Yesterday’s stage one of the Tour de Georgia didn’t end exactly the way the folks in Portland would have liked, but it was pretty close. Local rider Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net-Maxxis) got 2nd on the stage behind lone breakaway rider Daniele Contrini (Tinkoff). It would’ve been cool if Ollerenshaw could’ve donned the leader’s jersey, but at least he got his name on the air. And I think he’ll be wearing the points jersey at the start today as well. Not too shabby. You can read all about yesterday’s stage here.

Oh, and I tried tuning into the live video and live race commentary yesterday, but it was torture. The video was spotty at best, and the audio sounded like a mad sound scientist was turning the speed up and down constantly. It was like a bad drug trip. (Not that I’d know, of course. I’m just sayin’.) Really, though, I think I was spared the worse alternative - actually listening to the race announcers. When the sound was clear, I kept turning it down or off anyway - who are these guys, anyway? It honestly sounded like they’d grabbed a couple WWE announcers and threw them into the wrong sport. Maybe I’m spoiled by Phil & Paul & Bob, or my new commentating team of choice, Anthony & Brian of Cycling.tv, but really - is it that hard to find someone to call a bike race intelligently and not yell at everyone in the process?

photo: Casey Gibson