TFM's Awesome Cycling Thread

Wiggo wins today's time trial.

Amazingly, 42 year old Jens Voigt managed 9th. Pretty impressive for an old dman.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-california-1/stage-2/results

Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) won the 20km individual time trial stage at the Tour of California Monday afternoon in Folsom. Under bright and sunny skies, Wiggins finished 44 seconds ahead of Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) and 52 seconds ahead of Taylor Phinney (BMC). Wiggins also took the overall race lead from Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma Quickstep).

"It was a fantastic course," Wiggins said. "I've been staying in Folsom for the last week and have been coming up here to ride the course. I knew it back and front. To come here today and put it all into action is a nice feeling."

Dennis, who started just 37th out of 128 riders, set a blistering pace of 24:02 in the hot sun and had to wait more than an hour before Wiggins knocked him from the hot seat.

"To be honest, I knew I wasn't going to win," the 23-year-old Australian said after the race. "I was hoping for a top three. I knew obviously Wiggo and Taylor were always going to be right up there. The one person I was worried about was Jesse Sergent as sort of a dark horse. He beat me in Romandie, and I was waiting for his time to sort of confirm that I would get a podium at least. Once that was sort of past I was pretty relaxed, and I was hoping Wiggo wouldn't take too much time out of me. But he sort of did that."

After looking smooth throughout his ride and catching both his one-minute and two-minute men, Wiggins crossed the line in a speedy 23:18.

Starting 10th from last, the pressure was then on Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team) to beat Wiggins, but at the halfway point Phinney was 32 seconds down, a relatively large amount to make up in the remaining 10km. Phinney would roll in with a 24:10 for third.

"You always want to win," he said. "But when the big guns come out. In a time trial there's no hiding. The strongest riders win, and that's how it is. So I'll have to be satisfied with my ride. It was alright, not great."

The surprise of the day was Eloy Teruel (Jamis-Hagens Berman), who finished an impressive fourth place, just 1:08 behind Wiggins. Sergent (Trek Factory Racing) rounded out the top five with a time of 24:29, 1:11 in arrears.

With his stage win, Wiggins more than made up the 10 seconds he was down on previous race leader Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma Quick Step), although the sprinter finished a respectable 27th, with a time of 25:21.

Wiggins will now wear yellow as the race leader going into stage 3. Dennis and Phinney are within a reasonable striking distance at 44 and 52 seconds, respectively - not a huge margin considering all the stages remaining and also considering that stage 3 is this year's Queen Stage.

The peloton will race 174.6km, including two major climbs up Mt. Hamilton and the finish at the top of Mt. Diablo. The challenging course should set the stage for GC contenders looking to make their moves.

Monday's time trial started with Robbie Squire (Jamis-Hagens Berman) as the first man down the start ramp, setting a time of 26:20. Jose Joao Pimenta Costa (Team NetApp-Endura) went a bit faster at 25:49, then Jens Mouris (Orica GreenEdge) took over the hot seat. Belkin's Jack Bobridge lowered the time to beat still more with a 24:33, but only 10 men later, Dennis clocked his 24:02.

With temperatures forecast to be in the upper 90s Fahrenheit for Tuesday's Queen stage, riders will face another long day in the heat. Wiggins said the only thing to do to prepare for the temperatures is to keep drinking.

"We've been here for a couple of weeks now," he said. "So we've gotten used to the heat anyway. But it still doesn't make it any easier. I think everyone is going to have a tough day tomorrow. There's only so much the human body can take."

 

Hmmm. Lawson Craddock finished 3rd today, The kid is 22. and he beat a TDF winner and Olympic gold medalist. Very impressive.

He is 4th overall, 81 seconds out of the lead.


http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-california-1/stage-3/results

 

Several reasons for breakaways.

The first is it generates publicity for the teams' sponsors. You have the lead riders on tv all race long.

The second is it works to tire those who may be in the lead, allowing others to make a play for the GC.

Last, because sometimes, breakaways actually hold off long enough to win the race, which is what happened today.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-california-1/stage-4/results

Will Routley (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) rode the perfect race during stage 4 of the Tour of California Wednesday, winning the stage from a six-rider breakaway and adding to his lead in the mountains classification by taking all three of the day's KOMs. Gregory Daniel (Bissell Development Team) and Kevin De Mesmaeker (Team Novo Nordisk) rounded out the top three on the day.

Overall race leader Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) successfully defended his yellow jersey, and gained four seconds on second placed Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) as the Australian was caught in a split in the peloton in the finale.

Routley has featured in every breakaway of the race so far, and his gambit to add to his mountains classification lead on stage 4 paid off big with the stage win.

"Things went better than planned," Routley said of the day's result. "Of course the goal was to go in the break for the KOM points again. It was a little harder to get in the break today than it was the last few days. I had a couple teammates kind of launch me across at the right time. I had been feeling really, really good sprinting at the top of the climbs, so really that was my whole focus, just to try and lock that down."

The 165.1km stage down the California coast from Monterey to Cambria featured one sprint and three major climbs, none of which were greater than a category 3. The last climb came just over 40km from the finish, leaving plenty of time for the sprinters' teams to bring things together for a final bunch gallop.

Except the peloton waited too long to get serious about chasing and failed to make the catch, leaving sprinters Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma Quick Step) and Peter Sagan (Cannondale) frustrated at missing out on a possible stage win.

Omega Pharma's Tom Boonen said the sprinters' teams waited a bit too long to pick up the chase, but he also credited those in the breakaway with riding a very intelligent race.

"They were going slow when they needed to, and they were going fast in the final," Boonen said. "And that's the way you win the race."

Boonen said the chase was full speed after the last climb, but even that wasn't enough to close the gap as the breakaway benefited from a strong tailwind.

"The climb before actually I went to the others and said we have to start pulling with two or three extra guys, because in the front they were waiting for the last part to speed up, I could really tell," Boonen said. "At that point we started riding full speed straight away going 75k an hour trying to get as soon as possible a minute or a minute and a half off their lead, so the other guys would start pulling as well to take their morale away a little bit. But it lasted too long, and with tailwind they were going full speed in the front as well."

The six-rider breakaway that escaped the bunch just a few kilometers into the stage included Routley, Daniel, De Masmaeker, Chris Jones (UnitedHealthcare), Jonny Clarke (UnitedHealthcare) and Matt Cooke (Jamis-Hagens Berman).

The leaders, all of whom were well down on the general classification, cooperated well together and quickly started building their advantage, which ballooned to nearly four minutes but held there as the peloton didn't seem to want let the escapees have too long a leash.

The gap shrunk to just 2:30 at the second KOM, but it went back up to more than three minutes when the leaders contested the final KOM of the day. At that point, the escapees knew they may have rolled the dice successfully.

"In between the two KOMs the gap came down to 2:30, and then we didn't ride any harder and it went up to 3:30," Clarke said. "So we didn't know if Omega and Giant or anyone were arguing back in the peloton, which can happen some of the time. Then when we came off the final KOM and had the tailwind, I thought we better go full gas. Our director said this morning for sure Omega's going to bring it back for a bunch sprint, but you just never know, so you've got to take your opportunities."

The break's six riders worked well together and smartly waited long enough to begin their games with each other. After a few moves by the two UnitedHealthcare riders, De Masmaeker made the first serious final move, but he was countered by Routley, who surged toward the line for the win. Cavendish won the field sprint for seventh ahead of Sagan.

Routley's win pushed him past Cavendish in the points competition, while Clarke netted the jersey for most courageous rider. Routley will wear green for Thursday's stage 5, and as the mountains classification runner-up, Clarke will wear polka dots. Jones will wear the most courageous jersey in the stage.

 

And yesterday's stage was won by Taylor Phinney.

You want to talk about a kid with a genetic pedigree, his father is Davis Phinney, from team 7-11, who in the 80's was the first American team invited to race the ToF, and ended up winning a stage

His mother Connie Carpenter-Phinney, who won a gold in cycling at the LA Olympics. She was also a speed skater prior to starting in cycling.

Anyway, at 23, he managed to hold off some oft he world's best to win a stage in the ToC, certainly a nice little addition to his cycling C.V.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-california-1/stage-5/results

BMC Racing’s Taylor Phinney got the win he wanted at the Tour of California when he soloed to the Stage 5 finish line in Santa Barbara on Thursday. The American time trial specialist attacked on the descent off of San Marcos Pass and won the race with few seconds to spare ahead of a dwindled bunch sprint led by Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge).

"It's huge to win at home, in front of a home crowd," Phinney said. "I'm from Colorado but I spend a lot of time in Santa Barbara, and I've done that descent many times. It's always special to win, but to win like that is the best way.

"I was never 100 per cent confident, but I knew that with 5km to go I had 30 seconds ... but that road along the coast took a long time. I just went for it, and once I could feel the energy of the crowd - we live for that magic of the moment - it was very special."

There was no change to the overall classification with Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) leading the race by 28 seconds ahead of Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) and 1:09 minutes ahead of Tiago Machado.

"Everyone felt the heat today," Wiggins said. "That was the hottest day I’ve ever experienced on my bike. Some guys will suffer for it, but it’s the same for everyone. I rode Mountain High and know what to expect. They are predicting cooler temperatures tomorrow, so that will be good for everyone."

The peloton lined up on the historic Pismo Beach Pier for the start of the fifth stage of the Tour of California. The warm weather continued with temperatures in the high 90s Fahrenheit. The 173.8km stage was rolling and included a late-race climb over San Marcos Pass before descending into Santa Barbara.

An early move went that included Michael Schär (BMC Racing), Danny van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing), Maarten Wynants (Belkin), Isaac Bolivar (UnitedHealthcare), Iker Camano (NetApp-Endura) and Serghei Tvetcov (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis).

Van Poppel took full points at the first intermediate sprint in Arroyo Grande, 25km into the race, and Camano picked them up at the second sprint in Nipomo, 35.5km into the race.

Wynants was the highest placed on GC, sitting 9:44 minutes behind Wiggins, however, Team Sky, with some help from Cannondale, kept the breakaway at a safe two-minute lead and reduced the gap to under a minute near the base of San Marcos Pass.

Jens Voigt (Trek Factory Racing) made a move out of the peloton at the base of San Marcos Pass. The attack was rather expected, a typical Voigt move, and a smiliar moved that he made before winning in Avila Beach last year. This time he wasn’t as successful and was brought back a few minutes later.

Wynants was the last of the breakaway riders to make an attack but he was reabsorbed into the field partway up the climb. The field was together in a long sraight line with Team Sky and Cannondale setting a quick pace.

Sagan, who was still in the group toward the top of the climb, sent more of his Cannondale teammate George Bennett to the front to increase the speeds, just enough for him to stay with the main group while also getting rid of other potential sprint threats.

The first attack came from Daniel Jaramillo (Jamis-Hagens Berman), a rider who showed his climbing potential after winning atop Mogollon at the Tour of the Gila. early this season. The Colombia gained a few meters on the field before being caught.

Will Routely (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) jumped out of the field near the top of the climb to pick up full points in the King of the Mountain competition. The Canadian won previous day’s fourth stage in Cambria and was leading both the KOM and the Sprint competitions heading into the fifth stage.

“I think some of the other guys who had point weren’t in the group anymore,” Routley said. “I felt good on that last climb and thought that if I could sprint for it then I’d be secure with the point I have now.”

Routley was planning on contesting the potential bunch spring aswell, however, his GC teammate Carter Jones flatted on the climb and he stopped to give him a wheel.

Phinney snuck off the front of the field in a tuck position on the descent, gaining 25 seconds. The time trial specialist was a threat to the other team’s sprinters left in the main field, all except for Greg van Avermaet, who sat in the field protected from the wind on the descent with 20km to go.

When asked why he decided to attack on the descent, Phinney said, “"Stupidity maybe? Sometimes you just have a voice inside that says go. I know I can go downhill faster than everyone else, mainly because I weigh more than everyone else. Something inside me said to go for it. I got to the bottom with a gap and said, 'well, I'm committed now.' I kept getting splits from the moto and it was looking good. The more I went the more painful it got, but I knew it would be worth it if I made it. It's the best way to win, like that."

Cannondale rallied their leadout to help set up Sagan for the final sprint followed by Orica-GreenEdge for its sprinter, Goss. Phinney, however, was completely committed to his solo move and increased his lead to 40 seconds as he raced into Santa Barbara.

 

Chavez wins a mountain finish!

Myself, I find mountain finishes much more interesting than sprint finishes. Whilst the sprints rely more on tactics, mountain finishes are just pure athleticism.

Craddock remains a solid 3rd.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-california-1/stage-6/results

Esteban Chaves (Orica GreenEdge) soloed to the win during stage 6 at the Tour of California from Santa Clarita to Mountain High with a virtuoso display. The Colombian climber, in his first season at the WorldTour level, attacked on the final climb from a select group and held off the remnants of the peloton to take the biggest win since his Tour d'Avenir victory in 2011.

Chaves attacked inside the final 5km of racing, distancing breakaway companions David De La Cruz Melgarejo (Team NetApp-Endura) and Tom Danielson (Garmin-Sharp), who finished second and third, respectively.

"Today I felt so good," Chaves said through a translator at the post-race press conference. "Just in the last 4km I was afraid that the chase with all the guys from the overall would catch us. But I felt so good in the last 3km, and the climb was steep, so I tried, and I got the victory. I knew that I had one opportunity to win the stage, so I knew that the victory was for me in just the last one-and-a-half or two kilometres."

Behind the break a close battle developed between Team Sky and its rivals for the yellow jersey, including Garmin-Sharp's Rohan Dennis, who started the day second overall, just 24 seconds behind race leader Bradley Wiggins.

Joe Dombrowski defended Wiggins against persistent pressure from BMC and Garmin-Sharp, and inside the final 2km the race leader was forced to hit the front. He was able to match the challenge from Peter Stetina (BMC) and even managed to put two seconds into Stetina and Dennis at the line.

"I actually felt pretty good," Wiggins said. "I felt better than I did on Diablo, so I was just really watching Rohan and Adam [Yates, of Orica-GreenEdge] and trying to gauge how they were feeling. I really didn't look around and see who was there until I saw the big screen about 400 meters to go, and I saw there were just four of us left, so at that point I just went to the line and put it all out there."

Dennis said he never even considered attacking Wiggins in the last kilometers, as he did on Mt. Diablo when he pulled back 20 seconds from the race leader.

"We had Tommie D off the front, so we were watching what Sky was doing," Dennis said. "Hopefully they were riding hard like they did on Diablo and just blow up, but they controlled it perfectly. It was steady uphill. Wiggo up there in the last kilometer, whoa, I don't think I've hurt like that in a while."

Wiggins now leads Dennis by 30 seconds, with Lawson Craddock (Team Giant-Shimano) moving into third at 1:48.

For the fifth consecutive day, temperatures soared near or beyond 100 degrees Fahrenheit, but that didn't stop the early adventurers from taking off about 29km into the 156.1 km stage that included more than 3,330 meters of climbing. The group of six included Chaves, Danielson, De La Cruz, Jack Bobridge (Belkin Pro Cycling Team), Chris Jones (UnitedHealthcare) and Javier Megias Leal (Team Novo Nordisk).

A heavy tailwind through most of the stage helped the breakaway riders again during stage 6, and the gap grew to a maximum advantage of 4:20 the chase from Team Sky - with some help from Garmin - started to bring it down. Chaves started the stage 3:32 down on Wiggins, and as the best-placed rider in the breakaway, he was briefly the virtual leader on the road.

Despite the concerted chase behind, the tailwind continued to push the breakaway, and at the start of the final climb to Mountain High about 20km from the finish, the escapees still had a gap of more than three minutes.

Sky pushed the pace on the front for Wiggins, and up the road Megias needed a bike change, effectively ending his day in the break. Jones was the next rider to pop out of the group, followed a bit later by Bobridge. Chaves, De la Cruz and Danielson continued on, while Michael Schär (BMC) went to the front of the Wiggins group to help Sky with the chase. Dennis sat behind Wiggins and the Sky lineup, trailed closely by his teammates Ben King and Janier Acevedo.

King jumped out of the group to try and draw out the Sky chase, but at 7:48 down, the Wiggins group showed little interest in picking up its tempo to go after him. But he eventually faded and came back. With less than 10km remaining, the trio off the front had a 2:25 advantage on the peloton, and their chances of staying away appeared all but certain. Wiggins still had Dombrowski and Josh Edmondson with him, and his two teammates sold out at the end to keep the pace high and chase down one last attempted attack from Stetina.

At the front of the race, an attack from Chaves dropped Danielson and De La Cruz, while Acevedo tried to jump away from the Wiggins group to set up Dennis for the finish. But Dombrowski pulled back the Garmin-Sharp rider, and Dennis was unable to counter.

Chaves continued on his own all the way to the finish, while De la cruz crossed the line next, followed by Danielson in third.

In the GC battle behind, both Dombroswki and Emdondson burned themselves up for their team leader and pulled off, leaving Wiggins on Dennis' wheel. Stetina was also still in the group, along with third overall Tiago Machado (Team net App-En dura), fourth overall Craddock and Yates.

Wiggins eventually went to the front and set a tempo that would discourage anymore attacks. He crossed the line behind Yates for fifth, preserving his GC lead over Dennis. Craddock, who stated the day 16 seconds behind Machado, was able to gain enough time to move into third.

 

And Wiggo wins it all.

The guy was in great form, and does present the question regarding the ToF. Does his team back him or Froome? Boht have won the ToF, and both clearly have the potential to win it again.

As for my earlier touting of Lawson Craddock, the young man finished 3rd, less than 2 minutes off the lead. Impressive.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-california-1/stage-8/results

Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) was dropped on the day’s decisive climb but made his way back into the peloton just in time to win the bunch sprint during Sunday's final stage at the Tour of California. He jumped with several hundred meters to go and won the gallop to the line ahead of John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) and Peter Sagan (Cannondale).

Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins took the overall win ahead of Garmin-Sharp’s Rohan Dennis and Giant-Shimano's Lawson Craddock.

Cavendish said he almost didn't take the start for the final stage, considering the lumpy profile and how he had been climbing, and he was surprised to be able to come back to win the stage. It nearly didn't work out for him after a puncture on the base of the Rock Store climb earlier in the race.

"I punctured at the bottom of the climb and had to ride the whole climb on my own, chasing," Cavendish said. "I chased all the way and caught back on the descent. I figured if I could do that I'm going OK, I'll try to hang on the last lap. I did that, my team waited with me, we floored the descent and gained a lot of time back on the descent. My team were incredible pulling back the group. They had some goods today."

Cavendish hit the front of the fast, wide-open sprint and powered away in the last 50 meters, but he was nearly surprised at the line by Degenkolb, who was coming up fast on his right.

"Finally I was lucky to win," Cavendish said. "I celebrated a bit early, John [Degenkolb] nearly came by. I don't want to see the photo finish."

Wiggins, who wore yellow since the stage 2 individual time trial, lavished his team with credit.

"I've said it every day, without those guys I wouldn't be here right now," Wiggins said. "As strong as my performance was individually in the time trial, the team have took the strain all week. Those young Americans on our team did a fantastic job - Joe [Dombrowski], [Ian] Boswell, Danny [Pate]. Even today they didn't give up the chase, they came back still after the climb. It was a fantastic way to finish."

The 2012 Tour de France champion rated his victory in California as a satisfying one.

"It's always an honor to wear the yellow jersey," he said. "But I set my stool out to win the Tour of California, and I wanted to add my name to the guys have come before, and I've done that now. At 34 it's nice to still be winning."

A late-race breakaway included Jack Bobridge (Belkin), who was part of an original all-day move, along with new recruits Lucas Euser (UnitedHealthcare), Eloy Teruel (Jamis-Hagens Berman) and Jens Keukeleire (Orica-GreenEdge), who jumped across to Bobridge before the start of the short finishing circuits. The breakaway held a 20 second gap on the last of three circuits, but they were reabsorbed into the field with 5km to go.

Cavendish also popped out of the group on the final climb, but he joined leadout man Mark Renshaw along with BMC riders Thor Hushovd and Taylor Phinney in a successful chase back to the front.

 

Already settled. Wiggo is supporting Froome.


I have not been able to find the official start list yet.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-to-support-froome-at-the-tour-de-france

Bradley Wiggins is on Team Sky's long list to race the Tour de France and the chances that he will be on the start line on July 5 in Leeds continue to grow. According to Team Sky's director Kurt-Asle Arvesen, if Wiggins is selected, he will be working for defending champion Chris Froome.

"Bradley is definitely back in good form," Arvesen told Cyclingnews. "Most of the guys on our team want to be apart of the Tour team. Bradley, won it two years ago, it starts in the UK this year, of course it will be a good thing for us to have him there. Right now, our Tour de France longlist is about 14 or 15 guys."

If Wiggins does race the Tour, it will be in a worker's role for his teammate and defending champion Chris Froome. The Kenyan-born British cyclist dominated the mountain stages during last year's Tour and won the race by 4:20 minutes ahead of runner-up Nairo Quintana from Movistar and 5:04 minutes ahead of third placed Joaquím Rodríguez from Katusha.

"He will be working for Froome in GC," Arvesen confirmed. "The way Froome rode last year, he's definitely it — it's Froome for the Tour. Bradley will be there to support Froome, if he wants to go, if he's selected and if he's in good form."

Wiggins finished ninth at Paris-Roubaix and is currently leading the Tour of California after four stages. Although he is showing strong early-season form, Arvesen believes he is not yet at his best.

"He's not in Tour-form yet," Arvesen said. "If you look back at the 2012 season, when he won the Tour, he had already won Romandie and Dauphiné."

Wiggins is a favourite to win the Tour of California in Thousand Oaks on Sunday. He won the stage two time trial in Folsom and is leading the overall classification by 28 seconds ahead of Garmin-Sharp's Rohan Dennis and 1:09 minutes to Tiago Machado (NetApp-Endura) with four stages to go.

 

Alas, I must comment on this brilliant piece of prose.

Consider this. You claim to have me on your ignore list, yet you don't ignore me. You go into a thread on a political forum, in a casual chat section, dedicated to the discussion of cycling, and bray to the world how you have opted to not hear anything I say, and then you go on a long, insulting diatribe.

I consider the above quoted post to be a prime example of the arguments your post puts forth. You can't see anything I say so your posts swill be admittedly ill informed and your posts have nothing of merit to say so they resort to insults.

You have, in a nutshell, summed up why I have so little respect for what you say. Your post epitomizes your arguments.

 

Froome wins the time trial at the CdD.

A bit of a shocker. I expected him to take it a bit easier, but then again, it is Froome, who seems to have one speed only, and is beyond competitive even when it does not matter.

Americans Talansky and Van Garderen finished in the top 10. Talansky seems to be having a banner year, and definitely strikes me as a force to be reckoned with in the next few. Van Garderen as always seems right on the cusp of destroying all of the competition.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/06/news/wins-stage-1-2014-criterium-du-dauphine_331028

Defending champion Chris Froome (Sky) won stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné on Sunday, donning the first yellow jersey of the 2014 race and putting eight seconds into arch-rival Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).

“I’m a bit surprised to be honest, I didn’t expect to win. It’s a result that confirms the work done in training and the fact that I’m in form,” Froome said. “It’s a bit of an unexpected situation because I didn’t expect to find myself in this position but it’s great to not have any time to make up.”

Bob Jungels (Trek Factory Racing) set the early best time of 13:22 on the 10.4km course in Lyon, which featured a 800-meter category-4 climb and a twisting, technical descent.

Of the contenders for the overall, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) proved fastest at the first time check, with defending Froome second and Contador third.

Contador finally ousted Jungels from the hot seat, turning a time of 13:21. Nibali was next to cross, but he wouldn’t dethrone the Spaniard, hitting the line 13 seconds slower.

And last came Froome, who took the stage win and put Contador in an eight-second hole. Early leader Jungels held on for third at nine seconds, while Nibali slotted into eighth.

“I don’t think it was necessarily the objective to take the yellow jersey today on such a short, flat time trial but I couldn’t be happier with the result,” said Froome. “I’m here to win the race and we’re going to do everything we can.”

Monday’s second stage is a 156km leg between Tarare and the Col du Beal, with a final climb of 13.6km at 6.6 percent.

“The Dauphiné this year is really hard right from the opening stages,” said Froome, who is anticipating “a really big race in the mountains.”
Race note

• Two Americans cracked the top 10 on Sunday. Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) finished just off the podium in fourth, 11 seconds down on Contador. BMC Racing’s Tejay van Garderen crossed ninth at 13 seconds. “After I had that crash at Romandie, I was overly cautious in the corners,” said van Garderen, adding: “Time gaps today were small. The big differences are going to be made in the mountains. This was a good test and I am ready to look forward.”

Read more at http://velonews.competitor.com/2014...terium-du-dauphine_331028#G9C8RQET7oZCBh8e.99

 

Wow.

A 25 year old American from Florida beats not one but two TdF winners in the end to win the Criterium.

Now that was impressive.

Easily the biggest win of his career, and I think we can say he is a rider to watch out for in the future.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/criterium-du-dauphine-2014/stage-8/results

Mikel Nieve saved the day for Sky Team, winning the final stage of the Criterium du Dauphine atop Courchevel on a day that saw the race explode with a thrilling finale. Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) used his participation in a break group to win the overall title, holding off a last-ditch attack from Alberto Contador, while former leader Chris Froome cracked and slipped out of the top ten.

Second on the stage was Romain Bardet (AG2R) with Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge) in third. Talansky finished fourth, and burst into tears upon hearing that the time gap was enough to give him the victory.

"You put your whole life into something, the sacrifices, the training ... it’s moments like this that makes it all worthwhile," Talansky said after the finish. "Just one moment like this makes you forget about all the rest."

Alberto Contador, who led the race coming into the final stage, was forced to ride without teammates for most of the stage, and fought valiantly to defend his jersey. In the end he finished 1:15 after Nieve and 1:06 behind Talansky.

The final GC saw Talansky win the over Contador by 27 seconds with Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto Belisol), at 35 seconds.

A break to the end

As expected the race exploded into live at the very start on the decisive stage. A large group broke away shortly after the day’s first climb with David Lopez, Mikel Nieve, Richie Porte (Sky), Tanel Kangert, Lieuwe Westra (Astana), Dani Navarro, Yoann Bagot (Cofidis), Adam Yates (Orica GreenEdge), Igor Anton, John Gadret (Movistar), Romain Bardet, Alexis Gougeard, Jean-Christoph Péraud (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), Jurgen Van den Broeck, Tony Gallopin, Pim Ligthart (Lotto Belisol), Kristjan Koren (Cannondale), Tejay van Garderen (BMC), Yuriy Trofimov (Katusha), Ryder Hesjedal, Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) and Bartosz Huzarski (NetApp-Endura).

Talansky was the biggest threat, as he came into the stage third overall, only 31 seconds behind second-placed Chris Froome (Sky) and 39 seconds down on leader Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).

A gap of 3:20 put the American in the virtual yellow jersey – which was naturally not to the liking of Tinkoff-Saxo and Sky, who teamed together to lead the chase.

Froome was determined to reclaim the jersey, which he had given up the day before and attacked out of the peloton on the second ascent, the cat. 1 Col de Saisies, taking three teammates with him. Contador immediately followed, but without teammates.

The favourites’ group ballooned to 17 riders, including Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and fourth-placed Wilco Kelderman (Belkin). Up ahead, Porte and Westra sat up in the escape group, waiting for their captains. The lead group topped the second climb with a 2:35 gap on the Contador group, with the peloton one minute further back.

By the time the 50km to go marker was passed, the gap between Talansky and Contador was down to under two minutes, and with 33km to go, it was just one minute. And there were two cat. 1 mountains to come, including a finish atop the Courchevel.

Hesjedal moved up to the head of the break group, putting up a high pace to help his teammate Talansky not only stay on the podium, but possibly win the race.

Nibali seized his moment and moved clear of the Contador and Froome group, with the two main rivals intent on watching each other, with the gap to Talansky’s group moving back out to two minutes.

Heavy rain started coming down on the ascent of the penultimate climb – and Contador attacked. And once more, Froome remained seated on his bike, on Thomas’ rear wheel, watching as his rival pulled away.

With 20km (and the final two climbs) still to go, Contador was alone and 2:10 behind the Talansky group. Nibali and Kelderman were between, at 1:09, and Froome behind at 2:34.

Contador bulled his way through the remnants of the early break, quickly building up the lead to a minute over Froome.

The lead group flew down the penultimate mountain, with Talansky going all out to secure the overall title. With 10km to go, Contador was still 1:11 down, with Froome nearly forgotten at 2:54.

Talansky lead a group of eight – including Van Den Broeck, who had his eye on the podium as well – onto the final climb, but Nibali and Kelderman were not far behind. With 4km still ahead of them, Contador had managed to cut the gap to 56 seconds.

Nieve jumped from the lead group, hoping to at least salvage a stage win for Sky. Kelderman moved up in chase of the lead group, as Nibali faded and fell back.

Nieve led the way into the final kilometre, as Talansky and Van den Broeck remained together.

Visibly exhausted, Contador moved out of the saddle and sprinted for the finish line, but he had lost time and finished 1:14 behind Nieve, and 1:06 after Talansky, dropping him to second. Meanwhile, further behind – much further behind – Froome came in 5:05 down.

 

7 stages done in the Tour de Suisse.

Who is in the top 10? Why, no other than young American phenom Lawson Craddock.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-de-suisse-2014/stage-7/results

Amazing that there are not one but two young Americans who are either dominating the TdF warm up races or making a very good showing.

Let's put this in perspective.

Andrew Talansky won the Criterium de Duaphine beating 2 TdF winners. Lawson Craddock is beating another in the TdS. It appears young American cyclists are getting very good in this age of the much stricter doping controls.

 

And it looks like the lawsuit against Lance Armstrong will go forward.

A judge refused to dismiss it. As far as I can tell, Armstrong's reasoning is that the government should have known he was doping.

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/federal-judge-rules-lance-armstrong-24224160

A federal judge on Thursday refused to dismiss the government's lawsuit against disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong and a number of associates for alleged doping and use of banned performance-enhancing techniques.

From 1999 to 2004, Armstrong was the lead rider on a team sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service, and he won the Tour de France every year during that period.

On Thursday, Judge Robert Wilkins ruled in favor of the government's position that Armstrong and associates owed an obligation to pay money due to the alleged breach of the sponsorship agreements with the postal service.

The Postal Service paid about $40 million to be the title sponsor of Armstrong's teams for six of his seven Tour de France victories.

The judge said the government's complaints are rife with allegations that Armstrong had knowledge of the doping and that he made false statements to conceal it.

The Justice Department says the cyclist violated his contract with the U.S. Postal Service and was "unjustly enriched" while cheating to win the Tour de France.

The Justice Department stepped into the case last year, joining a whistleblower lawsuit brought by former Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis under the federal False Claims Act.

Wilkins, a newly appointed appeals judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is sitting as a U.S. district judge in the lawsuit against Armstrong.

 

Stage 13 of the TdF. Phil Liggett asks if Captain America (cheering from the roadside) is from Star Wars! lol! Swiftly corrected.

Yesterdays standings:

Overall Time Leaderboard
Position Rider Team Time
1 Vincenzo Nibali Astana Pro Team 51:31:34
2 Richie Porte Team Sky 51:33:27
3 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte Movistar Team 51:34:21
4 Romain Bardet AG2R La Mondiale 51:34:35
5 Thibault Pinot FDJ.FR 51:35:21

Van Garderen was the lead American seventh or eighth...

 

Looks like Aussie Ritchie Porte is bonking with 12k to go, Van Garderen might move one up the rankings tonight. Pinot is going for it!

 

Ah, the new year. Always a time where I am looking to get back on the bike after a few months off, and to spend too much time tracking down channels showing cycling races.



It also means the first big race of the year is coming up, the Tour Down Under. Always interesting as the European and American pros head down to experience the heat of the Australian summer, or winter, whatever it may be that they call it.

The start list is out. Shockingly there is only one Australian team on it. One of my favorite young American racers, Lawson Craddock, is racing. Of course Cadel Evans is racing in what may very well be his last Santos TDU.

http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/start-list.htm

 

Boonen is out.

A spring classics sort of guy, although he is better, in my opinion, in the one day races, is out of Paris Nice with a dislocated shoulder.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/boonen-suffers-dislocated-shoulder-in-paris-nice-crash

Boonen suffers dislocated shoulder in Paris-Nice crash


Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) dislocated his left shoulder during a crash in Paris-Nice and will need three to six weeks to recover, his team announced today. The injury means Boonen will not compete in the Northern Classics.
Related Articles


Boonen suffered a left acromioclavicular (AC) joint dislocation in the crash, which occurred as the peloton was chasing a two-rider breakaway about 20km from the finish. Boonen, riding near the rear of the peloton, touched wheels with the rider in front of him and hit the tarmac hard. Boonen landed hard on his shoulder and was seen cradling his left arm as he sat on the ground waiting for medical attention. A Cannondale-Garmin rider also went down in the crash.

"An AC-joint dislocation, as we've already seen with other riders of the team with the same kind of injury, requires an extended time of recovery due to the nature of the injury," said Etixx-QuickStep doctor Yvan van Mol. "Unfortunately, because of the injury and the time it takes to recover, Boonen will not be able to participate in the Northern Classics. Tomorrow Tom will undergo further examination in Belgium to diagnose the grade of the dislocation and determine if surgery is necessary based on the grade."

The Belgian Classics specialist has had a solid early season so far, finishing inside the top 10 seven times, including third at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and second during stages in Oman and Qatar.

After Paris-Nice, Boonen, 34, was headed for E3 Harelbeke, which he was won five times. From there, his schedule included Gent-Wevelegem, where he is a three-time winner, Tour of Flanders, which he has also won three times, Scheldeprijs and Paris-Roubaix.


Author: Cycling News

 

And after yesterday's rather short ITT prologue, stage one of Paris Nice came down to a bunch sprint.

American Van Garderen is in 11th a scant 14 seconds back.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/paris-nice-2015/stage-1/results

 

Possible, but I doubt it.

The fellow has shown amazing consistency, that being a distant relation with anything truthful, up to and including his "Oprah' moment. He could have come clean years ago, taken his couple year ban, and been free to compete again. he refused.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/armstrong-could-get-chance-to-seek-reduced-ban

UCI President Brian Cookson told the newspaper on Monday that he had been asked to broker a meeting between the disgraced former Tour de France winner and the US Anti-Doping Agency, which levied the lifetime ban against Armstrong as part of its Reasoned Decision in 2012.

Cookson said that he had been asked by the Cycling Independent Reform Commission, which on Monday released its report into cycling’s doping issues, “to facilitate a further discussion between Lance Armstrong and USADA."

Cookson revealed that this was something he was "happy to do," according to the Daily Telegraph, although he emphasised that the commission was not intending to recommend a reduction in the American's ban.

"The commission itself did not feel that anything Lance told them was sufficient for them to recommend a reduction in his sanction, and I have no evidence to contradict that," Cookson told the newspaper. "I have no desire to be 'the president that let Lance Armstrong off the hook' or anything like that. I'll take my lead from the CIRC."

Cookson said he empathised with Armstrong's contention that he had been treated more severely than his peers, but he also recognised the balancing act that an organisation like USADA had to try and maintain while attempting to catch the PED users.

“I understand Lance Armstrong's position, but I'm not convinced that we would be here talking about this issue if USADA hadn't done what they did [in prosecuting Armstrong]," Cookson told the Daily Telegraph. "I think they did an excellent job.

"I think it's fair to say that Lance was given exceptional treatment, but then again he was an exceptional offender, so I don't have a huge amount of sympathy for Lance Armstrong in that respect."

 

And Greipel takes a stage. The German powerhouse once again shows that at 32 he is on top of his game.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/greipel-praises-lotto-soudal-teammates-for-paris-nice-stage-win

André Greipel won his first WorldTour race of the year at Paris-Nice ahead Arnaud Démare (FDJ) and John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin), shaking off all symptoms of the illness he started the race with. After celebrating win number two of the season, Greipel dedicated the victory to his mother.

"I'd like to give this victory to my mother, she has a very hard time at the moment. Don't give up," he told letour.fr

The win is Greipel's first at Paris-Nice and fist win on French soil since stage 6 of last year's Tour de France victory.

"It's important to win for the first time on Paris-Nice," he said. "It's a big race with some of the best sprinters in the peloton. Yesterday, we really didn't take part in the sprint. Today we wanted to do it better It's a team work, I win with them and I lose with them. So I was glad I was able to deliver today.

"Paris-Nice is a big race. Every victory is important, but a victory in a WorldTour race like here is very nice for the team and me. Yesterday all went wrong what could go wrong, and the whole team was determined to set things straight today."

Inside the final 10km of the stage, compatriot Tony Martin (Etixx-Quick Step) launched an attack which drew out Lars Boom (Astana) and Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) from the peloton with the trio disrupting the sprint trains on the flat run into Saint Amond Montrond. Greipel praised the efforts of his team to reel in the breakaway and then judge the headwind correctly to deliver him to victory and Lotto-Soudal's seventh win of 2015.

"It was a different sprint preparation than usual because of the attack of Martin, Thomas and Boom, but thanks to the reaction of Tony Gallopin and Tim Wellens we maintained a good position," he said. "We came to the front with more than three kilometres to go, Orica-GreenEdge obviously had a plan, but we got in their slipstream with 800 metres to go. I was afraid that Greg Henderson began the sprint too early with the headwind, but I could take over and leave the rest behind me.

"The entire team rode a marvellous sprint and we achieved a goal by winning this stage."

Stage three is another day suited to the sprinters although Greipel explained the team has already met its expectations for the eight day race on the flat with its focus now on the overall.

"Tomorrow could be another chance but we already achieved our goal in this Paris-Nice with this stage win and we also have GC ambitions with Tony Gallopin and Tim Wellens," he added.

Greipel's racing programme this season has seen the German national champion take a different approach to previous seasons with a full classics schedule before returning to the Giro d'Italia for the first time since 2010.

 

Tight race.

While the odds of Van Garderen and Talansky may be dwindling, the lead itself is very much up for grabs.



http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/paris-nice-2015/stage-3/results

Michael Matthews made the most of a perfect lead-out from his Orica-GreenEdge team to take victory on stage 3 of Paris-Nice. The Australian was delivered to the front in the final two corners and powered home to beat Davide Cimolai (Lampre-Merida) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing). Matthews also moves into the race lead, just one second ahead of Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep).
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Orica-GreenEdge drove the peloton under the flamme rouge, flanked by Lampre-Merida, stringing out the peloton through the twisting finish in Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule. They had taken up the push in the final five kilometres as they brought back a late attack but still had the numerical advantage in the last 500 metres with four riders sitting on the front.

Matthews began his sprint as the peloton rounded the final corner, putting in an extra kick in the exit of the turn to dispatch of the chasing Cimolai and Nizzoli and take his first victory of the year. Alexander Kristoff had to go the long way around in the final corner and could only manage fourth, while the previous day’s winner, André Greipel, was nowhere to be seen, finishing well down in the bunch.

The bonus seconds earned put Matthews at the top of the general classification with Kwiatkowski and Dennis just a second behind him. Matthews credited his team with the win and race lead.

"I wasn't sure what to expect before this Paris-Nice but we had really good training with the team in South Africa and we brought very strong guys to help me here. They did the hard work, mine was the easy part," Matthews said.

"To hold the yellow jersey is incredible. Before I left, my girlfriend asked me to bring back a yellow lion but a yellow jersey will top it. It's also a great reward for the team after the amazing job they did. I don't know about my form. I might have ups and downs. Tomorrow is a hard stage and I don't know the final climb. But I will hold on to this jersey for as long as I can."

How it happened

The third stage of Paris-Nice brought the riders 179 kilometres south from Saint-Amand-Montrond to Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule. After winning the opening stage Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep) still held a slender lead in the overall competition ahead of BMC’s Dennis. There was a slight cloud over proceedings as the AG2R-La Mondiale team reacted to the EPO positive of teammate Lloyd Mondory.

That was soon forgotten when the flag was dropped and racing began. Philippe Gilbert (BMC) and Florian Vachon (Bretagne Seche-Environment) formed the first attack of the day after nine kilometres of racing. At third in the mountains classification Gilbert was in with a chance of taking the polka-dot jersey.

Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) and Antoine Duchesne (Europcar) set off in chase of the leading pair. Wiggins dropped back to the peloton not long after, leaving Duchesne alone in his pursuit. The Europcar rider never got closer than two minutes and the pack pulled him back. There was more to come from the bunch with Trek Factory Racing pairing Bob Jungles and Gert Steegmans jumping off the front at the sprint, earning Jungles a potentially important bonus second.

After the first KOM, the two escapees led the bunch by more than four minutes with Gilbert taking the maximum points to put himself ahead of jersey wearer Jonathan Hivert (Bretagne Seche-Environment). Behind the leading duo, riders continued to try and bridge over and it was Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) who finally made the junction at kilometre 74.

On the Col dela Bosse, just passed the halfway mark, Gilbert added another four points to his mountains tally, securing himself the polka-dot jersey for at least a day. With the help of Voeckler the advantage of the leaders grew once again and breaching the five-minute mark with just over 50 kilometres to go.

With all of the day’s three climbs done and dusted Katusha put men on the front to assist the other sprinters’ teams and began to make some headway in the chase. The leading trio found their gap cut down by a minute in the subsequent 10 kilometres. As the peloton passed the line for the first time with 20 kilometres to go, the gap had been brought down to just 43 seconds. Knowing that he was guaranteed the mountain’s jersey and not willing to waste any more energy than necessary, Gilbert sat up and waited for the peloton leaving Voeckler and Vachon to forge on.

Vachon was the next to fall back into the clutches of the peloton 10 kilometres later, with Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) joining forces with Voeckler almost simultaneously. Perhaps trying to distract from the negative media attention around the team, AG2R-La Mondiale’s Jan Bakelants and Romain Bardet also struck out. They made contact with the two out front just as Voeckler gave up the attack.

A furious chase from the sprinters’ team ensued and the gap never grew too far. They were barely allowed 16 seconds before they were finally caught with two kilometres to go. Trek Factory Racing, Orica-GreenEdge and Giant-Alpecin all had representatives on the front as the break was brought back in but it was between Orica and Lampre-Merida going into the final kilometre.

After two top-ten finishes in the previous two stages, Matthews was able to convert the fantastic efforts of his team into a stage win and a yellow jerse

 

Did I speak too soon? Van Garderen certainly made a move yesterday. However, is anyone riding better than Porte right now?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/paris-nice-2015/stage-4/results

The Sky duo jumped clear of a select group of race favourites inside the final two kilometres of the climb with Porte leading the pair home. Kwiatkowski delivered a determined solo chase to finish eight second in arrears – an effort that saw him reclaim the race lead with Porte now just one second back, and Thomas in third at three seconds.

“It is a fantastic day for the team," Porte said. "We took it on from the bottom and it wasn’t an easy climb but to finish first and second like that is fantastic.

“Two years ago I took the jersey on the mountain stage, so I know that it’s not easy with two hard days coming up and then the Col d’Eze. I love the Col d’Eze, and I would love to have a good time trial there if I can. I have a great team here and now with Geraint and I up there on the general classification, it’s good to have two cards to play.”

Overnight leader Michael Matthews (Orica GreenEdge) was an early casualty on the final climb after Team Sky took charge on the 10-kilometre ascent with a textbook display of control and prowess.

After Lars Petter Nordhaug positioned his teammates at the head of affairs the Norwegian set a steady tempo for four kilometres. It was not enough to split the biggest race favourites but it softened many of them up and isolated riders like Andrew Talansky (Cannondale Garmin) and Kwiatkowski.

And when the Norwegian finally pulled off, his legs almost coming to a complete standstill in the process, the team's other new signing Nicolas Roche took over. The former Irish road champion provided another flavour to Sky’s menu of talents, and whereas Nordhaug remained rooted to his saddle, Roche stood, churning his way up the climb and distancing Talansky, Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Wilco Kelderman (Team LottoNL-Jumbo).

Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing), Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), Rui Costa (Lampre Merida) Kwiatkowski, Jakob Fuglsang, Fabio Aru (both Astana) and Rafael Valls Lampre Merida) were all present and accounted for, but Sky was determined to remain on the front foot and Thomas launched an attack with 3km to go. Fuglsang was the first to follow with Simon Spilak (Katusha) later making contact.

Bardet, van Garderen and Ruben Fernandez (Movistar Team) attempted to make the juncture, but the Spanish rider suffered an embarrassing crash as he turned his head to assess the opposition behind him and rode straight into van Garderen.

Porte marshaled each surge as the leaders held a small advantage, and it was only after an acceleration from the world champion Kwiatkowski did the main favourites merge once more.

The peace lasted only a short while as Porte took up the reigns. Thomas was able to find the Australian’s slipstream and although Fuglsang was near the front he was powerless to stop the Team Sky tandem.

 

Apparently not. Porte was unstoppable, even after yesterday's crash.

[video=youtube;qp5NC36fTyY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp5NC36fTyY[/video]

If you look close he drags a pedal, sending him into the slide.

 

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

Milan-San Remo. A brutal, 180 mile race. The first half features plenty of climbing, but it is definitly a sprinters race, with the second half being fairly flat.

If I had to make a prediction, I would say Cavendish or Greipel, with an edge going to Greipel as he has the better supporting cast.

Unfortunately, Italian races do not get the coverage that French or even Belgian races get, but they do feature many local Italian teams and seem to favor Italian style Of riding.

http://www.steephill.tv/classics/milan-san-remo/

 

Not even close to being right.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/milan-san-remo-2015/results

John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) won Milan-San Remo after he saw off Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) and Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) in a gripping sprint finish on the Via Roma.

Like last year, Kristoff was dropped off in first position by his teammate Luca Paolini but this time around he was forced to open his sprint from a little further out than he would have liked, and he was overhauled by Degenkolb in the final 50 metres.

In a blanket finish, Matthews held off Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) for third, while Niccolò Bonifazio (Lampre-Merida) took fifth ahead of Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis).

The finale was animated by a two-man move featuring Geraint Thomas (Sky) and Daniel Oss (BMC), who forged clear after the Cipressa, before the Sky man then attacked alone on the slopes of the Poggio.

Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) bridged across shortly before the summit while Sagan and Matthews followed closely, but despite Van Avermaet’s white-knuckle descent of the Poggio, he couldn’t prevent a sizeable group finish, as Paolini took over for Katusha once the road flattened out.
Results
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin 6:46:16
2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha
3 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo
5 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Lampre-Merida
6 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
7 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Factory Racing
8 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida
9 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal
10 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN - Qhubeka

 

Incredible end to a rather boring race.

Sagan won it literally by an inch, taking third in the stage, and with being 1 second off the lead, the time bonus put him up to the overall winner.

Saga, looks much slimmed down over previous years, and managed to almost hang in the Mt. Baldy climb, only finishing I believe 47 seconds behind the stage winner.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2015...nd-to-win-the-amgen-tour-of-california_370623

Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) won the Amgen Tour of California with a bike throw on Sunday.

Sagan began the day in second place overall, and Etixx-Quick-Step did its level best to keep him there, behind race leader Julian Alaphilippe. Teammate Mark Cavendish won both the intermediate bonus sprint and the final stage in Pasadena, denying Sagan a bunch of critical bonus seconds.

But Sagan fought back — taking second in the intermediate sprint and third in the final dash to the line — to snatch the final leader’s jersey from Alaphilippe by just three seconds.

A five-man break went early in the 65.4-mile stage, which began with an hour of racing in downtown Los Angeles and finished in Pasadena. But the quintet — Yves Lampaert and Matteo Trentin (Etixx-Quick-Step); Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (MTN-Qhubeka); Ruben Zepuntke (Cannondale-Garmin); and Danny Pate (Sky) — couldn’t stay away long enough to suck up the bonus seconds on offer in the intermediate sprints at mile 37 (three, two and one seconds for first, second and third).

But Etixx and Sky kept at it, sending off rider after rider, putting pressure on Sagan and his Tinkoff-Saxo team.

Just ahead of the line Etixx went again, but Sagan was vigilant, sitting second wheel. And come the sprint, it was close — but Cavendish took it by a whisker ahead of the Tinkoff strongman, with race leader Alaphilippe third. Sagan was now just one second off the overall lead.

There were more bonus seconds on offer at the finish — 10, six and four for first, second and third — but as soon as the intermediate sprint was in the bag, another break went clear.

This time it was Manuel Senni (BMC Racing); Jesse Anthony (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies); and Hincapie Racing teammates Oscar Clark and Joseph Lewis. They built a 30-second lead with four laps of the finishing circuit remaining.

UnitedHealthcare and Drapac contributed men to the chase as the break worked itself over, with Senni, Anthony and Clark all trying attacks. The field kept it steady and pulled them all in, with Clark the last man standing. He got knocked off with just over two laps to go.

Another quartet went then, but was quickly snatched back. Then a trio, likewise retrieved.

As the bunch heard the bell for last lap MTN-Qhubeka tried to get itself organized for Tyler Farrar. Trek Factory Racing likewise moved up for Danny Van Poppel.

Gregory Daniel (Axeon) tried a last-ditch attack, but it fell short. Then Trek took the front and ramped up the pace. Etixx likewise moved up, as did MTN-Qhubeka.

Sagan was sitting second wheel as the final sprint erupted. In the chaotic rush to the line it was Cavendish who took the stage win ahead of Wouter Wippert (Drapac) — but Sagan took a photo-finish third from Farrar, collecting a four-second bonus that put him over the top, and he celebrated with a wheelie.

Alaphilippe hung on for second overall with Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Sky) third.

“It was very close,” said Sagan, who won the Tour of Poland in similar fashion a few years back, bouncing back in the final stage to take the overall by seconds.

“I’m very happy. This year I lost the green jersey and I had to do something to be on the podium.”

Cavendish tipped his hat to Sagan, saying “we tried our best.”

“Full credit to Tinkoff,” he added. “They were strong. They rode hard today. Especially Pete

Read more at http://velonews.competitor.com/2015...tour-of-california_370623#QKKtL6KPo6EAMLhA.99