Tour of California 2017 – Stage 7 [FULL STAGE + Ceremony Awards]

May 20, 2017

Tour of California 2017 – Stage 7 – Mountain High – Pasadena – 125 km

The 2017 Amgen Tour of California is a road cycling stage race that is scheduled to take place between 14 and 20 May. It is the 12th edition of the Tour of California and the 22nd event of the 2017 UCI World Tour; the first time that the race has been staged as part of the World Tour.

George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) wrapped up the overall victory at the Amgen Tour of California on Saturday, finishing safely in the peloton on the seventh and final stage to seal his first WorldTour general classification win.

Rally Cycling’s Evan Huffman out-sprinted breakaway companions David López (Sky) and Nicolas Edet (Cofidis, Solutions Credit) at the finish line in Pasadena to claim his second stage victory of this year’s race. 22 seconds later, Bora-Hansgrohe’s Peter Sagan led the pack across the line for sixth place behind the escapees, securing the green points jersey.

His teammate Rafal Majka finished in the peloton as well to secure his second place overall, 35 seconds down on Bennett, with Cannondale-Drapac’s Andrew Talansky rounding out the GC podium a further second back.

“Only when I rode under the banner for the final three kilometres did I know that I had won,” Bennett said. “I was a bit under pressure, but the team was awesome today. They showed some serious good legs, and so thanks to them.I’m going to build on this. This victory will make a big difference to me. I want to back this up in Europe too in the near future.”

How it unfolded

A number of attackers went clear shortly after as the race rolled down from the start line at Mountain High, but the peloton set a high pace through the early kilometres, refusing to let anyone get away for long. The day’s main breakaway move did not form until over 40 kilometres into a stage that stretched for just 125 kilometres in total – and only after a brief flurry of attacks from the GC contenders.

As the road tilted upward, Bennett and Majka tested each other on the early slopes of the Mt. Emma Rd. climb, but neither could force any separation. Then it was the stage hunters who went on the move.

Stage 4 winner Huffman, his Rally teammate Rob Britton, López, Edet and Lachlan Morton (Dimension Data) jumped away on the ascent. Five became six after Rally’s Sepp Kuss made a long ride to bridge into the break. They worked their advantage up to around a minute before the peloton tightened the leash, and the gap hovered there or thereabouts as they traversed the remaining two categorised climbs.

Talansky and Sunweb’s Sam Oomen made short-lived attempts to escape on the second-category final climb but neither managed to create much space, with Majka and Bennett live to the danger.

Still with only a minute in hand as they began the long descent toward Pasadena, the breakers had their work cut out for them to hold off a pack full of sprinters’ teams eyeing the flat finish. But even with Katusha-Alpecin and Quick-Step Floors pushing a high pace, the riders out front stubbornly held their gap as the kilometres ticked down.

With Kuss and Britton pulling the six along, the break took around 40 seconds into the final 10 kilometres. Kuss came detached after a big effort with around seven kilometres to go, but the surviving five proved up to the task of holding off a charging peloton.

With Morton mostly focused on picking up a few seconds to claim the young rider’s jersey and Britton emptying the tank to support his teammate, it was down to Huffman, López and Edet to contest to stage victory. Huffman and López rode neck and neck in the final sprint until the final 100 metres, when Huffman pulled away to nab his second win of the week.

Sagan pipped Quick-Step’s Matteo Trentin in the ensuing sprint for minor placings, with Bennett, Majka and Talansky all coming home moments later to seal their GC podium placings.

Results :
1 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling 2:37:28
2 David Lopez (Spa) Team Sky
3 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
4 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data
5 Rob Britton (Can) Rally Cycling
6 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:22
7 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
8 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
9 Ben King (USA) Dimension Data
10 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin
11 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
12 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
13 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
14 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
15 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky
16 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
17 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
18 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
19 Janier Acevedo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
20 Daan Olivier (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
21 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
22 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
23 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
24 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
25 Nathan Brown (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
26 Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky
27 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
28 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
29 Floris De Tier (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:35
30 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:39
31 Rúben Guerreiro (Por) Trek-Segafredo
32 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:53
33 Travis Mccabe (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
34 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
35 Matti Breschel (Den) Astana Pro Team
36 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling
37 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin
38 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Sunweb
39 Jacob Rathe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
40 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
41 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb
42 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
43 Michael Morkov (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
44 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
45 Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
46 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates
47 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
48 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
49 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors
50 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
51 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:59
52 Greg Henderson (NZl) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
53 David Lozano (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
54 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
55 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
56 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
57 Matteo Dal Cin (Can) Rally Cycling
58 Mathias Leturnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
59 Martin Elmiger (Swi) BMC Racing Team
60 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling 0:01:02
61 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
62 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
63 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
64 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data
65 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
66 Federico Zurlo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
67 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team
68 Daniel Eaton (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
69 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:01:07
70 Nick Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data
71 Gavin Mannion (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
72 Javier Megias (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
73 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
74 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:01:10
75 Daniel Jaramillo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
76 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:17
77 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:32
78 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:36
79 Jack Bauer (NZl) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:37
80 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors 0:02:25
81 Sepp Kuss (USA) Rally Cycling 0:02:30
82 Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team 0:02:46
83 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:49
84 Brendan Canty (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac 0:03:55
85 Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
86 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
87 Miles Scotson (Aus) BMC Racing Team
88 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
89 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
90 Sean Bennett (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:09:20
91 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:10:21
92 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk 0:11:39
93 Marco Mathis (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
94 Gregory Daniel (USA) Trek-Segafredo
95 Romain Gioux (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
96 Joshua Berry (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
97 Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
98 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
99 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
100 Martin Velits (Svk) Quick-Step Floors
101 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
102 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team
103 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
104 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
105 Ben Wolfe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
106 Marko Kump (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
107 Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
108 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
109 Michal Kolár (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
110 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
111 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
112 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb
113 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
114 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling
115 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
116 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
117 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
118 Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data
119 Lawson Craddock (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
120 Filippo Ganna (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:11:51
121 Yousif Mirza Alhammadi (UAE) UAE Team Emirates 0:13:27
DNF Taylor Phinney (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
DNF Wouter Wippert (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac

Final General Classification :
1 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 22:54:38
2 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:35
3 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:36
4 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:45
5 Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky 0:01:00
6 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:54
7 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data 0:01:55
8 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:02:12
9 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:02:15
10 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:14
11 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:03:38
12 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:03:39
13 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:03:53
14 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 0:04:27
15 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 0:04:50
16 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team 0:05:15
17 Janier Acevedo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:06:09
18 David Lopez (Spa) Team Sky 0:06:18
19 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:07:11
20 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:07:46
21 Ben King (USA) Dimension Data 0:08:52
22 Nathan Brown (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:11:44
23 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:12:59
24 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:13:22
25 Greg Henderson (NZl) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:14:02
26 Rob Britton (Can) Rally Cycling 0:17:07
27 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
28 Sepp Kuss (USA) Rally Cycling 0:17:48
29 Javier Megias (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk 0:18:17
30 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin 0:18:49
31 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data 0:20:33
32 Gavin Mannion (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:21:30
33 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky 0:22:42
34 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling 0:23:00
35 Floris De Tier (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:23:40
36 Daan Olivier (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:23:47
37 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:24:42
38 Mathias Leturnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:25:50
39 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:28:08
40 Brendan Canty (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac 0:28:28
41 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:30:23
42 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling 0:30:36
43 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:31:09
44 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 0:31:15
45 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:31:47
46 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:35:07
47 Matteo Dal Cin (Can) Rally Cycling 0:39:36
48 Jack Bauer (NZl) Quick-Step Floors 0:39:37
49 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 0:41:44
50 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Sky 0:44:07
51 Nick Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data 0:44:30
52 Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:44:31
53 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:44:36
54 Matti Breschel (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:44:51
55 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:45:21
56 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates 0:45:34
57 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:45:41
58 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:45:45
59 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:45:50
60 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:46:10
61 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:46:12
62 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin 0:46:20
63 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky 0:46:32
64 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:46:37
65 Daniel Jaramillo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:46:41
66 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 0:47:04
67 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo 0:47:54
68 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team 0:48:13
69 Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:48:16
70 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:48:18
71 Daniel Eaton (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:48:19
72 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
73 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:48:38
74 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky 0:48:58
75 Martin Elmiger (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:49:27
76 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors 0:49:37
77 Jacob Rathe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:50:01
78 Michael Morkov (Den) Katusha-Alpecin 0:50:08
79 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:50:22
80 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling 0:51:05
81 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:51:10
82 Travis Mccabe (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:51:43
83 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:51:47
84 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 0:52:33
85 Rúben Guerreiro (Por) Trek-Segafredo 0:54:52
86 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk 0:55:50
87 Miles Scotson (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:56:18
88 Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team 0:56:25
89 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:56:28
90 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:56:38
91 Sean Bennett (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:57:02
92 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:57:37
93 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:57:46
94 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk 0:57:55
95 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling 0:59:00
96 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:59:09
97 Joshua Berry (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:59:11
98 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
99 David Lozano (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk 0:59:25
100 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:59:59
101 Federico Zurlo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 1:00:11
102 Michal Kolár (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:00:17
103 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb 1:02:03
104 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 1:02:05
105 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin 1:03:57
106 Gregory Daniel (USA) Trek-Segafredo 1:04:00
107 Marko Kump (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 1:04:16
108 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team 1:04:24
109 Filippo Ganna (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 1:04:25
110 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 1:04:41
111 Yousif Mirza Alhammadi (UAE) UAE Team Emirates 1:04:48
112 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:06:30
113 Lawson Craddock (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 1:09:16
114 Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 1:10:59
115 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 1:12:07
116 Marco Mathis (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 1:12:44
117 Ben Wolfe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 1:13:17
118 Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 1:15:12
119 Romain Gioux (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk 1:16:27
120 Martin Velits (Svk) Quick-Step Floors 1:16:32
121 Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data 1:16:49