said. “I’m really happy, especially with the high-caliber talent here. This is a big step for the team to earn respect. I wanted to give something back to the team for signing me and having faith in me and this was my first opportunity.”

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Photographer Ken Conley is down in Georgia covering the 2008 Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T, he’ll be checking in daily with a journal of each stage, as well as a photo gallery.

Today’s journal will be short and sweet as I’ve got to get ready to get home and can’t wait until the galleries are up to write a post. You can look for more photos to appear in my stage 7 gallery later in the day.

The Tour de Georgia was a blast — especially the team time trial and Brasstown Bald. I never would have thought after the Tour of California to see an American Tour so heavily dominated by High Road. Pretty much all that was missing for them was a stage win by George Hincapie, which nearly happened in Dahlonega. Hincapie was an absolute workhorse today; he seemed to be at the front of the peloton every time they passed me by.

Today’s stage was a hard circuit. I rode moto for the first two laps and got to see the break develop, first with Rhys Pollock almost immediately jumping off the front, to the riders that bridged up. That was pretty much the entire race, up until the peloton finally decided to reel the break in. In between, I got to see a lot of riders off the back, and a lot of teams sending riders back to help bridge back, including Rock Racing and BMC. The peloton looked a lot smaller by day’s end. The road was rough enough to throw my feel off the foot pegs on the motorcycle, so I can only imagine what it feels like on a bike.

It’s pretty difficult to shoot from a moto on an urban circuit as you’re constantly turning and accelerating and bumping around — another photographer used a 300mm lens to get enough distance as the tighter roads force you to stay further away. I made the mistake of stopping to shoot the peloton roll by; we never got back in front. I ended up shooting most of the stage on foot.

Photo by Ken Conley

Greg Henderson took the stage and managed to produce an interesting victory salute, especially when paired with JJ Haedo’s tongue wag. The podium ceremony was a High Road affair, even if Astana got to have their own champagne party on stage. Levi Leipheimer really is eager to grab the champagne bottles and soak everyone in sight, even if he always seems to end up bleary eyed. Thankfully they didn’t give out as many champagne bottles as they did at the Tour of California.

Photographer Ken Conley is down in Georgia covering the 2008 Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T, he’ll be checking in daily with a journal of each stage, as well as a photo gallery.

Brasstown Bald is the most fun stage of the Tour de Georgia… for the fans. The intimidating climbs lead to joking amongst the sprinters, like Ivan Dominguez’s “Push Me Up the Hill Please” sign that he taped on his bike, then JJ Haedo’s chest. His teammate Ivan Stevic noted that he taped it on the wrong side: Haedo was going to get pushed downhill. Dominguez loved the attention: “Everyone loves my sign…. They think I’m joking… I won’t be on the podium today but I will be in everyone’s photos.” He was even handed a “tow” rope, which was strung between him and Stevic (it was noted that attaching two sprinters together is the wrong idea). Stevic pulled his own prank by attacking Dominguez with 100m to go — for 99th place.

Also entertaining was my favorite ham, Justin England. England paper-boy-ed across the upper slopes of Brasstown Bald but still found the energy to raise his hand to get the fans to cheer. He gave me a good tongue stick out before heading to the finish.

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Photographer Ken Conley is down in Georgia covering the 2008 Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T, he’ll be checking in daily with a journal of each stage, as well as a photo gallery.

A long day for the riders, a short day for me. One stop alongside a lake, shots at the finish, and the day is over. Skilled drivers, aka the Versus camera crew, can make 4-5 stops on a day like today, finding every side road and driving with just the right amount of aggression to stay ahead. I was more interested in finding a scenic shot that I’d be really, really happy with, so Mario and I skipped the start once more to begin our voyage along the course that moved slowly up in elevation towards the warmup climbs for tomorrow’s course. There was an unfortunate accident during the opening circuits with one of the photo motos: a fan ran out onto the course as the caravan was moving through and collided with a photo moto — four were injured. Another accident, thankfully without injuries, occurred when the Health Net car ran into the back of the BMC car. The BMC crew ripped off their busted bumper while the Health Net team managed to tape their air bags down.

While all this chaos was happening, we were busy driving along the course to look for the spot that screamed “shoot me.” Barns, fences, trees, cows and a small goat offered themselves to our lenses, but we declined. Just before the start of the KOM climb we found what we were looking for: a lake, with a mountain overlooking it. Given that this was the first real mountain stage in the Tour de Georgia, it was the combination of scenery and story that we were looking for. A four-man break came through almost ten minutes ahead of the peloton, giving me the opportunity to warm up my telephoto lens while I waited for the bigger pack. It was quite a successful break, seeing as Edward King (Bissell) took the KOM jersey and Tim Johnson (Health Net) got himself Most Aggressive.

We went straight to the Dahlonega finish from there. Dahlonega had really good crowds, perhaps the best so far. I liked the town a lot, even though I experienced very little of it. It had the same sort of town-square-centric blueprint that every other small town in Georgia seems to have, but it felt more charming. I’ve been joking with people here that town-square courthouses are to Georgia what cathedrals are to Europe. You love the first few, but soon you’re saying, “not another courthouse!” Dahlonega managed to overcome my rising aversion.

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Atlanta, GA – As part of the team’s commitment to supporting the 2008 Tour de Georgia presented by AT & T, Rock Racing is donating $250,000 to the official beneficiaries of the event, Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the Georgia Cancer Coalition. Team Owner, Michael Ball, will present checks to Eugene Hayes, Foundation President of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and to Bill Todd, President and CEO of the Georgia Cancer Coalition on Sunday, April 27 during the final stage in Atlanta. The donations will directly benefit pediatric cancer and blood disorders research through the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service, as well as support the Georgia Cancer Coalition’s efforts to strengthen cancer prevention, research and treatment in Georgia, with the ultimate goal of making Georgia one of the nation’s premier states for cancer care.

“Giving back is an important part of what this team is all about,” said Ball. “Cancer research is a cause we strongly support through the company’s philanthropic division, Rock the Cure, and we are pleased to support Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, as well as the Georgia Cancer Coalition, and will make a difference in the lives of cancer patients.”

“The support from Rock Racing illustrates such a positive commitment to both the Tour de Georgia and to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta,” said Shelton Stevens, Manager Sports Network, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “Their generosity through the Tour de Georgia helps us get closer to curing cancer and blood disorders and making a difference in the lives of children across Georgia.”

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Photographer Ken Conley is down in Georgia covering the 2008 Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T, he’ll be checking in daily with a journal of each stage, as well as a photo gallery.

Today was probably the best day of my cycling photography career. First off, I got to ride the moto. Second, I got to ride the moto. Third, it was a fantastically designed stage. Not only was it a team time trial, but it was held on a racetrack so that spectators and photographers got many opportunities to see the riders. And fourth, I got to meet some people I only knew online (James of Bicycle Design and Frank of TdfBlog).

I started off the day shooting the Slipstream bikes once more, though I had a good reasons this time. I knew they were going to win and there was a good story element: the mechanic was attaching “Just Go Harder” labels to the back of the seatposts as a tribute to Timmy Duggan, who’s recovering in the hospital. I felt silly taking that many takes of the label, but there wasn’t much else going on, and I really felt that I would need a great take of it. James of Bicycle Design was there as well, busy shooting the Zipp 1080s.

I also stopped by the Rock Racing merchandise tent so that I could grab a shot of the aforementioned Beast that I helped load last night. I did my best imitation of the Rock-Racing-style-like processing that I learned about last night, but am having trouble translating from Lightroom to Adobe Bridge.

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Cervélo SA is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Marx as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Company. A former World Team Pursuit champion, he shares with Cervélo an uncompromising pursuit of excellence.

Michael’s varied work experience over the past 27 years uniquely equips him to head-up Cervélo’s growing organization. His experience in the bike industry ranges from retail, as a bike shop owner, to sales representative, to almost a decade as the Managing Director of Continental Tyres, two-wheel division. At Prym Fashion (apparel industry) he was the Managing Director for subsidiaries in Germany, Romania and Turkey where he was responsible for the setup and establishment of these divisions. Michael also worked for BMW in sales management providing marketing and business consultation to car dealers. Prior to joining Cervélo he ran his own management consultancy and training company, Balanced Performance. With his diverse background in management, sales and marketing he will provide strong leadership as Cervélo continues to increase its market share in global cycling. Michael’s presence also provides the founders with the autonomy they desire to concentrate their focus on what they do best – engineering, product design and strategic issues.

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Photographer Ken Conley is down in Georgia covering the 2008 Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T, he’ll be checking in daily with a journal of each stage, as well as a photo gallery.

I had shot a lot of pre-race photos by today, so I wasn’t too interested in taking lots of shots in the morning. I clicked off some for the Justin England fan club and also tried umpteen takes of the Slipstream bikes reflected on their bus, to no avail. Mario suggested heading up course to try and find a scenic spot, so I we high-tailed it out of town early.

Driving ahead of the caravan is a bit of a thrill. You have course marshals flagging you through the course, you’re speeding, and there’s Georgia State Police everywhere. You’re constantly having to decide “friend or foe” for each cop car you pass. I had read about Slipstream’s run-in with the po-po, so I was more than a bit paranoid.

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WATERLOO, WI - Trek Women Specific Design (WSD) has today announced the formation of its “Women Who Ride Club,” a network of women from all walks of life united in a common interest: a love of riding bikes. An off-shoot of Trek WSD’s successful “Women Who Ride” program — an eclectic group of five women blogging about their lives on and off the bike — the “Women Who Ride Club” gives female cyclists of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds access to the larger community of women cyclists. Club membership provides a number of benefits, including exclusive “Women Who Ride” gear, a club newsletter with training tips, inspirational stories, expert advice, and product info, monthly product giveaways, VIP access to Trek WSD-sponsored events, and a number of other perks.

“We’re really excited to build on the success of our ‘Women Who Ride’ program by introducing this new club,” noted Trek WSD Brand Manager, Krista Rettig. “Trek Women is dedicated to expanding and supporting the community of female cyclists, both new and experienced riders alike. Whether they want to ride to race, ride to get in shape, ride to work, or just ride around the block with family and friends, our mission is to get as many women on bikes as possible. It’s really all about strengthening the community by providing a range of resources to help make cycling as fun and as rewarding as possible.”

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