Tour of California 2018 – Stage 5 [FULL STAGE]

May 17, 2018

Tour of California 2018 – Stage 5 – Stockton – Elk Grove : 176,5 km

With an all-star sprint roster that includes world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data), Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin), Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates), Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors), and Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott), the 2018 Amgen Tour of California has been properly billed as a preview of the coming Tour de France showdown in July. The seven-day WorldTour race, starting Sunday in Long Beach, provides three clear opportunities for the sprinters on stages 1, 5 and 7. A stage 3 finish at Laguna Seca Raceway, where Sagan beat BMC Racing’s Greg Van Avermaet in 2016, should be another opportunity for the punchier fastmen who can make it over the series of short-but-steep climbs near the finish.

It was a day for the sprinters on stage 5 of the 2018 Tour of California, and it was Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) who came out on top for his second stage win at this year’s race, besting Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) and world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe).

Although there was no change in the overall classification – Tejay van Garderen (BMC) retains his lead ahead of Team Sky’s Egan Bernal – it was a dramatic final 10km of the stage, with mechanical problems and punctures for Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) and Katusha-Alpecin’s Marcel Kittel, and then a crash in the peloton with 3km to go before the remnants of the day’s breakaway were reeled in with 2km to go.

Gaviria’s Quick-Step Floors team took over at the front and easily delivered the Colombian to stage victory in Elk Grove ahead of Ewan and Sagan.

“The guys on the team did a really good job,” said Gaviria. “It was really fast all the way to the finish. Max Richeze did a really great job in the last kilometre. It was so fast, and really difficult, but he was so strong, so I’m really happy that we were able to win.”

Attention now turns to Friday’s stage 6 to Lake Tahoe, which will be decisive as to whether van Garderen can fend off the inevitable attack from Bernal, who sits just 23 seconds behind the American overall.

“It’s going to be a really aggressive race tomorrow,” said van Garderen. “Bernal is for sure going to do everything he can to try to wrestle this jersey from me. I’m going to be doing everything I can to keep it on my back.

“We have Brent Bookwalter sitting in 10th place; he’ll be crucial for the climbs tomorrow. Micky Schär… He’s a jack of all trades. And then there’s a ton of experience and a ton of depth with all the other guys,” van Garderen said, outlining the help he’s going to be relying on from his team to try to do enough to take the leader’s yellow jersey into Sacramento on the final stage on Saturday.

How it unfolded

Stage 5 set out from Stockton on Thursday, with the peloton well aware that everything pointed to a bunch sprint in Elk Grove 176.5km later.

That didn’t stop five riders going up the road almost from the gun, and the peloton were content to let them dangle out front for most of the day, although they were never allowed much more than around three minutes’ advantage.

The riders were Michael Rice (Hagens Berman Axeon), Ruben Companioni and Holowesko-Citadel teammate Fabian Lienhard, Tanner Putt (UnitedHealthcare), and, in AG2R La Mondiale’s Stijn Vandenbergh, the first WorldTour rider to get into one of these early moves, which have otherwise been the domain of the Pro Continental squads.

It proved to be a long day out in front for the quintet, who chose not to dispute the intermediate sprints, and to instead concentrate on working together.

With the finish in Elk Grove fast approaching, and as the peloton piled on the pressure from behind, it was the end of the line for Rice just inside 20km to go, swiftly followed by Companioni, while the remaining three pushed on in the vain hope of staying away as their time advantage tumbled.

Mark Cavendish’s woes this season continued when, with just over 10km to go, a tangle with an EF-Drapac rider damaged his rear wheel, forcing him to stop for a replacement before a frantic effort to chase back to the bunch with the help of his Dimension Data teammates.

All credit to them that he was able to, still with 6km to go, which is when another of the stage favourites, Katusha-Alpecin’s Marcel Kittel, punctured, and was unable to get back into contention.

The crash that came with 3km to go involved a number of Cavendish’s Dimension Data teammates, which scuppered any hope of the British sprinter truly being in the mix on the line, but the likes of Gaviria, Ewan, Sagan and their teammates had the bit between their teeth, hoovering up Lienhard, Vandenbergh and Putt with 2km left to race.

That was the cue for Quick-Step Floors to stretch out the bunch, and despite valiant efforts by Ewan and Sagan to get on terms, Gaviria’s stage win – his second following his victory in the opener in Long Beach last Sunday – was never really in doubt.

Results :
1 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors 4:04:34
2 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
3 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
4 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
5 John Murphy (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
6 Sean Bennett (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
7 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
8 Ivo Oliveira (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon
9 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
10 Travis McCabe (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
11 Ian Garrison (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
12 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin
13 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
14 Miguel Bryon (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
15 Brandon McNulty (USA) Rally Cycling
16 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
17 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
18 Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
19 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
20 Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo
21 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates
22 Gavin Mannion (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
23 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
24 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
25 Rúben Guerreiro (Por) Trek-Segafredo
26 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
27 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky
28 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky
29 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
30 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
31 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
32 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
33 Patrick Bevin (NZl) BMC Racing Team
34 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
35 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
36 William Barta (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
37 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
38 Floris De Tier (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
39 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
40 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
41 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
42 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally Cycling
43 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
44 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
45 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
46 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
47 Thomas Leezer (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
48 Michal Kolár (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
49 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
50 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
51 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:12
52 Ian Boswell (USA) Katusha-Alpecin
53 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
54 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky
55 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
56 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
57 Robert Britton (Can) Rally Cycling
58 Anass Ait El Abdia (Mar) UAE Team Emirates
59 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
60 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
61 Andrei Krasilnikau (Blr) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
62 Yousif Mirza Al-Hammadi (UAE) UAE Team Emirates
63 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
64 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky
65 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data
66 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
67 Alvaro Hodeg (Col) Quick-Step Floors
68 Lachlan Norris (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
69 Filippo Ganna (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
70 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling
71 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:23
72 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
73 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling
74 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:27
75 Roger Kluge (Ger) Mitchelton-Scott
76 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:33
77 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:49
78 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
79 Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:52
80 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:57
81 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:59
82 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:01:00
83 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:02
84 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:01:09
85 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
86 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:14
87 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:26
88 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
89 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
90 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:45
91 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:02:02
92 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
93 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky 0:02:09
94 Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) Quick-Step Floors
95 Sepp Kuss (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo
96 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:02:51
97 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data 0:04:18
98 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data 0:04:20
99 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
100 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Sunweb
101 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb
102 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
103 Tyler Magner (USA) Rally Cycling
104 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Team Sky 0:05:04
105 TJ Eisenhart (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:05:06
106 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling 0:06:17
107 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:06:58
108 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb
109 Max Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb
110 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
111 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:07:25
112 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
113 Ruben Companioni (Cub) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
114 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) BMC Racing Team
115 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data

General Classification after Stage 5 :
1 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 16:55:29
2 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky 0:00:23
3 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:37
4 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:07
5 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:15
6 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:29
7 Brandon McNulty (USA) Rally Cycling 0:02:08
8 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:02:13
9 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:15
10 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:02:34
11 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:36
12 William Barta (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:02:56
13 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:03:28
14 Rúben Guerreiro (Por) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:35
15 Sean Bennett (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:03:43
16 Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:03:45
17 Gavin Mannion (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:03:54
18 Robert Britton (Can) Rally Cycling 0:04:21
19 Ian Boswell (USA) Katusha-Alpecin 0:04:31
20 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:36
21 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:38
22 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
23 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:39
24 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:05:22
25 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:05:26
26 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 0:06:30
27 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky 0:06:38
28 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:08:50
29 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:08:54
30 Ivo Oliveira (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:09:00
31 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Quick-Step Floors
32 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:09:12
33 Patrick Bevin (NZl) BMC Racing Team 0:09:50
34 TJ Eisenhart (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:10:45
35 Anass Ait El Abdia (Mar) UAE Team Emirates 0:11:00
36 Floris De Tier (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:11:05
37 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:11:34
38 Andrei Krasilnikau (Blr) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:11:47
39 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data 0:11:55
40 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:12:09
41 Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) Quick-Step Floors 0:12:10
42 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:12:50
43 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:13:24
44 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:16:10
45 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:16:38
46 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:16:44
47 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:17:30
48 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:18:13
49 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:18:56
50 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:19:06
51 Sepp Kuss (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:19:19
52 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:19:27
53 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 0:19:48
54 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:20:43
55 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:21:11
56 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:22:12
57 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data 0:22:24
58 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:22:37
59 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data 0:22:52
60 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin 0:22:54
61 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:23:03
62 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:23:37
63 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:23:46
64 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:23:51
65 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:24:21
66 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 0:24:44
67 Lachlan Norris (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:24:48
68 Filippo Ganna (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:25:16
69 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:25:27
70 Travis McCabe (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:25:37
71 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors 0:25:45
72 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling 0:25:57
73 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors 0:26:21
74 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:26:30
75 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:26:51
76 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:28:07
77 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo 0:29:11
78 Ian Garrison (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:29:33
79 John Murphy (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:30:08
80 Thomas Leezer (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:30:20
81 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:30:21
82 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:30:26
83 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:30:27
84 Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
85 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:30:51
86 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:30:53
87 Yousif Mirza Al-Hammadi (UAE) UAE Team Emirates 0:31:06
88 Alvaro Hodeg (Col) Quick-Step Floors 0:31:33
89 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally Cycling 0:31:37
90 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Team Sky 0:32:02
91 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky 0:32:13
92 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:32:54
93 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:32:57
94 Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:33:24
95 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:33:25
96 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:33:26
97 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:33:59
98 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data 0:34:04
99 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling 0:34:06
100 Miguel Bryon (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:34:07
101 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:34:23
102 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:34:26
103 Roger Kluge (Ger) Mitchelton-Scott 0:34:33
104 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:36:04
105 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling 0:37:05
106 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:37:57
107 Tyler Magner (USA) Rally Cycling 0:38:11
108 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:38:36
109 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:38:40
110 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:39:22
111 Max Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:39:54
112 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:39:58
113 Ruben Companioni (Cub) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:42:32
114 Michal Kolár (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:43:56
115 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:48:15