The favorites massed at the front and reeled in a long breakaway as the top of the climb approached.

Rock Racing's Oscar Sevilla attacks the field.

 

All photos courtesy Vero Image.

Dahlonega, Ga. — Oscar Sevilla’s fifth place finish for Rock Racing Friday on Stage 5 sets the stage for an epic battle on what is expected to be the decisive day of the Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T.

Sevilla was in the mix on the final climb, which came just 1.4 miles (2.2 km) from the finish. It was the third time this week that the Spaniard has figured into a move late in the race.

“On the last King of the Mountain sprint, a small group of us got a little gap,” Sevilla said. “Unfortunately, a few riders caught back on in the final kilometer and some of them were Levi’s teammates. In the sprint, one of them (Chris Horner) pulled off and boxed me in. I had to nearly stop to get around him.”

Despite the momentary loss of momentum, Sevilla registered Rock Racing’s third top 10 finish of the race and put himself in a position to contend for the overall on Saturday’s “Queen Stage,” an 88.4-mile (142.3 km) race from Blairsville to the finish at the top of Brasstown Bald Mountain.

“It is clear to me that Oscar’s physical prowess is far and above everyone else right now,” Rock Racing Team Owner Michael Ball said. “Obviously we want to win and Oscar has a great chance to do it. But win or lose, this is a great race. If Oscar hadn’t been here, everyone would be focused on Levi. Now you have two guys going mano-a-mano.”

Richard England (Bissell Pro Cycling) won Friday’s stage ahead of Rory Sutherland (Health Net presented by Maxxis) and George Hincapie (Team High Road). All received the same finish time of five hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds for the 133.4-mile (214.7 km) stage, the longest of the seven-day, 600-mile event.

In the overall standings, Sevilla lies in 25th place, 53 seconds behind race leader Trent Lowe (Team Slipstream-Chipotle presented by H30). Leipheimer, winner of the past two editions of the Amgen Tour of California and the current U.S. national road champion, is fourth, four seconds off the overall lead.

Sevilla said he is feeling strong and confident heading into a stage that has traditionally decided the overall winner of the Tour de Georgia.

“It’s pretty obvious there is a battle going on between Astana and Slipstream,” Sevilla said. “Hopefully we can take advantage of that.”

— RRC—