Tour of California 2018 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE – Individual Time Trial]

May 16, 2018

Tour of California 2018 – Stage 4 – San Jose ITT : 134,5 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.

BMC’s Tejay van Garderen showed his strength to win the individual time trial on stage 4 of the 2018 Tour of California on Wednesday.

Racing in front of his two daughters on the 34.7km stage around Morgan Hill, just south of San Jose, van Garderen came home seven seconds ahead of teammate Patrick Bevin, with Team Sky’s Tao Geoghegan Hart third, 32 seconds behind the American.

The expected shake-up in the general classification sees 2013 Tour of California champion van Garderen assume the overall race lead after Egan Bernal (Team Sky) failed to defend his yellow jersey, losing a massive, but not wholly unexpected, 1:23 to van Garderen. The Colombian is now 23 seconds behind in the overall classification, with EF-Drapac’s Dani Martinez moving up into third at 37 seconds.

“Today was special motivation: I have my girls here, I have memories from here five years ago,” van Garderen explained. “I didn’t expect it to go quite this well, but I kind of had it in the back of my mind on Gibraltar [on stage 2] that if I could keep it within a minute, I could maybe take it today. Today was going to be my big power play and I was glad I was able to produce one. It feels great.”

Whether he can keep the yellow jersey through to the finish in Sacramento, he said, “I don’t know. Right now I’m just soaking in the moment. I think tomorrow and Sacramento should be sprint days. We just have to worry about stage 6 to Tahoe. We really have a strong team. If you want to beat me, you’re going to have to go to the bitter end.”

How it unfolded

Under overcast skies and with a light breeze, the riders tackled a 34.7km individual time trial in Morgan Hill on a rather uncomplicated course.

As he declared before the stage, U23 world champion Mikkel Bjerg (Hagens Berman Axeon) went for it full gas, setting the fastest time from the first wave of riders by a massive margin. It seemed as if he’d spend much of the day in the hot seat with a 41:40, but an unexpectedly strong ride by pursuit world champion Filippo Ganna (UAE Team Emirates) pushed him out of the chair by four seconds.

Ganna spent a few minutes basking in the attention, but was soon expelled from his throne by EF-Drapac’s Lawson Craddock, who went three seconds quicker.

Craddock had ample opportunity to give interviews as he awaited the later riders, but soon BMC’s Bevin ghosted in – his immovable style belied the speed at which he travelled. The Kiwi crushed the course in a time 39 seconds faster than Craddock.

But Bevin’s strong performance was just a teaser: his BMC teammate van Garderen hid the effort just as well, coming within three seconds of Bevin at the intermediate check, and then powering over the second half of the course to beat him by seven full seconds.

The effort paid off with the maillot jaune, the American’s first since last year’s Volta a Catalunya, but unlike the Spanish race, he stands a very good chance of taking home the overall in Sacramento on Saturday.

Bernal held onto his podium position, despite looking uncomfortable on the time trial bike and flat roads, ending the day 23 seconds in arrears.

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

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