Tour of California 2016 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

May 16, 2016

Tour of California 2016 – South Pasadena – Santa Clarita – 148 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.

Ben King (Cannondale Pro Cycling) pulled off an upset win Monday at the Tour of California, stealing the stage 2 win in Santa Clarita from the sprinters in a two-up sprint with breakaway companion Evan Huffman (Rally Cycling).

The stage win also moved King into the overall race lead, as Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) won the bunch sprint eight seconds later ahead of stage 1 winner Peter Sagan.

The stage win was for the first for US riders at the Tour of California since Taylor Phinney won in Santa Barabara in 2014, and it comes just months after King broke his fibula during an early season training ride.

“I’m really happy, but my legs were really angry today,” King told Cyclingnews in the finishing straight after the stage.

“They told me to go into the break, and normally four guys on a stage like this really doesn’t have a chance, but I think a lot of the sprinters’ teams had there helpers dropped, and so we knew we had a chance,” he said.

King and Huffman were the sole survivors of a four-rider move that got away after the first KOM, and then they pulled off the rare feat of sticking their move to the line on the day when the sprinters’ teams looked determined to pull them back.

“The other three guys in the breakaway with me were super strong, especially Evan,” King said. “Nobody skipped a turn all day. It was super cohesive, and that’s what ultimately did it.”

How it happened

Monday’s 148.5km second stage took riders from South Pasadena north to Santa Clarita after four categorised climbs and two intermediate sprints. The route started uphill almost immediately, with the first category 1 KOM on Angels Crest Highway coming just 22.5km into the stage.

The second KOM, the category 2 climb of Upper Big Tujunga Canyon summited just 30km later to make a very difficult opening 60km. The last two KOMs, the second category climbs on Little Tujunga Canyon Road, came later in the day at 111.5km and 118.5km. A generally downhill run to the finish from there tempted the teams that had sprinters who could climb.

A large group of 22 riders started the fireworks almost immediately, slipping away form the bunch at the bottom of the first KOM. Among the breakaway riders were potential general classification contenders Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-QuickStep), Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky) and Tiago Machado (Katusha).

The move was short-lived, however, as Direct Energie, hoping to set up a reduced bunch sprint for sprinter Bryan Coqaurd, massed on the front and pulled the leaders back just before the summit. Alaphilippe held on to take the maximum KOM points ahead of Daniel Jaramillo (UnitedHelthcare) and Neilson Powless (Axeon Hagens Berman).

A second, much smaller group formed after the first KOM, with King, William Barta (Axeon Hagens Berman), Sindre Skjoestad Lunke (Giant-Alpecin) and Huffman sneaking away on the descent. They poured on the power as the peloton regrouped for the chase, quickly building a gap of 7:30 about halfway through the race. Huffman took full points at the second KOM, followed by King, Barta and then Lunke.

Direct Energie and Tinkoff picked up the chase again, restarting the game of cat and mouse between the escapees and the bunch. The chasers whittled the lead down to 3:30 with 50km to go, and a bunch sprint looked possible if the sprinters could make it over the final two climbs.

As the breakaway made its way to the third KOM, Lunke fell off the pace as the Huffman, King and Barta continued up to the KOM, where Huffman won again ahead of King and Barta. Huffman repeated his performance on the final KOM, securing the KOM jersey for Tuesday’s queen stage.

From there it was a test of wills and horsepower, with the peloton winning that battle as BMC came to the front in the last 30km and Barta puncturing out of the lead group. The Axeon rider dug deep to make it back up to Huffman and King, the effort no doubt robbed some horsepower from their combined effort.

BMC director Jackson Stewart said his team went to the front to bring down the gap rather than try to set up Greg Van Avermaet for a sprint finish.

“They weren’t really bringing it back, and we were nervous of Ben King with too much time,” he said. “We just kind of saw that Sagan’s team fell apart on the first climb, and a lot of sprinters were dropped the first climb, so we kind of thought that maybe they didn’t have the same horsepower to control the gap.

“We didn’t want to give them more than a minute, but then we just got stuck,” Stewart said. “Nobody wanted to come up and help, so we just kept riding.”

With 20km to go, the gap was down to 1:55 as it started to become clear the peloton, which was being led by a team that was more focused on limiting general classification losses than a stage win, had left the chase too late and the winner would come from the break.

Barta lost contact again in the closing kilometres, leaving King and Huffman to sprint it out for the stage win.

Results :
1 Ben King (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling 3:52:09
2 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling
3 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 0:00:08
4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team
5 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
6 Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky
7 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale Pro Cycling
8 Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data
9 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie
10 Marco Canola (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
11 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
12 Travis McCabe (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
13 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
14 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
15 Logan Owen (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
16 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
17 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Axeon Hagens Berman
18 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Etixx – Quick-Step
19 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
20 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Team Katusha
21 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
22 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team
23 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step
24 Tao Geoghegan-Hart (GBr) Axeon Hagens Berman
25 Alex Peters (GBr) Team Sky
26 Jacob Rathe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
27 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
28 Christopher Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
29 Robin Carpenter (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
30 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
31 Toms Skujins (Lat) Cannondale Pro Cycling
32 Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
33 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team
34 Neilson Powless (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
35 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
36 Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel) Team Katusha
37 Tiago Machado (Por) Team Katusha
38 Javier Megias (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
39 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky
40 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
41 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
42 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
43 Krists Neilands (Lat) Axeon Hagens Berman
44 Rob Britton (Can) Rally Cycling
45 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
46 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
47 Michael Gogl (Aut) Tinkoff Team
48 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data
49 Daniel Eaton (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
50 Lawson Craddock (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
51 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
52 Gregory Daniel (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
53 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky
54 Phillip Gaimon (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
55 Angus Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
56 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
57 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
58 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling
59 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
60 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
61 Mark Christian (GBr) Team WIGGINS
62 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
63 Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie
64 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step
65 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
66 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling
67 Daniel Jaramillo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
68 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky
69 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
70 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
71 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step
72 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
73 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
74 John Hornbeck (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
75 William Barta (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
76 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
77 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Team Sky
78 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step
79 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Direct Energie
80 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
81 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Team Katusha
82 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Team Giant-Alpecin
83 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
84 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie
85 Taylor Sheldon (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
86 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Direct Energie
87 Geoffrey Curran (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:00:19
88 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:00:37
89 Marco Haller (Aut) Team Katusha 0:00:47
90 Oscar Clark (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 0:00:54
91 Andrei Krasilnikau (Blr) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 0:01:55
92 Rob Squire (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 0:00:08
93 Adam de Vos (Can) Rally Cycling 0:06:09
94 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
95 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:07:19
96 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
97 Owain Doull (GBr) Team WIGGINS 0:10:16
98 Pierrick Naud (Can) Rally Cycling
99 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
100 William Routley (Can) Rally Cycling
101 Ryan Anderson (Can) Direct Energie
102 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
103 Jesse Anthony (USA) Rally Cycling
104 Michael Thompson (GBr) Team WIGGINS
105 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Direct Energie
106 Chris Putt (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
107 Ben Wolfe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
108 Michael Sheehan (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
109 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
110 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
111 Robert Wagner (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
112 Julián Arredondo (Col) Trek-Segafredo
113 Wouter Wippert (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling
114 Dennis van Winden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
115 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
116 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
117 Martin Velits (Svk) Etixx – Quick-Step
118 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team Katusha
119 Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Team Katusha
120 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Team WIGGINS
121 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky 0:14:24
122 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Team Sky
123 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 0:15:30
124 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
125 Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
126 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk
127 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
128 Caleb Fairly (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
129 Daniel Patten (GBr) Team WIGGINS
130 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team WIGGINS
131 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
132 Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Dimension Data
133 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
134 Jake Kelly (GBr) Team WIGGINS
135 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
136 Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data
137 John Murphy (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
138 Joseph Lewis (Aus) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
139 Christopher Latham (GBr) Team WIGGINS 0:18:03
140 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Team
141 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Tinkoff Team
142 Michal Kolár (Svk) Tinkoff Team
143 Erik Baska (Svk) Tinkoff Team
144 Adam Blythe (GBr) Tinkoff Team

1 Ben King (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling 8:12:34
2 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling 0:00:08
3 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 0:00:14
4 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 0:00:20
5 Daniel Eaton (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:00:21
6 William Barta (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
7 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:00:23
8 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:24
9 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie
10 Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky
11 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
12 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Axeon Hagens Berman
13 Marco Canola (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
14 Travis McCabe (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
15 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale Pro Cycling
16 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
17 Logan Owen (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
18 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team
19 Tao Geoghegan-Hart (GBr) Axeon Hagens Berman
20 Neilson Powless (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
21 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
22 Javier Megias (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
23 Christopher Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
24 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Etixx – Quick-Step
25 Robin Carpenter (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
26 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
27 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
28 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
29 Krists Neilands (Lat) Axeon Hagens Berman
30 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
31 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team
32 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
33 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
34 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
35 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
36 Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel) Team Katusha
37 Tiago Machado (Por) Team Katusha
38 Rob Britton (Can) Rally Cycling
39 Alex Peters (GBr) Team Sky
40 Toms Skujins (Lat) Cannondale Pro Cycling
41 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
42 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling
43 Lawson Craddock (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
44 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
45 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
46 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
47 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky
48 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky
49 Gregory Daniel (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
50 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data
51 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
52 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
53 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step
54 Michael Gogl (Aut) Tinkoff Team
55 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
56 Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
57 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step
58 Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie
59 Phillip Gaimon (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
60 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky
61 Angus Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
62 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
63 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Team Katusha
64 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
65 Mark Christian (GBr) Team WIGGINS
66 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
67 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
68 Daniel Jaramillo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
69 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
70 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
71 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling
72 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step
73 Rob Squire (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
74 Taylor Sheldon (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
75 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
76 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Direct Energie
77 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
78 John Hornbeck (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
79 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Team Sky
80 Geoffrey Curran (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:00:35
81 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie 0:00:40
82 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 0:00:54
83 Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data 0:00:58
84 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:01:03
85 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step
86 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Team Katusha
87 Oscar Clark (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 0:02:06
88 Andrei Krasilnikau (Blr) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 0:02:11
89 Jacob Rathe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:02:19
90 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Direct Energie 0:02:20
91 Marco Haller (Aut) Team Katusha 0:02:44
92 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:04:50
93 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:06:25
94 Adam de Vos (Can) Rally Cycling
95 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:07:35
96 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
97 Wouter Wippert (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:10:26
98 Michael Sheehan (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
99 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:10:28
100 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk 0:10:30
101 Owain Doull (GBr) Team WIGGINS 0:10:32
102 Jesse Anthony (USA) Rally Cycling
103 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Team WIGGINS
104 Pierrick Naud (Can) Rally Cycling
105 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team Katusha
106 Martin Velits (Svk) Etixx – Quick-Step
107 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
108 Ryan Anderson (Can) Direct Energie
109 Michael Thompson (GBr) Team WIGGINS
110 Chris Putt (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
111 Ben Wolfe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
112 Julián Arredondo (Col) Trek-Segafredo
113 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:10:52
114 Robert Wagner (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:10:55
115 William Routley (Can) Rally Cycling 0:11:11
116 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
117 Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Team Katusha
118 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Direct Energie 0:11:44
119 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:11:54
120 Dennis van Winden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:12:44
121 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Team Sky 0:14:40
122 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
123 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 0:15:46
124 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
125 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
126 John Murphy (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
127 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
128 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
129 Jake Kelly (GBr) Team WIGGINS
130 Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data
131 Caleb Fairly (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
132 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk
133 Joseph Lewis (Aus) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
134 Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
135 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team WIGGINS
136 Daniel Patten (GBr) Team WIGGINS 0:16:16
137 Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Dimension Data 0:16:39
138 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:17:00
139 Adam Blythe (GBr) Tinkoff Team 0:18:19
140 Christopher Latham (GBr) Team WIGGINS
141 Erik Baska (Svk) Tinkoff Team 0:18:34
142 Michal Kolár (Svk) Tinkoff Team 0:18:35
143 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Team 0:18:58
144 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Tinkoff Team 0:20:10