2006 USA Cycling Pro Championships

[RestedTraveler]

Here are some of my 545 photos from Sunday's running of the 2006 USA Cycling Professional Champioship Road Race in Greenville, South Carolina, USA.

The race saw 102 of the nation's top professional cyclists race 121 miles from Downtown Greenville to Travelers Rest, ascend over 1000 feet up Altamonte Road to the crest of Paris Mountain, descend back down the other side and on back into Downtown Greenville ... FIVE TIMES, followed by four circuit laps through the streets of Downtown Greenville before a final finish at the Start/Finish gate at the intersection of Broad Street and South Main Street.

Out of the 102 cyclists that began the race, only 31 actually finished it. It was that grueling. Greenville's own George Hincapie won the race and took home the Stars and Stripes Jersey with a time of 4 hours, 47 minutes, 15 seconds. Levi Leipheimer finished second, 16 seconds behind George. Danny Pate came in third, a full 1 minute, 20 seconds behind the winner. The 2005 Road Race Champion, Chris Wherry, finished fifth.

For complete details/descriptions of each photo, GO HERE and click on the thumbnails.

The 2006 Individual Time Trial Champion, David Zabriskie:

The 2006 Road Race Champion (today's race), George Hincapie:

Marc Anderson (61) and Evan Elken (62) from the Jittery Joe's Coffee Racing Team:

A couple of shots from the Cycling Expo Area along South Main Street:

The lead pack at the end of the second lap finds the 2005 Champion, Chris Wherry (1), the eventual 2006 Champion, George Hincapie (211), and Andrew Bajadali (52) in the lead:

Fans at the Start/Finish Line were able to watch the race on a giant screen...in this shot, Levi Leipheimer (221) was in the lead, but was in some distress because he over-shot his feed back in the Feed Zone earlier in the lap so he was slowing down to get a replacement meal:

Some shots from Lap 3:

And, of course, bringing up the rear....the broom wagon:

And chasing it all, the support crews:

George had his fair share of fans in the hometown crowd:

Congratulations to George Hincapie and David Zabriskie!!