April 26, 2004 – The 2004 Dodge Tour de Georgia is now in the books following the 88-mile stage-7 route from Dawsonville to Alpharetta, a suburb of Atlanta. The short and relatively flat race was made for sprinters and the large crowds that had gathered at the finishing circuits were not disappointed.  Barring incident, the top contenders for the overall GC positions were all but set, but only five points separated the top two spots for the Sprinter's Jersey, with two intermediate sprints on today's course.

The team of race leader Lance Armstrong (US Postal Service) positioned themselves at the front of the peloton and began another day of defending their Yellow Jersey.  Several opportunistic attacks were launched on the way to the first sprint in Cumming, but the US Postal Service squad neutralized all of them.

The Navigators Insurance team launched Jeff Louder off the front in a bid to create a breakaway, but like all of the others, it was shortly reeled back in. As they neared the sprint lines, the sprinters' teams went to work and in both sprints it was Gord Fraser (Health Net) taking the top points, and in the process guaranteeing himself the Sprint Jersey.

With 20-miles left to race, Navigators' Chris Baldwin attacked the leader, but it appeared that the sprinters were having none of it, and once again the field was again “gruppo compatto.'” Entering the final 4 circuits of the 5.9K course, the peloton was greeted by very large and loud crowds.  After riding the front for most of the stage, the US Postal team relinquished the head of the peloton to the sprinters' trains.  The Domina Vacanze, Navigators Insurance, CSC and Health Net teams were the most active in controlling the group.  With 1.5 laps remaining, it was the Navigators squad taking charge.  With the other teams trying to gain control, it was a battle to the 'U-Turn' with 3K remaining.  The Navigators team drove toward the finish line as the other sprint trains came shoulder-to-shoulder on the final run-in.  In the crowd-pleasing rush to the line, it was the fastest men in the peloton taking the honors as Gord Fraser took his second stage-win in the tour over Juan Jose Haedo (Colavita), and Mario Cipollini (Domina Vacanze) in third.  The Overall GC positions saw no changes, with Armstrong taking the victory.

For the Navigators Insurance team, the squad placed Phil Zajicek and Chris Baldwin in 13th and 14th in the Overall GC, and held the KOM jersey for two stages.  The team travels back to France next week for the Four Days of Dunkirk.

Stage-7 (Unofficial):
1. Gord Fraser (Health Net)
2. Juan Jose Haedo  (Colavita)
3. Mario Cipollini (Domina Vacanze)

Overall GC: (Unofficial)
1. Lance Armstrong (US Postal Service)
2. Jens Voigt (CSC)
3. Chris Horner (Webcor)