Tour of California 2018 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE]

May 15, 2018

Tour of California 2018 – Stage 3 – King City – Monterey County (Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) : 197 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.

Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) surprised the field and rode to a three-second solo victory on Tuesday during stage 3 of the Amgen Tour of California. Sean Bennett (Hagens Berman Axeon) was second, with Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) third on the track finish at Laguna Seca Raceway.

Egan Bernal (Team Sky) retained his 25-second overall race lead, finishing fifth on the windy stage, one place behind stage favourite Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe). Sagan’s teammate Rafal Majka remains second overall behind Bernal, with Mitchelton-Scott’s Adam Yates in third, 31 seconds back.

Skujins’ victory – his third career stage win at the Tour of California – came one day shy of a year after he crashed on stage 2 of the 2017 event and eventually abandoned the race with a concussion.

“The only time I dreamed about [the stage win] was in the last 300 metres,” said Skujins, who also won stage 3 in the 2015 Tour of California and stage 5 two years ago. “I expected someone to come from the back, full throttle, but it had been a hard day for everyone with the wind and the high pace.”

Skujins and Bennett entered the track together, with Skujins pulling ahead just before the descent and remaining there. As he appeared on the final straightaway, Skujins seemed surprised no one was there. He momentarily looked back to Bennett before beginning an extended upper-body victory dance on his bike.

“The breakaway was really strong that went at the beginning, and that all played to my advantage,” Skujins said after his nearly five-hour ride. “It’s definitely not the easiest run into the final. I’ve raced on Laguna Seca before and that definitely helped me. I’ve done this stage – well, a similar stage – and I knew how to play it.”

How it unfolded

It was the third straight day the first move occurred nearly from the start. This time it was Rally Cycling’s Evan Huffman and Robin Carpenter, joined by Hagens Berman Axeon’s Ian Garrison. The trio eventually built a gap of more than than 5:30.

Carpenter was dropped on the East Carmel Valley Road KOM, while Garrison and Huffman continued on. Carpenter was caught by EF Education First-Drapac’s Lawson Craddock, who had attacked out of the bunch, but Carpenter eventually lost the wheel.

Huffman’s fortune was determined by a mechanical, a bike change and the loss of about 45 seconds. Garrison continued on alone, but the chase in the pack was on in earnest, and the catch looked imminent as both Craddock and Carpenter were absorbed back into the pack.

Skujins and Logan Owen (EF Education First-Drapac) jumped away from the bunch on the climb up Cachuga Road Summit and swept up, then dropped, Huffman, and then Garrison. Skujins soon went solo up the road, and Bennett was able to bridge, and the two riders powered toward the racetrack.

“It’s definitely not the easiest run-in to the final, but luckily I knew it,” said Skujins, who downplayed his success one year after his accident. “I was never feeling really good, but once I saw my breakaway companion crack a little bit, I knew it was possible.”

Bennett, frustrated by his runner-up finish, slammed a hand on his bars.

“I knew when we hit it that it was really downhill to the finish, and that it would take a really big effort to bring us back,” he said. “I gave it everything, but I was never fully confident until we got over the corkscrew section and onto the descent. Toms had a bigger gap, but I still had a gap, and I knew we were going to stay away.”

Sagan and Bernal finished eight seconds behind in the 31-rider main group. Sagan briefly moved to the front of the pursuers, but the group’s effort was scattered.

“Today was hard with the wind,” said Bernal. “It was difficult; the last part of the race was hard and fast. I did the sprint and retained the jersey, and that was the most important thing”

Bernal’s day had in fact been more difficult than he’d described. He stumbled briefly on a category 2 climb, and then punctured with less than 10km remaining and temporarily lost contact with the field.

But he stays in yellow heading into Wednesday’s stage 4 individual time trial: 35km around Morgan Hill, just south of San Jose.

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

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