Tour of California 2016 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

May 15, 2016

Tour of California 2016 – San Diego – San Diego – 170,5 km

The Tour of California (officially known as the Amgen Tour of California for sponsorship purposes) is an annual professional cycling stage race on the UCI America Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour. It was first held in 2006. The eight-day race covers 650–700 miles (1,045–1,126 km) through the U.S. state of California. A typical edition might begin in Nevada City, travel through the redwoods, wine country and the Pacific Coast, and finish in a southern California city such as Escondido. The 2009 race crossed the Central Valley from Merced to Fresno, with an excursion through the Sierra Nevada foothills, before crossing over to the coast. The tour is sponsored by Amgen, a large California-based biotech company.

Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) added a 14th career Tour of California stage win on Sunday, sprinting to the stage 1 victory in San Diego ahead of Wouter Wippert (Cannondale Pro Cycling) and Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo).

Sagan freelanced his way through the chaotic finale, coming from several riders back and surging into the lead in the final few metres before the line. The world champion will now start stage 2 in the yellow jersey he wore at the end of last year’s race.

“Today was a good day; it was a little bit hard stage,” Sagan said in the post-race press conference. “After 50-60 kilometers it was one long climb then descent, it was a little bit windy, but the temperature was good, cloudy but a little bit of sun, but not very hot. I am very happy to win today.”

Sagan and his Tinkoff team benefited from a very motivated Katusha squad, which road the front all day long chasing down the early breakaway. Katusha was obviously hoping to set up sprinter Alexandre Kristoff for the opening victory, but the Norwegian sprinter finished a disappointing 16th. The Russian squad did get some help from Dimension Data and several other teams near the end, but Katusha put in most of the work, allowing Tinkoff to go into Monday’s second stage with fresh legs to defend Sagan’s leader’s jersey.

But at the press conference, Sagan seemed to bristle at the idea that he is now in the driver’s seat to defend his 2015 overall win.

“Today was a sprint, it’s not for GC,” he said. “Today was a very long climb, but it was in the middle of the stage, then it’s flat then the tough stages come the next days. For sure this year it will be very hard to be in the front in GC.”

How it happened

The 175 km opening stage, which started and finished at Sea World in San Diego, featured two intermediate sprints and the category one climb of Honey Springs Road exactly halfway through the day. From there, the peloton had a generally downhill run to the finish.

A group of seven riders escaped within the first 10km, with Daniel Patten (Team WIGGINS), Daniel Eaton (UnitedHealthcare), Jacob Rathe (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis), Joonas Henttala (Novo Nordisk), Danny Pate (Rally Cycling), Michael Sheehan (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) and Oscar Clark (Holowesko-Citadel) slipping away and building a gap of more than six minutes just 30km into the stage.

Katusha picked up the chase, obviously hoping to set up a bunch sprint for Alexander Kristoff, and Mark Cavendish’s Dimension Data team threw a rider into the chase as well.

The Jelly Belly riders in the break relied on their superior number to put two riders in the points at the first intermediate sprint, where Sheehan took maximum points ahead of Eaton and Jelly Belly’s Rathe.

The peloton was feeling stingy on the opening day and started slowly bringing the leaders back. With 110km remaining, the gap was down to just above five minutes. It came down steadily as the break climbed to the day’s first KOM, where Clark took top honours ahead of Rathe and Pate to secure the first mountains jersey of the race. But the escapees adventure started to look doomed as the gap plummeted to just 2:20 with about 65km to go.

The gap came down to two minutes shortly after, but Katusha feathered the effort so as not to bring the breakaway back too early, and the gap shot back up to 2:50 with 55km to go.

Dimension Data threw several more riders into the chase, and stabilizing the gap to keep the peloton within striking distance of the break.

The situation remained stable until the final intermediate sprint of the day, where Sheehan took the top points again. Back in the chase, the increased cooperation among multiple teams brought the gap down to 1:30 with 33km remaining.

Rathe felt the pressure and jumped away from the group with about 27km to go, opening up a small gap, but he was quickly joined by Clark and Patten. An attack from Clark with 10km to go dropped Patten, leaving Clark and Rathe alone in front, but their efforts were doomed as the peloton pulled them back in the final 5km to set up Sagan’s sprint win.

Results :
1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 4:20:41
2 Wouter Wippert (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling
3 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
4 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie
5 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
6 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
7 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Axeon Hagens Berman
8 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
9 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
10 John Murphy (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
11 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Team Sky
12 Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky
13 Neilson Powless (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
14 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
15 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Wiggins
16 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha
17 Marco Canola (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
18 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Team Wiggins
19 Jesse Anthony (USA) Rally Cycling
20 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
21 Travis McCabe (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
22 Tao Geoghegan-Hart (GBr) Axeon Hagens Berman
23 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team
24 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
25 Logan Owen (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
26 Javier Megias (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
27 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
28 Daniel Eaton (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
29 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
30 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
31 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale Pro Cycling
32 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
33 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
34 Krists Neilands (Lat) Axeon Hagens Berman
35 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
36 Jake Kelly (GBr) Team Wiggins
37 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
38 Christopher Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
39 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
40 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky
41 Pierrick Naud (Can) Rally Cycling
42 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
43 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
44 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling
45 Robin Carpenter (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
46 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
47 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
48 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team
49 Rob Britton (Can) Rally Cycling
50 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
51 Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel) Team Katusha
52 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Etixx – Quick-Step
53 Adam Blythe (GBr) Tinkoff Team
54 Lawson Craddock (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
55 Tiago Machado (Por) Team Katusha
56 Ben King (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
57 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
58 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
59 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky
60 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
61 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team Katusha
62 Gregory Daniel (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
63 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step
64 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
65 Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie
66 Toms Skujins (Lat) Cannondale Pro Cycling
67 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling
68 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data
69 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
70 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
71 Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data
72 Alex Peters (GBr) Team Sky
73 Martin Velits (Svk) Etixx – Quick-Step
74 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
75 Michael Gogl (Aut) Tinkoff Team
76 Sindre Skjostad Lunke (Nor) Team Giant-Alpecin
77 Phillip Gaimon (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
78 Angus Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
79 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling
80 Rob Squire (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
81 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
82 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
83 William Barta (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
84 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
85 Daniel Jaramillo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
86 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
87 Mark Christian (GBr) Team Wiggins
88 Taylor Sheldon (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
89 Caleb Fairly (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
90 Joseph Lewis (Aus) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
91 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
92 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
93 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky
94 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
95 Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
96 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step
97 Ryan Anderson (Can) Direct Energie
98 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Direct Energie
99 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step
100 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk
101 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling
102 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
103 Michael Thompson (GBr) Team Wiggins
104 Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
105 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
106 Chris Putt (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
107 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
108 Ben Wolfe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
109 John Hornbeck (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
110 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Wiggins
111 Christopher Latham (GBr) Team Wiggins
112 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
113 Andrei Krasilnikau (Blr) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
114 Julian Arredondo (Col) Trek-Segafredo
115 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Team Sky
116 Michael Sheehan (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
117 Geoffrey Curran (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
118 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Katusha
119 Erik Baska (Svk) Tinkoff Team 0:00:15
120 Michael Kolar (Svk) Tinkoff Team 0:00:16
121 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie
122 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:00:20
123 Robert Wagner (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:23
124 Daniel Patten (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:00:30
125 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
126 Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data 0:00:34
127 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:00:39
128 Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Team Katusha
129 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Team
130 William Routley (Can) Rally Cycling
131 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Team Katusha
132 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
133 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step
134 Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Dimension Data 0:00:53
135 Oscar Clark (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 0:00:56
136 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Direct Energie 0:01:12
137 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:01:14
138 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:01:22
139 Marco Haller (Aut) Team Katusha 0:01:41
140 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Tinkoff Team 0:01:51
141 Jacob Rathe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:01:56
142 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Direct Energie
143 Dennis van Winden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:02:12
144 Soren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:03:57

1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 4:20:31
2 Wouter Wippert (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling
3 Michael Sheehan (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
4 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
5 Daniel Eaton (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
6 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
7 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie
8 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
9 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
10 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Axeon Hagens Berman
11 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
12 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
13 John Murphy (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
14 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Team Sky
15 Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky
16 Neilson Powless (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
17 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
18 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Wiggins
19 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha
20 Marco Canola (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
21 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Team Wiggins
22 Jesse Anthony (USA) Rally Cycling
23 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
24 Travis McCabe (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
25 Tao Geoghegan-Hart (GBr) Axeon Hagens Berman
26 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team
27 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
28 Logan Owen (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
29 Javier Megias (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
30 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
31 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
32 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
33 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale Pro Cycling
34 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
35 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
36 Krists Neilands (Lat) Axeon Hagens Berman
37 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
38 Jake Kelly (GBr) Team Wiggins
39 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
40 Christopher Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
41 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
42 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky
43 Pierrick Naud (Can) Rally Cycling
44 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
45 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
46 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling
47 Robin Carpenter (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
48 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
49 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
50 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team
51 Rob Britton (Can) Rally Cycling
52 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
53 Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel) Team Katusha
54 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Etixx – Quick-Step
55 Adam Blythe (GBr) Tinkoff Team
56 Lawson Craddock (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
57 Tiago Machado (Por) Team Katusha
58 Ben King (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
59 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
60 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
61 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky
62 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
63 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team Katusha
64 Gregory Daniel (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
65 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step
66 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
67 Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie
68 Toms Skujins (Lat) Cannondale Pro Cycling
69 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling
70 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data
71 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
72 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
73 Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data
74 Alex Peters (GBr) Team Sky
75 Martin Velits (Svk) Etixx – Quick-Step
76 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
77 Michael Gogl (Aut) Tinkoff Team
78 Sindre Skjostad Lunke (Nor) Team Giant-Alpecin
79 Phillip Gaimon (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
80 Angus Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
81 Adam de Vos (Can) Rally Cycling
82 Rob Squire (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
83 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
84 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
85 William Barta (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
86 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
87 Daniel Jaramillo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
88 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
89 Mark Christian (GBr) Team Wiggins
90 Taylor Sheldon (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
91 Caleb Fairly (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
92 Joseph Lewis (Aus) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
93 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
94 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
95 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky
96 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
97 Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
98 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step
99 Ryan Anderson (Can) Direct Energie
100 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Direct Energie
101 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step
102 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk
103 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling
104 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
105 Michael Thompson (GBr) Team Wiggins
106 Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
107 Chris Putt (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
108 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
109 Ben Wolfe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
110 John Hornbeck (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
111 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Wiggins
112 Christopher Latham (GBr) Team Wiggins
113 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
114 Andrei Krasilnikau (Blr) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
115 Julian Arredondo (Col) Trek-Segafredo
116 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Team Sky
117 Geoffrey Curran (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
118 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Katusha
119 Erik Baska (Svk) Tinkoff Team
120 Michael Kolar (Svk) Tinkoff Team
121 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie
122 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
123 Robert Wagner (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
124 Daniel Patten (GBr) Team Wiggins
125 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
126 Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data
127 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
128 Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Team Katusha
129 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Team
130 William Routley (Can) Rally Cycling
131 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Team Katusha
132 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
133 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step
134 Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Dimension Data 1:03:00
135 Oscar Clark (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 1:06:00
136 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Direct Energie 1:22:00
137 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 1:24:00
138 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 1:32:00
139 Marco Haller (Aut) Team Katusha 1:51:00
140 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Tinkoff Team 2:01:00
141 Jacob Rathe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 2:05:00
142 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Direct Energie 2:06:00
143 Dennis van Winden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 2:22:00
144 Soren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Giant-Alpecin 4:07:00