Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

For a race with the good ol’ boys in Georgia there is a wacky list of recent winners. This year the new guy with a funny name (yes, my name is Marcello and it is funny too) is Kanstantin Sivtsov. Not yet a household name, but that is what you said when Jani Brajkovic won last year. Now Jani is sitting home recovering from over-training while the young High Road racers takes the top prize. In second place is American Trent Lowe followed by Levi (Let me ride) Leipheimer.

The Tour de Georgia seems to be stuck in a conundrum. It has relatively unknown winners for the past two years and falls within the most exciting time of the Spring Classics. After the Tour of California received daily coverage from the USA’s main cycling coverage channel Versus, the Tour de Georgia will have to wait a week for a one hour highlight show. If you were not a die-hard velochimp reading fan or in Georgia you would not notice such a great event happening. With the epic Brasstown Bald climb and the cool new Team Time Trial at Road America the race has lots to capture the imagination.

Sistov seems like one of those guys who you will remember when he first won a stage at the Tour de Georgia. His all round ability could make him more well know when the Giro starts in a just a few weeks.
I still remember the Tour de Trump and a young Slava Ekimov with his powerful track-sprint challenging the big boys. Its these lower key races in America when you can see a talent emerge. Could we one day be witness to a tongue twisting Brajkovic vs Sivtsov duel on L’Alpe D’Huez for the Tour win? We could hope as Phil Ligget wrestles with those names and just decides to end his career mid-stage.

So here is to the good ol’ boys in Georgia who are clinging to their guns and church as racers from former Eastern Bloc countries with funny names ride in funny shorts make a name for themselves.