wait until I feel normal again.? George was referring to his transatlantic flight, 9 hours of jet lag and a minor cold.   George is clearly starting to feel better with his form coming along as he gets closer to his upcoming objective, the spring classic races - Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

Tom Danielson: Traveling, Quacking and the Ford Tour de Georgia-

After a sold effort at the Tour of California Tom suffered through the woes of international travel as he: missed his initial flight out of LA, spent the night in LA grabbing dinner with Mark Higgins and I, relaxed in LA the following the day, flew to Barcelona through London only to find out that, oops, his bikes didn?t make it???.sorry Mr. Danielson.   So what?s a guy to do?   Well, Tom, and Johan, took it all in stride and removed Tom from the start list for Paris-Nice, replaced him with Roger Hammond, and moved him over to race Tirreno-Adriatico (TA) providing him a few extra days of rest.  

After a few days of racing in
Italy I caught up with Tom and his first comments to me about TA were that there was a lot of ?quacking? going on.   Huh? Yes, quacking or as some call it ?argie bargie?.   So what is it you say?   Tom describes quacking as this, ?it?s when you are in a race with a bunch of guys, in this case the spring classics tough guys, and they are bumping and grinding the whole day for position in the peloton????.all of the things that Tom, a 135lb climber hates.   ?The roads are narrow, the pace is super high and guys are constantly battling for position trying to put you in the gutter,? stated Danielson.   Unfortunately Tom?s worst fears about all of the quacking came true as he crashed in the final 1000m of last Saturday?s stage in the midst of some ?quacking? during the final sprint.   Tom found himself lying on the ground unsure of what exactly happened.   Tom?s ok?.a little sore but recovering well in
Girona, Spain.  His initial response to me when asked if he was ok, ?Come on PJ, I?m from the East Coast, of course I?m ok but I think I bruised my spine.? I told him I didn?t think that was possible.  

As for the upcoming Tour de Georgia where Tom is the defending champion, he told me that, ?I am very motivated to perform well with the ultimate goal of defending my title.?   This race comes just prior to one of his season?s top objectives, the Giro d?Italia.   The Tour de Georgia course suits Tom well with both a Time Trial and climbing stages highlighted by the epic stage finish on top of Brasstown Bald, a stage that Tom won in 2005.   Tom told me, ?I?m really excited to come back to race in the U.S and specifically
Georgia.  There?s nothing like having fans cheering your name.