Those who fear US cycling is dead after Lance Armstrong announced his pending retirement should be checking the results in the Tour de Georgia.
In an international field, the US riders continue to dominate the bicycle race as the first five across the finish line in Saturday's stage were all Americans, representing four different teams. See CyclingNews for all the Tour de Georgia results.
Floyd Landis (Phonak) mounted a valiant effort to hold onto the yellow jersey, but at the end of the day had to relinquish it to Tom Danielson (Discovery), who also won the stage.
The top five in the 113-mile stage were Danielson, Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner), Lance Armstrong (Discovery), Landis, and Bobby Julich (CSC).
Landis had to work extra hard on Friday to hold onto the lead after the rest of his team fell back and couldn't help him. Even though you'd expect his tank to be depleted on Saturday, he put in a monumental effort to stay in the race and finish only a minute behind Danielson atop the hairy climb of Brasstown Bald.
The order at the finish means the top five bicycle riders in general classification are Danielson, Leipheimer (4 seconds behind), Landis (9 seconds behind), Julich (1 minute 10 seconds) and Armstrong (1:41).
Sunday's 125-mile ride is generally downhill, from Blairsville to Alpharetta. With Danielson leading by only 5 seconds, it looks like anything could happen.
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