Tour of California 2019 – Stage 6 [LAST 20 KM]

May 17, 2019

Tour of California 2019 – Stage 6 – Ontario – Mt. Baldy : 127,5 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.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) took control at the Tour of California with victory on stage 6 of the race on the summit of Mt. Baldy on Friday. The Slovenian matched several attacks from Sergio Higuita (EF Education First) on the final climb, catching the Colombian’s final assault with one kilometre to go, before taking a better line through the final corner and edging the pint-sized climber on the line. George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) finished third, while Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) took fourth.

Overnight leader Tejay van Garderen (EF Education First) cracked with 4.2km to go on the final climb as the pure climbers began to make their moves. He was joined out of the back by Gianni Moscon (Team Ineos) and several other pre-race favourites. Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) began the day in second overall and set his own pace on the final climb as he strung out the yellow-jersey group. He had no answer, however, when Higuita and Bennett traded initial blows, although he recovered after his main effort.

Pogacar came into the stage lying fourth overall, 16 seconds off van Garderen’s controversial lead, and he now leads the race from Higuita by that same margin. Asgreen sits in third, a further four seconds back.

The race came to life long before the final climb, however, when Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) attacked with 14km remaining. The German began the day just 22 seconds off the race lead and his acceleration promoted EF Education First to up the pace alongside Trek-Segafredo, who were hoping to see Porte shine.

Schachmann caught the remnants of the early break but was soon alone on the final climb as the yellow jersey group began to splinter. Moscon was the first GC candidate to fold, but the biggest surprise came when van Garderen almost slowed to a complete halt with 4.2km remaining. The American found a brief period of respite with Rigoberto Uran dropping back to help the race leader, but with Schachmann’s time off the front soon to be over, the race was wide open when Bennett moved to the front with 3.9km to go.

The former race winner rose from the saddle and was quickly joined by the strongest riders in the race: Pogacar, Higuita and Porte.

Pogacar kicked with 3.4km to go, with only Higuita able to match the Slovenian’s pace. The Colombian returned the favour with a move of his own almost straight away, and it looked as though the rider who only moved into the WorldTour earlier this month would take a famous win and the yellow jersey as he tore up the steepest part of the climb.

However, Pogacar and Bennett were far from spent. They traded turns on the front as Porte struggled to change gear, but as the road rose once more, Pogacar saw off Bennett and caught Higuita with just over one kilometre to go.

In the closing stages it looked as though Bennett had the power to rally but when Higuita kicked for the line the rider from New Zealand had no response. Into the final corner, Higuita had the front but he made a mess of the bend, allowing Pogacar to come through and take the stage, and with it the race lead.

“It was a team effort, for sure,” Pogacar told reporters at the finish. “My teammates did a good job of protecting me all day. I just did my best in the last 5km, and was climbing really well today.

“When I got to Higuita, I knew that Bennett was coming, but I waited to start my sprint. Higuita made a mistake on the last corner, and I could take the win,” he said.

Bennett told Cyclingnews that he gave it his best shot, but wasn’t able to catch Pogacar and Higuita.

“Both of them were ahead of me on GC, and I knew that,” the New Zealander said, “so I had to try to drop them, and I tried to drop them fairly early on and paid the price for that. But I had to try.”

How it unfolded

The penultimate stage of the 2019 Tour of California would be the decider, culminating in the summit finish and HC climb of Mt. Baldy – a 7.6km climb averaging a steep 8.8%. The preceding first-category climbs of Glendora Bridge Road 1, coming after 27.5km, and Glendora Mountain Road 2, at 99.5km, meant that it would be a brutal day in the saddle for the race’s remaining 121 riders.

Even with the mass of climbing waiting up the road, there was a keen fight for the breakaway, with a fast start seeing a break of eight eventually emerge as the main escape group of the day. Owain Doull (Team Ineos), Hugo Houle (Astana), Jumbo-Visma’s Lennard Hofstede, Michael Storer (Team Sunweb), Paweł Bernas (CCC Team), Herman Pernsteiner of Bahrain-Merida, Israel Cycling Academy’s Matteo Badilatti and under-23 world time trial champion Mikkel Bjerg (Hagens Berman Axeon) were the lucky 10 out front.

Rally UHC climber Brandon McNulty abandoned early on, while Badilatti’s teammate Sonder Holst Enger tried and failed to make it across to the break. Over the top of the first climb of the day, it was Houle who lead the way, ahead of Pernsteiner and Storer.

Pernsteiner and Badilatti wouldn’t last out front much longer after the summit, though, as the pair were distanced on the descent and dropped back to the peloton. For the eight men remaining, their advantage maxed out at the three-minute mark. The group had no realistic chance of staying away to the finish, as teams with GC ambitions would be looking to grab the bonus seconds on Baldy.

Shortly after the second sprint of the day, 84km into the day, Dimension Data tried a move to launch Ben King up the road. Former KOM holder Alex Hoehn (USA National Team) latched onto the move, as did João Almeida (Hagens Berman Axeon). They remained stranded between the break and peloton as Trek-Segafredo stretched the peloton on the Glendora climb in a bid to set up Richie Porte.

With 16km to go, only Hofstede, Houle, Fabbro and Bernas remained, with a lead of a minute over the Trek-paced peloton.

Schachmann bridged to the leaders with 14km to go and quickly became the leader on the road. The German’s pace-setting was soon too much for two of the early breakaway riders, with only Fabbro and Hofstede able to match the Bora rider as the gap to the main field grew to 40 seconds. Inevitably Schachmann was on his own when the road kicked up with 7.5km to go, as van Garderen continued to utilise his teammates – most notably Lachlan Morton.

“I attacked because the speed went down in the bunch and I thought I ought to try it,” Schachmann told Cyclingnews. “I got a pretty good gap, and at the beginning of the climb I felt good, but at a certain moment my legs were just blocked. I don’t know what happened. Maybe I’m just tired from the first part of the season. I don’t think I’m in the best shape anymore because that wouldn’t have normally happened.

“I think on a good day, it could have worked out pretty well,” he continued, “but today was not the best climbing day. But yeah, until that moment, I was quite good.”

The race situation changed dramatically soon after Schachmann’s effort, with van Garderen losing his grip and his young teammate Higuita taking the battle to Pogacar. In the end, it was the UAE Team Emirates rider who came out on top, but Higuita’s effort was impressive nonetheless.

While EF Education First could celebrate Higuita’s ride, the Colombian’s team leader, van Garderen, was left wondering what might have been, with Pogacar now very much in the driving seat with just one stage remaining.

“I was suffering,” van Garderen admitted to reporters at the finish. “We had to go really hard and it put me in the red. I was suffering at the base of the climb, and I was thinking once we caught Schachmann back that it might ease up a bit. But we had to go really hard and it put me over the limit.

“But no excuses. I’m not going to blame it on the wrist,” he continued, referring to his injury from his crash on stage 4. “I think it was a good week, but I lacked a little bit on the final climb. I still have a ways to go and a lot of training left in the season. It’s not a complete disaster, but it’s a bit of a disappointment.”

Results :
1 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 3:48:49
2 Sergio Andres Higuita (Col) EF Education First
3 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:05
4 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:10
5 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) CCC Team 0:00:20
6 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:22
7 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:25
8 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:47
9 Rob Britton (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
10 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
11 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:49
12 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:12
13 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:18
14 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:01:26
15 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First 0:01:28
16 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First
17 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First
18 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:35
19 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:02
20 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
21 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:02:08
22 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:02:10
23 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos 0:02:20
24 Michael Schär (Swi) CCC Team 0:02:36
25 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:02:55
26 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:03:04
27 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Cycling Academy 0:03:13
28 Keegan Swirbel (USA) USA National Team 0:03:38
29 Floris De Tier (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:03:56
30 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
31 João Almeida (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:03:58
32 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:16
33 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
34 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:04:24
35 Edwin Avila (Col) Israel Cycling Academy 0:04:52
36 Cristian Camilo Muñoz Lancheros (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:53
37 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team 0:05:26
38 Ben King (USA) Dimension Data
39 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:06:00
40 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:07:46
41 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) Hagens Berman Axeon
42 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
43 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Ineos 0:10:03
44 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
45 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk 0:10:24
46 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
47 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk 0:10:27
48 Lars Bak (Den) Dimension Data 0:10:43
49 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:10:47
50 Edward Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
51 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:11:00
52 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos 0:11:03
53 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
54 Pawel Bernas (Pol) CCC Team 0:11:49
55 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:12:24
56 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First 0:13:18
57 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:13:35
58 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:14:05
59 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:15:17
60 Alex Hoehn (USA) USA National Team
61 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:16:02
62 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) CCC Team 0:16:44
63 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:21:39
64 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
65 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Israel Cycling Academy 0:21:48
66 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb
67 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:21:51
68 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:21:56
69 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana Pro Team
70 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:22:31
71 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk 0:26:54
72 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
73 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
74 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
75 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
76 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
77 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates
78 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
79 Filippo Fortin (Ita) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
80 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Ineos
81 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
82 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb
83 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
84 Travis McCabe (USA) USA National Team
85 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
86 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
87 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
88 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
89 Samuel Boardman (USA) USA National Team
90 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team
91 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain-Merida
92 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
93 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Merida
94 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Team Ineos
95 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
96 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
97 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
98 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
99 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
100 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb
101 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
102 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida
103 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Deceuninck-QuickStep
104 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
105 Michael Hernandez (USA) USA National Team
106 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
107 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
108 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos
109 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
110 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy
111 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First
112 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:27:14
113 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:28:10
114 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:28:53
115 Ian Garrison (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:30:51
116 Roy Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:33:00
117 Miguel Bryon (USA) USA National Team 0:33:04
118 Jonathan Brown (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:33:20
DNF Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
DNF Brandon McNulty (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
DNS Casper Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb

General Classification after Stage 6 :
1 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 30:01:56
2 Sergio Andres Higuita (Col) EF Education First 0:00:16
3 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:20
4 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:29
5 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:41
6 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:03
7 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:18
8 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
9 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First 0:01:22
10 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:23
11 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:28
12 Rob Britton (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:01:38
13 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) CCC Team 0:01:50
14 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First 0:01:58
15 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:02:17
16 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos 0:02:20
17 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First 0:02:26
18 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:02:35
19 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:41
20 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:42
21 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:02:58
22 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:03:23
23 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Cycling Academy 0:03:44
24 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:04:14
25 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:05:41
26 Edwin Avila (Col) Israel Cycling Academy 0:06:42
27 Cristian Camilo Muñoz Lancheros (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:07:05
28 Michael Schär (Swi) CCC Team 0:07:25
29 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:33
30 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:08:14
31 Ben King (USA) Dimension Data 0:10:46
32 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:12:11
33 João Almeida (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:12:33
34 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:14:27
35 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:14:30
36 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:16:11
37 Keegan Swirbel (USA) USA National Team 0:18:14
38 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk 0:19:02
39 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team 0:21:37
40 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team 0:22:11
41 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First 0:22:50
42 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk 0:24:20
43 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Israel Cycling Academy 0:25:01
44 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:25:08
45 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Ineos 0:26:11
46 Travis McCabe (USA) USA National Team 0:28:17
47 Edward Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:29:19
48 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:30:44
49 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk 0:32:36
50 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) CCC Team 0:32:38
51 Floris De Tier (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:34:27
52 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:34:40
53 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:36:09
54 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:36:43
55 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:38:43
56 Alex Hoehn (USA) USA National Team 0:39:03
57 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:39:33
58 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:39:51
59 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 0:40:53
60 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:42:10
61 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:44:00
62 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:44:39
63 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos 0:45:01
64 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates 0:45:02
65 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:45:41
66 Pawel Bernas (Pol) CCC Team 0:46:05
67 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:46:23
68 Lars Bak (Den) Dimension Data 0:47:04
69 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:47:08
70 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy 0:49:27
71 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos 0:50:37
72 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk 0:52:42
73 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:52:43
74 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:54:09
75 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:55:45
76 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 1:00:23
77 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Deceuninck-QuickStep 1:00:39
78 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Ineos 1:00:47
79 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo 1:00:51
80 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb 1:03:37
81 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:04:20
82 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 1:04:34
83 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 1:04:38
84 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep 1:05:41
85 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Team Ineos 1:06:04
86 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 1:06:20
87 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 1:06:25
88 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Merida 1:06:39
89 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 1:06:56
90 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb 1:07:11
91 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb 1:07:51
92 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 1:08:46
93 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk 1:11:00
94 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 1:11:02
95 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 1:11:18
96 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team 1:11:48
97 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon 1:12:05
98 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 1:12:10
99 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 1:13:11
100 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 1:13:28
101 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb 1:13:46
102 Filippo Fortin (Ita) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 1:14:03
103 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 1:14:04
104 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 1:15:41
105 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First
106 Samuel Boardman (USA) USA National Team 1:15:52
107 Michael Hernandez (USA) USA National Team 1:15:53
108 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:16:36
109 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 1:16:42
110 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 1:16:44
111 Miguel Bryon (USA) USA National Team 1:17:09
112 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain-Merida 1:18:30
113 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:24:14
114 Roy Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 1:29:14
115 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 1:29:48
116 Jonathan Brown (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 1:30:55
117 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 1:31:45
118 Ian Garrison (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 1:35:23