Tour of California 2018 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

May 14, 2018

Tour of California 2018 – Stage 2 – Ventura – Santa Barbara County (Gibraltar Road) : 157 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.

Colombian Egan Bernal (Team Sky) claimed a solo victory on stage 2 of the Tour of California with a definitive attack in the final two kilometres, and with it assumed the race lead. Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) was second on the stage, with Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) third.

Bernal, 21, emerged from the final group of 13 and powered to a 21-second margin over Majka, who was second overall in the race last year, and a 25-second cushion over Yates. With his stage win – the second straight win by a Colombian rider following Fernando Gaviria’s victory on Sunday’s opening stage – Bernal leads the week-long event by 25 seconds over Majka and 31 seconds over Yates.

“In the final two kilometres I attacked and I arrived alone,” said Bernal, who collected his fourth win this season and the seventh of his young career. “I’m so happy because the team did a really good job, and I’m so happy to be in this race.”

Bernal, the current Colombian national time trial champion, whose early season wins include a stage of the Tour de Romandie, is in a unique position at the top of the field. In addition to the leader’s jersey, Bernal holds the best climber, best young rider and points jerseys.

“Before the stage, we talked about it,” said Bernal. “We wanted to make it a really hard stage. The last climb was the most important part of the race. Tao (Geoghegan Hart) did a really good job, so I knew I had to take control of the race.”

Team Sky often controlled the race, particularly on the final 12km climb and on the eight per cent average gradient to the Gibraltar Road finish. Geoghegan Hart, jersey unzipped, controlled much of the closing kilometres at the front at a high cadence, and pulled his team leader into an ideal position.

With the 2km marker just up the road, Bernal bolted to the front and there was no response from the expected pursuers. Brent Bookwalter (BMC), fourth and third overall the past two years, and teammate Tejay van Garderen, who won the race in 2013, were among the final group of 13 Bernal authoritatively dropped. Neilson Powless (LottoNL-Jumbo), who finished fifth on the same stage two years ago to eventual race winner Julian Alaphilippe, dropped off the front group earlier on the final climb.

With the expected general classification shake-up, but with the unexpected stage results, seven riders remain within one minute of Bernal. Van Garderen, a favourite for the stage 4 time trial in San Jose, is eighth in the GC, trailing by a minute.

“I don’t know about the time trial; we will have to wait and see,” Bernal said. “It will be hard for me.”

Despite being the reigning national time trial champion, Colombia’s cycling stars are known for their climbing specialities but not so much for their time-trialling.

How it unfolded

Just like in the opening stage, a break developed early. Ruben Companioni (Holowesko-Citadel), Adam De Vos (Rally) and Australian Jonny Clarke (UnitedHealthcare) escaped from the field after around three kilometres. The threesome all began the stage 10 seconds behind Gaviria, the former race leader.

Knowing the final ascent to Gibraltar Road would determine the stage winner and new general classification leader, the field remained controlled while the leading trio expanded its cushion. The advantage moved to nearly six minutes entering Ojai, about 90km into the 157km stage.

The field soon realised the gap was big enough, and steadily sliced its deficit to less than a minute approaching Carpinteria, another 35km along the route, and with 34km left. Bora-Hansgrohe and Sky moved to the front, with three-time world champion Peter Sagan manoeuvering into position for the anticipated role of working for Majka as far as possible in the final 12km ascent.

Campanioni, a stage winner and overall winner in April at the Joe Martin stage race, claimed all of the four mid-race KOMs, followed by De Vos and Clarke each time. The leading trio was absorbed into the field with 16km left, just after the fourth and final category 3 climb. And then the scramble to the finish began. The breakaway lasted for 138km and about 3 hours and 40 minutes.

At the base of the climb, and with the field together, Michael Schär (BMC) moved to the front for an extended pull and brought along teammates van Garderen and Bookwalter. Within 1km, and with the gradient increasing, the field blew apart, and only two dozen riders of the field of 117 remained at the front. With 8km left, the race had eclipsed the four-hour mark for the day. After another kilometre, the lead group was reduced to 15, then to 13 with 3km remaining, with Bernal about to make his winning move.

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

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