Tour of California 2018 – Stage 6 [FULL STAGE]

May 18, 2018

Tour of California 2018 – Stage 6 – Folsom – South Lake Tahoe : 196,5 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.

Team Sky’s Egan Bernal won stage 6 of the 2018 Tour of California, and with it took the race lead back from Tejay van Garderen (BMC), leaving Bernal in prime position to take the overall title in Sacramento on Saturday.

Bernal’s stage-winning move came, not unexpectedly, on the upper slopes of the climb of Daggett Summit, during a brief foray into Nevada. With only 10km of the stage to go, Sky teammate Tao Geoghegan Hart attacked, forcing van Garderen to react, and then Bernal hit the American with his effort, and immediately got the gap.

Van Garderen, Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and Geoghegan Hart were left as the second group on the road as Bernal crested Daggett and then sped downhill before starting the final couple of kilometres up to the finish in South Lake Tahoe.

Bernal crossed the line 1:28 ahead of Yates, and 1:38 ahead of van Garderen in 7th place on the stage after the chasers were joined by another group of riders on the short descent, including Rally’s Brandon McNulty and Jai Hindley (Team Sunweb).

“When I attacked with 10km to go, I was just thinking that I had to push as hard as I could,” said Bernal. “I had to do my best because the team worked so hard for me today.

“It wasn’t really until the last climb, with 1.5km to go, that I thought I could maybe win the race.”

Overall, Bernal now leads the race by 1:25 over van Garderen, with EF-Drapac’s Dani Martinez retaining his third place, 2:14 behind Bernal.

“The team was so strong, and I’m very proud of the guys, including all the staff and the directeurs sportifs,” Bernal continued. “They’ve been amazing and have done a great job for me this week. I’m just so proud to be in this team, and this victory is for them.”

How it unfolded

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a flat stage or a mountain stage: an early break is going to go at the Tour of California, and Friday’s 196.5km sixth stage between Folsom and South Lake Tahoe was no exception.

Barely 10km into the stage, a group of nine riders – Serghei Tvetcov (UnitedHealthcare), Floris De Tier (LottoNL-Jumbo), Dimension Data’s Tom-Jelte Slagter, Evan Huffman (Rally Cycling), Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale), Sean Bennett (Hagens Berman Axeon), Lawson Craddock (EF-Drapac), Trek-Segafredo’s Gregory Rast and his teammate and winner of stage 3, Toms Skujins – clipped off the front, and the race was set for the day as they carved out a lead of over five minutes.

The contenders and their teams were content to keep their powder dry until the penultimate climb of the day, the 13km-long Daggett Summit, which happened to be just over the state border in Nevada, before the route came back into California for the final climb up to South Lake Tahoe.

In the meantime, Skujins was doing what he could do hoover up some ‘king of the mountains’ points while out in front and, despite competition from breakaway companion Huffman, the Latvian did enough to sew up the competition during the stage, with no KOM points available on Saturday’s final stage in Sacramento. The final KOM points tally sees Skujins win the jersey with 34 points – just a point ahead of Huffman with 33 points, with Bernal ending the day on 26.

The breakaway splintered on Daggett Summit, where Geoghegan Hart turned the screw, putting van Garderen under pressure, before Bernal struck the killer blow and soloed to the stage win and the overall lead.

The 2018 race concludes on Saturday with a flat 143km stage around Sacramento, which should be one for the sprinters. Barring mishap, Bernal will win his first Tour of California title.

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

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