April 19, 2006 (Rome, Ga.) – With 100 yards to go, Ukranian Yaroslav Popovych of the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling team broke away for a Stage Two victory at the Ford Tour de Georgia today. Juan Jose Haedo (Argentina) of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling team finished second and American Fred Rodriguez of Davitamon-Lotto finished third.

With the victory, Popovych took over the Ford Overall Leader jersey. Rodriguez will retain the Maxxis Sprint jersey, which he wore in Stage One (Lars Michaelsen of Team CSC won the Maxxis Sprint jersey in Stage One, but wore Ford Leader jersey as the winner of Stage One).

“I felt I could do what I did (win the stage). And I talked to my teammates and I said I was going to go. They said “˜go for it’,” said Popovych, who gained attention in 2005 for winning the Best Young Rider classification and finished 12th overall.

The stage started at 1:30 p.m. in Fayetteville, Ga. with 118 of the 119 riders departing under threatening skies and the thunder of clapping from an enthusiastic crowd on Courthouse Square. Thunderstorms soaked the riders for more than 25 miles of the 116.1-mile/ 186.9 km stage, which slowed the pace of the peloton for much of the afternoon.

Alejandro Acton (Argentina) of Targetraining won the Aaron’s Most Aggressive Leader jersey for his 100-mile breakaway, which began just 10 miles into the stage. Acton was caught just 200 meters from the United Community Bank King of the Mountain climb on Clocktower Hill. The KOM was won by Kirk O’Bee (USA) of Health Net p/b Maxxis, who will wear the United Community Bank King of the Mountain leader jersey on Thursday. Twenty-three-year-old Florian Stalder (Switzerland) of Phonak Hearing Systems won the GE Best Young Rider jersey.

Stage Three will feature the Individual Time Trial, which will begin at 11:00 a.m. in Chickamauga, Ga. and take the riders on a 24.8-mile/ 39.9-km route into Chattanooga, Tenn. Riders will depart in reverse order of the General Classification in one-minute intervals; the Top 10 will go last in two-minute intervals. Popovych, leading the G.C and wearing the Ford Overall Leader jersey will be the final rider on the ITT course, and is expected to finish close to 2:00 p.m. at Chestnut Street and Riverfront Parkway.

Results

1 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel 4.47.39
2 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Toyota-United Pro 0.06
3 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto
4 Karl Menzies (Aus) Health Net p/b Maxxis
5 Caleb Manion (Aus) Jelly Belly
6 Cesar Augusto Grajales (Col) Navigators Insurance 0.07
7 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems
8 Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak Hearing Systems
9 Florian Stalder (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems
10 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Prodir-Saunier Duval
11 Thomas Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel
12 Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) KodakGallery.Com-Sierra Nevada
13 Alex Candelario (USA) Jelly Belly
14 Trent Wilson (Aus) Jittery Joe’s -Zero Gravity
15 Jesse Anthony (USA) KodakGallery.Com-Sierra Nevada 0.08
16 Henk Vogels (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto
17 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Discovery Channel
18 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC
19 Ignacio Gutierrez Cataluna (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems
20 José Enrique Gutierrez Cataluna (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems

30 Peter Mazur (Pol) Prodir-Saunier Duval 0.14
40 Dominique Perras (Can) KodakGallery.Com-Sierra Nevada 0.15
75 Dustin Macburnie (Can) Targetraining 0.22
89 Gordon Fraser (Can) Health Net p/b Maxxis 0.27

GC After Stage 2

1 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel 9.33.15
2 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 0.04
3 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Toyota-United Pro 0.07
4 Caleb Manion (Aus) Jelly Belly 0.12
5 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team CSC 0.14
6 Karl Menzies (Aus) Health Net p/b Maxxis 0.16
7 Cesar Augusto Grajales (Col) Navigators Insurance 0.17
8 Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) KodakGallery.Com-Sierra Nevada
9 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems
10 Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak Hearing Systems
11 Thomas Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel
12 Florian Stalder (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems
13 Trent Wilson (Aus) Jittery Joe’s -Zero Gravity
14 Henk Vogels (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 0.18
15 Jesse Anthony (USA) KodakGallery.Com-Sierra Nevada
16 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Discovery Channel
17 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems
18 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC
19 Ignacio Gutierrez Cataluna (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems
20 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel

27 Peter Mazur (Pol) Prodir-Saunier Duval 0.24
31 Dominique Perras (Can) KodakGallery.Com-Sierra Nevada 0.25
77 Dustin MacBurnie (Can) Targetraining 1.00
111 Gordon Fraser (Can) Health Net p/b Maxxis 6.46