Tour of California 2017 – Stage 6 [FULL STAGE – Individual Time Trial]

May 14, 2017

Tour of California 2017 – Stage 6 – Big Bear Lake (ITT) – 24 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) rode his way into the yellow jersey at the Amgen Tour of California on Friday, beating overnight leader Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) in the stage 6 Big Bear Lake time trial by 59 seconds to claim the race lead.

Team Sky’s Jonathan Dibben took the stage win, covering the 24km route in 28:27, seven seconds better than runner-up Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing), who moved into fourth overall with his performance. Cannondale-Drapac’s Andrew Talansky finished third, 16 seconds behind Dibben and moved into third overall.

Bennett, who finished fourth on the day, now leads Majka by 35 seconds in the overall, with Talansky in third at 36 seconds and Bookwalter 45 seconds back.

Ian Boswell (Team Sky) finished 21st on the day and slipped off the overall podium to fifth, while Dimension Data’s Lachlan Morton suffered an untimely mechanical and finished 49th, slipping from fifth to ninth.

While Bennett said in the post-race press conference that he was surprised that the day ended with himself in yellow, Dibben said he was even more shocked with his stage win.

“I think George said it was disbelief, and I can certainly tell you it’s certainly a bigger shock for me. At altitude you can’t really afford to go into the red too much, and so I didn’t bother with any sort of pacing there, I just sort of went out there and let the pain come to me. After a few K I was already screaming and I just kept digging in.”

Bennett, meanwhile, had previously told Cyclingnews he thought he’d need at least 90 seconds on riders like Talansky and Bookwalter heading into the time trial if he wanted to keep his podium spot. He went into the day with less than a minute, but his performance carried him through. His effort on course even caught hm by surprise.

“I was riding and I didn’t hear much over the radio, then just about halfway my director suddenly lit up and just got super excited, yelling in my ear and I knew that something was happening,” Bennett said. “It wasn’t really until a couple of K to go that I really stepped into it. I crossed the line and knew I had a good time. I was like third or fourth or something. I was waiting for the clock to tick down and it was a pretty nervous few minutes.”

How it unfolded

The 24km time trial course in Big Bear Lake, a picturesque alpine pool about 169km due east from Los Angeles, had a perfectly flat profile and was not especially technical, but the elevation of more than 2,000 metres added an extra challenge.

Twenty-year-old Filippo Ganna (UAE Team Emirates), who started just 13 riders into the 123-rider field, set the best early time with a ride of 28:48, backing up previous results he achieved in the U23 ranks.

Ganna’s early start time and quick result meant a long day in the hot seat for the young Italian, as rider after rider approached his time but could not match his effort.

Reigning US time trial champion Taylor Phinney (Cannondale-Drapac) was the first rider to come close with a mark of 29:03, but BMC’s Martin Elmiger came in next with a time of 28:52 to slot into second. Elmiger’s mark was also quickly eclipsed when Maciej Bodnar (Bora-Hansgrohe) came in at 28:50, just two seconds off the leader’s time.

Ganna’s mark eventually fell when Jonathan Dibben (Team Sky) crossed the line with an impressive 28:27, 21 seconds better than the previous fastest time. The 23-year-old Briton also had an impressive time trial palmares from his U23 racing.

Dibben’s mark was briefly threatened by Peter Sagan as the world champion rolled over the, but Sagan slowed in the second half of the route and crossed the line at 28:50 to slot into third.

Dibben’s mark held as the general classification contenders started, which saw Morton suffer a devastating blow with a mechanical issue as he rolled out of the start house. The rider who started the day fourth overall was quickly on a replacement race machine and back in the race.

Among the GC contenders, Bookwalter, starting fifth from last, came in with a time of that slotted him into second behind Dibben with just Morton, Talansky, Boswell, Bennett and Majka still on course.

Morton managed a time of 30:22, but Talansky finished just a handful of seconds later with the third-best time of the day at 28:43. Boswell finished next in 29:26 and slipped a few spots on the GC.

Bennett came in next, riding a 28:45 over the 24km to move into first place overall after Majka finished in 29:26.

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

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