Rock Creek sponsored the Brasstown Bald finish for Stage 5 of the The Tour de Georgia, which turned out to be another solid victory for Discovery. Levi Leipheimer took the stage, with Tom Danielson a close second, and overall Tour winner Brajkovic keeping his leader jersey by keeping up with CSC’s Vande Velde.
Quite a few fans showed up this year for this exciting hors categorie climb, and they were cheering the riders all the way up to the top. We stayed the night in Hiawasee, GA and woke up early to set up our booth at the expo down below the Bald. We had the pleasure of setting up right in front of the giant fake Waffle House and next to Jittery Joe’s, so we had plenty of caffeine to keep us alert.
Overall it was a great Tour, with Discovery taking the overall win. I’m hoping there was enough support from sponsors (many of whom came in late in the game) to continue the Tour next year. This is one of our favorite events, and it clearly brings a lot of people and money into Georgia and Tennessee.

Photo: Mark McKnight handing over the Brasstown Bald check to Levi Leipheimer from Discovery. Courtesy Greg Browning.