Tour of California 2019 – Stage 2 [LAST 20 KM]

May 13, 2019

Tour of California 2019 – Stage 2 – Rancho Cordova – South Lake Tahoe : 214,5 km

The 2019 Amgen Tour of California organisers have announced the 13 host cities for the 14th edition of America’s only WorldTour stage race. Throughout seven stages over seven days from May 12-18, the world’s elite cyclists will contest more than 1,200 kilometres of roadways, highways and coastlines from Sacramento to Pasadena. Other stops along the route include Rancho Cordova, South Lake Tahoe, Stockton, Morgan Hill, Laguna Seca Raceway, Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, Ventura, Ontario, Mt. Baldy and Santa Clarita. Thirteen WorldTour teams will compete alongside five Pro Continental teams and the USA Cycling National Team. The rebranded Team Ineos, formerly Team Sky, will lead the pack, although defending champion Egan Bernal will not be on the start line in Sacramento.

Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) claimed stage 2 of the Tour of California after beating Tejay van Garderen (EF Education First) and Gianni Moscon (Team Ineos) to the line in the first mountain stage of this year’s race.

The young Danish rider was an attacking presence throughout the second half of the stage and made it into the winning break that included van Garderen, Moscon and several overall contenders. It was van Garderen who attacked on the final climb from a reduced group with 1.6km to go but he was marked by Asgreen, Moscon and UAE Team Emirates’ Tadej Pogačar. With the line in sight, Asgreen kicked for home and his acceleration was enough to hold off van Garderen, with Moscon fading to third.

The victory marked Asgreen’s first individual triumph on the WorldTour stage, while van Garderen’s second place was enough to see the former race winner move into the overall lead. Overnight leader Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) struggled on the mountainous terrain and dropped down the overall standings on a day that saw a number of the pre-race favourites struggle to make an impression. Van Garderen now leads Moscon by six seconds, with Asgreen a further second down.

“It’s my first pro win, so I’m really, really happy right now,” Asgreen told reporters, including Cyclingnews, after the stage. “It’s huge for me, and to take it on a stage like this, a really hard stage, I’m really happy with that.”

How it unfolded

Stage 2 at the Tour of California travelled 214.5km from Rancho Cordova to South Lake Tahoe. The route included four KOMs, two intermediate sprints and nearly 4,500 metres of climbing. The stage topped out at 2,627 metres of elevation at Carson Pass – the highest point the Tour of California has ever climbed to.

The route had initially been planned for 194.5km, but snow on the Mormon Emigrant Trail highway forced organisers to create a slight detour that added the extra kilometres. With the reroute, the race lost the category 1 ascent of Sky Park Road and the cat. 2 Mormon Emigrant Pass, but instead used the category 3 Bucks Bar Road at 68.5km.

Not intimidated by the long day of climbing ahead, seven riders broke away just 8km into the stage. In the move were Luke Rowe (Team Ineos), Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Evan Huffman (Rally UHC Cycling), Davide Ballerini (Astana Pro Team), Pawel Bernas (CCC Team), Michael Storer (Team Sunweb) and Michael Hernandez (USA National Team).

The gap ballooned up to three minutes less than 20km into the stage, and the chase was officially on. The peloton apparently decided that was enough of a gap, and the advantage stabilised between 2:45 and three minutes for nearly three hours.

Hernandez took the first sprint of the day at 51km in Placerville ahead of Pedersen and Ballerini, collecting three points and three bonus seconds. The next action came at the Decra Ravine KOM at 59.5km, where Huffman claimed maximum points ahead of Ballerini and Hernandez. At the Bucks Bar KOM less than 10km later, Ballerini beat Huffman and Hernandez to the line.

The peloton’s pace picked up through a flat section after the second KOM, and the gap came down to 1:40 with 114km remaining, then shot up again to 2:45. The gap continued to fluctuate as it dropped again to 1:35 with 100km remaining.

A battle of wills developed between the peloton, which was keeping the break below two minutes, and the breakaway, which wanted more leash. The gap went up and down as the break would slow down and the peloton would react by slowing down as well.

Hagens Berman Axeon tired of the game and sent Edward Anderson off the front of the peloton. The 21-year-old American was quickly out of sight and was able to bridge to the leaders, making a new lead group of eight.

The slow downs and accelerations also wreaked havoc on Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data), who popped out of the bunch and struggled to regain contact through the rest of the stage.

EF Education First went to the front and started hammering with about 80km to ride, and the gap started coming down precipitously. Most of the breakaway was soon back in the fold, but Anderson tried to stay away solo as EF had him in their sights from the front of the pack. Anderson was back in the pack with 75km to go, and the race had to reset.

Lachlan Morton (EF Education First) was the next rider to try his luck, jumping away with 65km to go in a solo move. Morton claimed top points at the Kirkwood KOM with 59km to go, and was quickly into descent mode. Ballerini jumped out of the group for second, and Huffman did the same for third.

A lead group of 14 riders survived the day-long battle of attrition, with pre-race overall favourites Rohan Dennis (Bahrain-Merida), Felix Grossschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Lawson Craddock (EF Education First), third overall here in 2013, making the cut.

Israel Cycling Academy’s Alex Cataford attacked before the fourth KOM at Carson Pass, opening a small gap to take maximum points and then continuing on alone. His move was short-lived, however, and the group was back together with 35km to go, with 1:15 over the remnants of the peloton.

Back in the peloton, Bennett attacked multiple times in a bridge attempt, with only EF Education First’s Sergio Higuita able to stick on his wheel. Neilson Powless, Bennett’s teammate in the lead group, sat up to wait for his team leader and then drag him to the leaders.

David de la Cruz (Team Ineos) won the second intermediate sprint ahead of Dennis, denying the Australian the three-second time bonus, but leaving him the two seconds for second place. The peloton wasn’t happy to let the race ride away, and they made the catch with 29km to go.

They wouldn’t stick together for long, though. On the descent of Luther Pass, there were more splits as several riders jumped off the front. Asgreen was there once again, kickstarting the action, and soon there were 10 men up front, including van Garderen, Moscon, Ballerini, Craddock and Pogačar.

But Ballerini and Asgreen weren’t satisfied and left that group behind to strike out for the line. They made a good fist of it but were caught just outside the 10km-to-go mark. From then on it was a waiting game as the ramp to the finish loomed.

Astana launched Ballerini off the front with 2km to go, but van Garderen lead the group back to the front. The pace of the EF rider shattered the group as the road reared up, leaving just him, Moscon, Asgreen and Pogačar in the lead.

Each man spent time on the front in the closing kilometre, although Pogačar was the first to drop back. It was Asgreen who put in the most telling turn, taking over from Moscon as the finish line neared to distance his companions and take the win, while second-placed van Garderen would console himself with the leader’s jersey.

Results :
1 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 6:17:11
2 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First
3 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos 0:00:04
4 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:10
5 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:16
6 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:27
7 Rob Britton (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
8 Sergio Andres Higuita (Col) EF Education First 0:00:31
9 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First
10 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma
11 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
12 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First
13 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
14 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
15 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
16 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data
17 David de la Cruz (Spa) Team Ineos
18 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
19 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:38
20 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida
21 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
22 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:40
23 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
24 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:42
25 Cristian Camilo Muñoz Lancheros (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:45
26 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:00:48
27 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:00:51
28 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
29 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) CCC Team 0:00:55
30 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Israel Cycling Academy 0:00:58
31 Travis McCabe (USA) USA National Team 0:01:05
32 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
33 Edwin Avila (Col) Israel Cycling Academy
34 Edward Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:01:11
35 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team 0:01:35
36 Michael Schär (Swi) CCC Team
37 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First 0:02:29
38 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
39 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:36
40 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:49
41 Ben King (USA) Dimension Data
42 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:03:04
43 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:03:08
44 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:03:23
45 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk 0:08:07
46 João Almeida (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon
47 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
48 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
49 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
50 Tyler Stites (USA) USA National Team
51 Alex Hoehn (USA) USA National Team
52 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
53 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk
54 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates
55 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
56 Keegan Swirbel (USA) USA National Team
57 Brandon McNulty (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
58 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
59 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
60 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:09:11
61 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:12:55
62 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) CCC Team
63 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:13:01
64 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Ineos 0:15:13
65 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
66 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy
67 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk 0:17:46
68 Lars Bak (Den) Dimension Data
69 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
70 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
71 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Ineos
72 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
73 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First
74 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates
75 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
76 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
77 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
78 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
79 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team Sunweb
80 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Team Ineos
81 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
82 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin
83 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Merida
84 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
85 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
86 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep
87 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
88 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
89 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb
90 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb
91 Miguel Bryon (USA) USA National Team
92 Samuel Boardman (USA) USA National Team
93 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida
94 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
95 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:18:04
96 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:18:07
97 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
98 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:18:10
99 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos 0:18:13
100 Pawel Bernas (Pol) CCC Team 0:18:16
101 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:25:34
102 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain-Merida 0:26:19
103 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
104 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
105 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
106 Floris De Tier (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
107 Filippo Fortin (Ita) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
108 Roy Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
109 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
110 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
111 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb
112 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
113 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
114 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
115 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
116 Michael Hernandez (USA) USA National Team
117 Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First
118 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
119 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
120 Ian Garrison (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
121 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep
122 Will Barta (USA) CCC Team
123 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb
124 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
125 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team
126 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
127 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
128 Jonathan Brown (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
129 Sondre Enger (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy 0:27:10
130 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:36:09
131 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
132 Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 0:47:35

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First 9:31:19
2 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos 0:00:06
3 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:07
4 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:16
5 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:22
6 Rob Britton (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:00:33
7 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team
8 David de la Cruz (Spa) Team Ineos 0:00:34
9 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:35
10 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:36
11 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First
12 Sergio Andres Higuita (Col) EF Education First 0:00:37
13 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
14 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
15 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First
16 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
17 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:42
18 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:44
19 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
20 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:46
21 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
22 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:48
23 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
24 Cristian Camilo Muñoz Lancheros (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:51
25 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:00:54
26 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:00:57
27 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
28 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:59
29 Travis McCabe (USA) USA National Team 0:01:01
30 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) CCC Team
31 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:11
32 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Israel Cycling Academy 0:01:15
33 Edward Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:01:28
34 Edwin Avila (Col) Israel Cycling Academy
35 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team 0:01:41
36 Michael Schär (Swi) CCC Team
37 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First 0:02:35
38 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
39 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:42
40 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:55
41 Ben King (USA) Dimension Data
42 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:03:10
43 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:03:13
44 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:07:45
45 Tyler Stites (USA) USA National Team 0:08:10
46 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:08:13
47 João Almeida (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon
48 Brandon McNulty (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
49 Alex Hoehn (USA) USA National Team
50 Keegan Swirbel (USA) USA National Team
51 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk
52 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk 0:08:24
53 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
54 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
55 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates
56 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
57 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
58 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
59 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:09:17
60 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) CCC Team 0:13:01
61 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:13:18
62 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk 0:13:38
63 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:13:48
64 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Ineos 0:15:19
65 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team 0:15:30
66 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy 0:16:14
67 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:17:38
68 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos 0:17:48
69 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Ineos
70 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
71 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 0:17:52
72 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates
73 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
74 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Merida
75 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
76 Miguel Bryon (USA) USA National Team
77 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
78 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin
79 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep
80 Lars Bak (Den) Dimension Data
81 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First
82 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Team Ineos
83 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb
84 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
85 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk 0:18:03
86 Samuel Boardman (USA) USA National Team
87 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 0:18:09
88 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:18:14
89 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:18:16
90 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:18:18
91 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos 0:18:19
92 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:18:21
93 Pawel Bernas (Pol) CCC Team 0:18:39
94 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
95 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:18:44
96 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:18:47
97 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:18:51
98 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:18:53
99 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:20:11
100 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:22:08
101 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:25:39
102 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:26:17
103 Michael Hernandez (USA) USA National Team 0:26:22
104 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:26:25
105 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
106 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
107 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team
108 Floris De Tier (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
109 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
110 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep
111 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
112 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 0:26:36
113 Roy Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
114 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
115 Will Barta (USA) CCC Team
116 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:26:42
117 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
118 Jonathan Brown (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
119 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:26:47
120 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:26:54
121 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb
122 Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First
123 Ian Garrison (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:27:05
124 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:27:12
125 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain-Merida 0:27:15
126 Sondre Enger (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy 0:27:16
127 Filippo Fortin (Ita) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:27:17
128 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:28:18
129 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:29:50
130 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:36:41
131 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:38:18
132 Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 0:47:52