April 21, 2008 (Savannah, Georgia) – In what could have been a complete snoozer of a race, a break of six riders including Canada’s Christian Meier (Symmetrics) leapt off the front on Stage 1 – from Tybee Island to Savannah, 113.3km/70.4miles at the Tour De Georgia field – and established what was the only significant break of the day. Meier, along with the impressive likes of B-world road champion Ivan Stevic (Toyota-United), Scott Nydam (BMC), Frank Pipp (Health Net), Bernard Van Ulden (Jelly Belly) and Garrett Peltonen (Bissell) held their own for the better part of an hour midway through the kickoff event of this year’s tour from Tybee Island to downtown Savannah, Georgia.

The inaugural stage, which was held under pleasant weather conditions apart from fairly gusty winds, was a short and skillet-flat 113-kilometer effort that saw various getaway attempts fail before the group of six made something stick. A clearly motivated Meier actually beat Stevic to the third sprint point out on course that came with just 16km/10 miles left to go before the finish. The break continued working fairly well together throughout the remainder of the stage, but were never too far from the sites of the field which got serious about reeling in the escapees with less than 8km to go. Meir, Stevic, and Pipp were the first to be consumed by the peloton, with the others falling fairly soon afterwards.

From there forward it was a race for the true sprinters to contest. Rock Racing, who had caused a last minute stir with race organizers regarding their initial exclusion from the race, instantly made a play for glory on behalf of “Fast” Freddie Rodriguez. Their moves, however, were countered by the Gerolsteiner squad, who were looking to get the win for their man Robert Forster. The riders from Team High Road were also in the mix, but in the end it was Toyota-United’s Ivan Dominguez quickly dispatching himself from the pack to take the victory. Nicholas Sanderson of Jelly Belly took second, while Forster was able to hang on for the final podium position. Dominguez, who saw similar glory twice over during last year’s Tour of Missouri, is obviously on form once again and will temporarily be in possession of another leader’s jersey at a major U.S. event.

With race results still unofficial at the time of this writing, Symmetrics’ Team Director Kevin Cunningham estimated that Meier was quite likely to be sitting in second position in the competition for this year’s Best Young Rider jersey. Because of the addition of this year’s team time trial (being held on an auto race track later on in the week in the capital city of Atlanta), there is speculation that time gaps between the leader’s won’t be significant until that point. If this is the case, then Tour watchers will almost certainly be looking to the brutal climbing day of Stage 5 that ends in a mountain-top finish at the summit of the infamous Brasstown Bald on Saturday the 26th.

Results

1. Ivan Dominguez (Cub) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team 2.30.18 (45.43 km/h)
2. Nicholas Sanderson (Aus) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
3. Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner
4. Richard England (Aus) Bissell Pro Cycling
5. Serguei Koudentsov (Rus) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
6. Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
7. Bradley McGee (Aus) Team CSC
8. Gregory Henderson (NZl) Team High Road
9. Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astana
10. Kari Menzies (Aus) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
11. Cody Stevenson (Aus) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
12. Matt Rice (Aus) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
13. Taylor Tolleson (USA) BMC Racing Team
14. Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Rock Racing
15. Dominique Rollin (Can) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team
16. Hilton Clarke (Aus) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team
17. Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
18. Chris Horner (USA) Astana
19. André Greipel (Ger) Team High Road
20. Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Type 1
21. Roman Kireyev (Kaz) Astana
22. Jackson Stewart (USA) BMC Racing Team
23. Kayle Leogrande (USA) Rock Racing
24. Jeremy Powers (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
25. Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC
26. Thomas Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner
27. Andrew Pinfold (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
28. Evan Elken (USA) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
29. Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Astana
30. Kirk O’Bee (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
31. Valery Kobzarenko (Ukr) Team Type 1
32. Leon Van Bon (Ned) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
33. Moises Aldape Chavez (Mex) Team Type 1
34. Jacob Erker (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
35. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana
36. Thomas Danielson (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
37. Timothy Duggan (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
38. Michael Schär (Swi) Astana
39. Ben Day (Aus) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team
40. Jonathan Garcia (USA) BMC Racing Team
41. Francois Parisien (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
42. Kanstantin Siutsou (Blr) Team High Road
43. Bert Grabsch (Ger) Team High Road
44. George Hincapie (USA) Team High Road
45. Darren Lill (RSA) BMC Racing Team
46. Emile Abraham (Tri) Team Type 1
47. David Galvin (USA) BMC Racing Team
48. Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
49. Christian Vande Velde (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
50. Fred Rodriguez (USA) Rock Racing
51. Tyler Hamilton (USA) Rock Racing
52. Eric Wohlberg (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
53. Andrew Randell (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
54. Santiago Botero Echeverry (Col) Rock Racing
55. Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
56. Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC
57. Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Rock Racing
58. Jared Barrilleaux (USA) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
59. Nicholas Reistad (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
60. Volker Ordowski (Ger) Gerolsteiner
61. Danny Pate (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
62. Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Team High Road
63. Neil Shirley (USA) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
64. Fuyu Li (Chn) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
65. Scott Nydam (USA) BMC Racing Team
66. Trent Lowe (Aus) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
67. Jason McCartney (USA) Team CSC
68. Anders Lund (Den) Team CSC
69. Mike Sayers (USA) BMC Racing Team
70. Yilin Liu (Chn) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
71. Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner
72. Michael Lange (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
73. Ben Jacques Maynes (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
74. Christopher Jones (USA) Team Type 1
75. Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team CSC
76. Edward King (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
77. Matthew Crane (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
78. José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana
79. Tim Johnson (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
80. Lasse Bøchman (Den) Team CSC
81. Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Bissell Pro Cycling
15. Cameron Evans (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
83. Yan Dong Xing (Chn) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
84. Stephan Schreck (Ger) Gerolsteiner
85. Rhys Pollock (Aus) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
86. Matthew Shriver (USA) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
87. Trent Wilson (Aus) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
88. David Zabriskie (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
89. Aaron Tuckerman (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
90. Corey Collier (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
91. Andrey Mizurov (Kaz) Astana
92. Lucas Euser (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
93. Tom Zirbel (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
94. Matt Cooke (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
95. Glen Chadwick (Aus) Team Type 1
96. Iñigo Cuesta Lopez De Castro (Spa) Team CSC
97. Aaron Olson (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
98. Christopher Baldwin (USA) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team
99. Garrett Peltonen (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
100. Justin England (USA) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team
101. Frank Pipp (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
102. Henk Vogels (Aus) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team
103. Ian MacGregor (USA) Team Type 1
104. Ryan Sullivan (Aus) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
105. Jai Crawford (Aus) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
106. Matthias Russ (Ger) Gerolsteiner
107. Matthew Wilson (Aus) Team Type 1
108. Ivan Stevic (Srb) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team
109. Michael Creed (USA) Rock Racing
110. Bernard Van Ulden (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
111. Craig Lewis (USA) Team High Road
112. Victor Hugo Pena (Col) Rock Racing
113. Bryce Mead (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
114. Rory Sutherland (Aus) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
115. Oscar Gatto (Ita) Gerolsteiner
116. Sea Keong Loh (Mas) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
117. Tyler Farrar (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
118. Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.33
119. Scott Zwizanski (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 0.48

Sprints

35.2km/22 miles

1. Greg Henderson (NZl) Team High Road
2. Tyler Farrar (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H3O
3. Ivan Stevic (Srb) Toyota United Pro Cycling

52.8km/33 miles

1. Tyler Farrar (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H3O
2. Greg Henderson (NZl) Team High Road
3. Ivan Stevic (Srb) Toyota United Pro Cycling

96km/60 miles

1. Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics
2. Ivan Stevic (Srb) Toyota United Pro Cycling
3. Garrett Peltonen (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling

Most Aggressive Rider

1. Scott Nydam (USA) BMC Racing

Teams

1. Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 7.30.54
2. Jelly Belly Cycling Team
3. Team Racing Team
4. Astana
5. The Jittery Joe’S Pro Cycling Team
6. High Road
7. Team Type 1
8. Rock Racing
9. Team CSC
10. Gerolsteiner
11. Trek-Marco Polo Cycling Team
12. Symmetrics Cycling Team
13. Health Net Presented By Maxxis
14. Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
15. Bissell Pro Cycling

GC after Stage 1

1. Ivan Dominguez (Cub) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team 2.30.08
2. Nicholas Sanderson (Aus) Jelly Belly Cycling Team 0.04
3. Gregory Henderson (NZl) Team High Road 0.05
4. Tyler Farrar (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
5. Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.06
6. Ivan Stevic (Srb) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team
7. Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team 0.07
8. Garrett Peltonen (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 0.09
9. Richard England (Aus) Bissell Pro Cycling 0.1
10. Serguei Koudentsov (Rus) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
11. Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
12. Bradley McGee (Aus) Team CSC
13. Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astana
14. Kari Menzies (Aus) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
15. Cody Stevenson (Aus) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
16. Matt Rice (Aus) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
17. Taylor Tolleson (USA) BMC Racing Team
18. Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Rock Racing
19. Dominique Rollin (Can) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team
20. Hilton Clarke (Aus) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team
21. Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
22. Chris Horner (USA) Astana
23. André Greipel (Ger) Team High Road
24. Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Type 1
25. Roman Kireyev (Kaz) Astana
26. Jackson Stewart (USA) BMC Racing Team
27. Kayle Leogrande (USA) Rock Racing
28. Jeremy Powers (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
29. Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC
30. Thomas Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner
31. Andrew Pinfold (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
32. Evan Elken (USA) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
33. Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Astana
34. Kirk O’Bee (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
35. Valery Kobzarenko (Ukr) Team Type 1
36. Leon Van Bon (Ned) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
37. Moises Aldape Chavez (Mex) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
38. Jacob Erker (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
39. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana
40. Thomas Danielson (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
41. Timothy Duggan (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
42. Michael Schär (Swi) Astana
43. Ben Day (Aus) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team
44. Jonathan Garcia (USA) BMC Racing Team
45. Francois Parisien (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
46. Kanstantin Siutsou (Blr) Team High Road
47. Bert Grabsch (Ger) Team High Road
48. George Hincapie (USA) Team High Road
49. Darren Lill (RSA) BMC Racing Team
50. Emile Abraham (Tri) Team Type 1
51. David Galvin (USA) BMC Racing Team
52. Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
53. Christian Vande Velde (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
54. Fred Rodriguez (USA) Rock Racing
55. Tyler Hamilton (USA) Rock Racing
56. Eric Wohlberg (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
57. Andrew Randell (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
58. Santiago Botero Echeverry (Col) Rock Racing
59. Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC
60. Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Rock Racing
61. Jared Barrilleaux (USA) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
62. Nicholas Reistad (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
63. Volker Ordowski (Ger) Gerolsteiner
64. Danny Pate (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
65. Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Team High Road
66. Neil Shirley (USA) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
67. Fuyu Li (Chn) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
68. Scott Nydam (USA) BMC Racing Team
69. Trent Lowe (Aus) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
70. Jason McCartney (USA) Team CSC
71. Anders Lund (Den) Team CSC
72. Mike Sayers (USA) BMC Racing Team
73. Yilin Liu (Chn) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
74. Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner
75. Michael Lange (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
76. Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
77. Christopher Jones (USA) Team Type 1
78. Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team CSC
79. Edward King (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
80. Matthew Crane (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
81. José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana
82. Tim Johnson (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
83. Lasse Bøchman (Den) Team CSC
84. Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Bissell Pro Cycling
85. Cameron Evans (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
86. Yan Dong Xing (Chn) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
87. Stephan Schreck (Ger) Gerolsteiner
88. Rhys Pollock (Aus) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
89. Matthew Shriver (USA) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
90. Trent Wilson (Aus) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
91. David Zabriskie (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
92. Aaron Tuckerman (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
93. Corey Collier (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
94. Andrey Mizurov (Kaz) Astana
95. Lucas Euser (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
96. Tom Zirbel (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
97. Matt Cooke (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
98. Glen Chadwick (Aus) Team Type 1
99. Iñigo Cuesta Lopez De Castro (Spa) Team CSC
100. Aaron Olson (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
101. Christopher Baldwin (USA) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team
102. Justin England (USA) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team
103. Frank Pipp (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
104. Henk Vogels (Aus) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team
105. Ian MacGregor (USA) Team Type 1
106. Ryan Sullivan (Aus) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
107. Jai Crawford (Aus) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
108. Matthias Russ (Ger) Gerolsteiner
109. Matthew Wilson (Aus) Team Type 1
110. Michael Creed (USA) Rock Racing
111. Bernard Van Ulden (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
112. Craig Lewis (USA) Team High Road
113. Victor Hugo Pena (Col) Rock Racing
114. Bryce Mead (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
115. Rory Sutherland (Aus) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
116. Oscar Gatto (Ita) Gerolsteiner
117. Sea Keong Loh (Mas) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
118. Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.43
119. Scott Zwizanski (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 0.58

Points Classification

1. Ivan Dominguez (Cub) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team 15 pts
2. Nicholas Sanderson (Aus) Jelly Belly Cycling Team 12
3. Gregory Henderson (NZl) Team High Road 11
4. Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 10
5. Tyler Farrar (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30 8
6. Richard England (Aus) Bissell Pro Cycling 7
7. Serguei Koudentsov (Rus) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team 6
8. Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 5
9. Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team 5
10. Ivan Stevic (Srb) Toyota – United Pro Cycling Team 5
11. Bradley McGee (Aus) Team CSC 4
12. Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astana 2
13. Kari Menzies (Aus) Health Net Presented By Maxxis 1
14. Garrett Peltonen (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 1

U23 Classification

1. Nicholas Sanderson (Aus) Jelly Belly Cycling Team 2.30.12
2. Tyler Farrar (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30 0.01
3. Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team 0.03
4. Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0.06
5. Taylor Tolleson (USA) BMC Racing Team
6. Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Type 1
7. Roman Kireyev (Kaz) Astana
8. Michael Schär (Swi) Astana
9. Jared Barrilleaux (USA) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
10. Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Team High Road
11. Trent Lowe (Aus) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
12. Anders Lund (Den) Team CSC
13. Yilin Liu (Chn) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
14. Matthew Crane (USA) Health Net Presented By Maxxis
15. Cameron Evans (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
16. Yan Dong Xing (Chn) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team
17. Ryan Sullivan (Aus) Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
18. Craig Lewis (USA) Team High Road
19. Oscar Gatto (Ita) Gerolsteiner
20. Sea Keong Loh (Mas) GE Trek – Marco Polo Cycling Team

Teams

1. Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 7.30.54
2. Jelly Belly Cycling Team
3. Team Racing Team
4. Astana
5. The Jittery Joe’S Pro Cycling Team
6. High Road
7. Team Type 1
8. Rock Racing
9. Team CSC
10. Gerolsteiner
11. Trek-Marco Polo Cycling Team
12. Symmetrics Cycling Team
13. Health Net Presented By Maxxis
14. Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30
15. Bissell Pro Cycling