Tour of California 2019 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE]

May 15, 2019

Tour of California 2019 – Stage 4 – WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca – Morro Bay : 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.

Fabio Jakobsen won Deceuninck-QuickStep’s third stage in a row at the Amgen Tour of California, winning stage 4 in Morro Bay on Wednesday. He beat Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates) and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) in a close sprint finish. Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) took fourth.

Overnight leader Tejay van Garderen (EF-Education First) retained his lead following a chaotic finale after a crash and a string of other incidents. The American still has a buffer of six seconds over Gianni Moscon (Team Ineos), with Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) a further second back in third.

Asgreen was initially given the overall lead, but race judges deliberated for over an hour before deciding that van Garderen had been held up by a crash just outside the final 3km of the stage – which Moscon was also involved in. Under UCI rules, riders caught up in crashes inside the final 3km are given the same time as the group that they were part of at that time, and both van Garderen and Moscon were given the same finishing time as Asgreen.

“The mass crash near the finish of stage 4 was just outside 3km to go,” the race jury said in their official ruling. “The commissaires have decided to treat the crash such that all riders affected by the incident and the road blockage will receive the field time.”

Van Garderen had always looked set to keep his race lead all day, but a crash inside the final 10km changed the complexion of his race. He was handed a bike from teammate Lachlan Morton, but then misjudged a corner as Morton uses an opposing brake setup and was forced off the course. That error cost him valuable seconds and, although his team rallied around him, they had no answer to a peloton racing at full tilt.

A second crash inside the peloton – judged later to be just outside the final 3km – held van Garderen up for a third time before he eventually crossed the line over 50 seconds down on the winner. That 50-second deficit was later wiped away by the judges’ decision.

As for Deceuninck-QuickStep, their winning streak in the race continues. Jakobsen made use of other teams in the finale before his lead-out launched him to the line inside the final few hundred metres. Sagan, who won on the same finish in 2017, looked set to repeat his previous triumph and was well-placed on Jakobsen’s wheel. However, the three-time world champion was unable to come around the Deceuninck-QuickStep rider. Philipsen, who won a stage at the Tour Down Under in January, took a well-deserved second place.

How it unfolded

The 214.5km fourth stage at the Amgen Tour of California took the peloton from Laguna Seca Raceway to Morro Bay – a coastal city with a famous volcanic mound that served as a landmark for shipping days past.

The route included two sprints at 39.5km and 165km. The day’s three KOMs came along the Pacific Coast Highway, where the race spent most of the day. The first category 2 climb came at 62km, the second category 3 climb came at 125km, and the final category 3 climb came at 131.5km.

The race got under way in less-than-ideal weather, with 62 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures and a light rain that got heavier shortly after the starting gun was fired. As the race moved south down the coast, however, the clouds began to thin and the sun poked out to dry the road.

The day’s breakaway established itself in the early kilometres and included Roy Goldstein (Israel Cycling Academy), Jonny Brown and Ian Garrison, both of Hagens Berman Axeon, Joonas Henttala (Novo Nordisk) and Michael Hernandez (USA National Team).

The leaders built an initial gap of 5:20, but the field pulled back the leash and kept the advantage between three and four minutes for the bulk of the day.

Henttala took the first sprint of the day ahead of Hernandez and Garrison, while Hernandez claimed maximum points on the first KOM ahead of Henttala, Garrison and Goldtsein. Sixty-three kilometeres later, Hernandez took the second KOM, followed again by Henttala, with Goldstein in third.

The riders didn’t have much time to rest, however, as the next KOM came less than 7km later. Hernandez finished off his hat-trick of KOM wins, followed again by Henttala, with Garrison collecting the final KOM point of the day.

With the day’s climbs ticked off, the focus came down to the chase. Deceuninck-QuickStep threw a rider into the chase with a single rider from Bora-Hansgrohe, as Trek-Segafredo, Astana, Jumbo-Visma, Team Sunweb and EF Education First lined up in groups behind them.

The gap began its descent from there, falling to 1:10 with 30km remaining. Hernandez and Henttala attacked the leaders with 25km to go and went off alone, but Garrison fought to bring himself and Brown back into the fold. Hernandez launched an attack next, but it was also quickly neutralised.

The late moves were all for naught, however, as the closing pack had the escapees in their sights with just over 10km remaining. That’s when the chaos began for van Garderen, with his misjudgment of the corner allegedly due to Morton’s bike – which van Garderen took after crashing – having its brakes routed the opposite way around.

Deceuninck-QuickStep, meanwhile, kept a cool head and delivered Jakobsen to the line for the team’s third win in a row at this year’s Tour of California.

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

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