Sidermec's Fred Rodridguez Takes Stage Four of Inaugural Dodge Tour de Georgia

GAINESVILLE, Ga., April 26 -- American Fred Rodriguez of Sidermec today won the 122-mile Stage Four of Dodge Tour de Georgia, which stretched from Dalton, Ga., to Gainesville, Ga., with a time of 4:49:22. American cyclist Chris Horner of Team Saturn finished second with Australian Allan Iacuone of the Flanders-iTeamNova team rounding out the top three. Horner won the yellow jersey and is now the overall race leader.

"Saturn put the hurt on everyone today, but I was able to make the most of it," said Rodriguez. "The climb was incredibly difficult, despite the beautiful scenery, and this was definitely the hardest stage we've faced so far."

Today's race featured two grueling King of the Mountains (KOMs) with an average incline grade of more than six percent. The first, a 2,100-foot elevation gain at Fort Mountain State Park was won by Canadian Dominique Perras of Flanders-iTeamNova. Rodriguez won the second, a 1,050-foot elevation gain at Woody Gap.

"I couldn't have done it without [teammates] Nathan [O'Neill] and Tom [Danielson], they set the pace for me all the way up," said Horner, winner of the Wachovia King of the Mountain jersey and the overall leader. "I'm looking forward to Atlanta tomorrow and holding on to the yellow jersey."

Today's two designated sprint points in Chatsworth, Ga., and Elijay, Ga., were won by American Phil Zajicek of Team Saturn. Additionally, 20-year-old Dalton, Ga., native Saul Raisin of the Ofoto-Lombardi Sports team was named best young rider for the fifth straight day.

"It was incredible to lead the peloton out of Dalton today," said Raisin. "My family was along the route in Elijay cheering me on and seeing my name painted across the road was great."

Tomorrow's 88-mile Stage Five race will kick off at 1 p.m. at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta. This final stage of the tour features nine, 9.8-mile circuits through the downtown, midtown and Virginia-Highlands area before finishing at Centennial Olympic Park at approximately 3:30 p.m.

Eighteen top American and international cycling teams, totaling more than 140 professional riders, are competing in the six-day Dodge Tour de Georgia. The race covers more than 600 miles (965 km), going through the host cities of Savannah, Augusta, Macon, Columbus, Pine Mountain (Callaway), Rome, Dalton, Gainesville and Atlanta. Dodge Tour de Georgia is the only stage race of this length in the U.S. that is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) for 2003, and one of only five races in the U.S. on the official UCI calendar.

Turner South will be airing a one-hour show recapping the entire Dodge Tour de Georgia on May 3 at 2 p.m. EST. For complete results, photos and more information, visit www.tourdegeorgia.com.

  STAGE FOUR RESULTS:  Dalton to Gainesville, 122 miles/196 km
                                                                    Time
   Place     Name                Team        Country    Time        Down
   1st       Rodriguez, Fred     Sidermec    USA        4:49:22     --
   2nd       Horner, Chris       Saturn      USA        4:49:22     --
   3rd       Iacuone, Allan      Flanders-   AUS        4:49:22     --
                                 iTeamNova

  OVERALL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION:                       Overall     Time
                                                        Time        Down
   1st       Horner, Chris       Saturn      USA        19:57:57    --
   2nd       O'Neill, Nathan     Saturn      AUS        19:58:09    0:00:12
   3rd       Green, Roland       USPS        CAN        19:58:15    0:00:18

  JERSEY WINNERS

   *  Wachovia King of the Mountain Leader: Chris Horner, Saturn
   *  Maxxis Sprint Leader: Fred Rodriguez, Sidermec
   *  Best Young Rider (under 23): Saul Raisin, Ofoto-Lombardi Sports

  About Dodge Tour de Georgia

Dodge Tour de Georgia is an annual weeklong, world-class, professional cycling stage race and rolling festival across Georgia held each spring. Dodge Tour de Georgia's five-year vision is to grow the event into "North America's Premiere Cycling Event" and the world's fourth Grand Touring Event - joining Tour de France, Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) and Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain) at the pinnacle of professional cycling. Dodge Tour de Georgia also is host to a rolling festival of family events and activities all along the race route benefiting Georgia's economy statewide. Proceeds from Dodge Tour de Georgia will benefit the Georgia Cancer Coalition and serve in creating awareness for Georgia's role in the fight against cancer. Dodge Tour de Georgia is owned and operated by The Georgia Partnership for Economic Development (GPED), a non-profit foundation that does business as "Tour de Georgia." For more information, visit www.tourdegeorgia.com.

The Georgia Partnership for Economic Development is a not-for profit foundation which operates as a public-private partnership with the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade & Tourism in attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, promoting the state as a location for film and video projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development.