Tour of California 2015 – Stage 8 [FULL STAGE]

May 17, 2015

Tour of California 2015 – Stage 8 – Los Angeles – Pasadena : 96,5 km

In the tradition-rich world of cycling, where some of the oldest monuments reach back into history more than a hundred years, a single decade marks a race that hasn’t yet hit adolescence. But for the Amgen Tour of California, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, a decade has sometimes seemed like a liftetime. The race has witnessed monsoon-like conditions in the early years when it was on the calendar in February. It persevered through a snowed-out stage during a planned start at Lake Tahoe in 2011. It survived several invasions by Rock Racing and its flamboyant owner Michael Ball, who had three riders cover stage routes ahead of the 2008 race after being excluded by organisers. The race was the site of a showdown between an icon of the sport, Lance Armstrong and his dogged accuser Floyd Landis, and it was the unwilling host for headline-stealing revelations from the race’s first winner that would eventually prove true and rock the sport to its core. It all seems like an awful lot for one decade, but the UCI 2.HC race that started in the still-warm glow of Armstrong’s seven Tour de France wins, which have since been vacated by the UCI, continues to thrive and even expand this year. The eight-day race, an entity of Anschutz Entertainment Group, the world’s largest owner of sports teams and events, has grown into an important preparation race for the Tour de France in July. AEG invited 18 men’s teams to the race this year, more than ever before, and it has added a three-day women’s UCI race to the mix.

Mark Cavendish gave the Etixx-QuickStep team its fifth stage win of the Tour of California on the final stage to Pasadena, but it was a hollow victory as his teammate Juilan Alaphilippe was overthrown from the race lead by Peter Sagan, who threw his bike to take third on the stage by mere millimeters – thus securing enough bonus seconds to win the overall race.

“We’ve had a successful week here,” Cavendish said. “We’ve been on the podium everyday with myself or Julian. We’ve got five stage wins, more than half of the stages. We rode hard to get that success. Having the yellow jersey two or three stages is nice, with second in GC. So we’re happy. To lose it by milimteres is not nice, but Peter deserves the win. He’s a worthy winner of the Tour of California.”

Sagan never came into the Tour of California with aspirations for the overall, but after the time trial was moved from snowy Big Bear down to Santa Clarita and reduced to 10.6km, Sagan blasted around the course to unexpectedly win the test. He followed that remarkable win with a gutsy performance on Mt. Baldy, where he lost the jersey to Alaphilippe by only two seconds.

During the final 105km stage, Sagan nudged the young Frenchman by one second in the intermediate sprint, setting up the final showdown at the finish, where the Slovakian champion had to battle all of the sprinters to get into the top three.

As Cavendish and Wouter Wippert (Drapac) sprinted away to the stage win and second place, It looked as if MTN-Qhubeka’s Tyler Farrar would beat Sagan to the line and deny him the race overall, but Sagan found just a little extra and threw his bike to take third by a hair.

“I almost thought that I didn’t do it,” Sagan said at the finish line. “Farrar was third, I thought, but after my team said that I was third, and I came here [to the podium] and I can’t believe that I did it. I have to say thank you to all my teammates because they did very good work.”

“It was very hard [to get this victory]. I did another surprise, for me, from the effort yesterday and I believed that I could do it today. I’m very happy for the victory today. I’m very happy because I never thought about going for the general classification at the Tour of California. This year it was very hard to finish on the climb… I lost only 47 seconds for the first and I got some bonuses at other stages and that was good for me.

“I’m very happy to win the Tour of California, also because this year I lost the green jersey, so I had to do something here to get on the podium.”

Alaphilippe was consoled with the best young rider’s jersey and second place overall, with Team Sky’s Sergio Henao in third. “We could always do more to win it but hats off to Tinkoff, they rode strong, they rode hard today, especially Peter,” Cavendish said.

Daniel Oss (BMC) secured the mountains classification, Cavendish won the points jersey, Hincapie’s Oscar Clark was named the race’s most aggressive rider and Team Sky was top team overall.

How it unfolded

The day started with QuickStep immediately going on the attack, sending Yves Lampaert up the road in a solo move. Team Sky’s Danny Pate jumped out of the bunch next to track down the solo leader, and he was soon joined in the chase by Lampaert’s teammate Matteo Trentin, Ruben Zepuntke (Cannondale-Garmin), Jacques Janse van Rensburg (MTN – Qhubeka).

The chasers quickly linked up with Lampaert to form a group of five in the front.

“It was just more for the stage,” Pate said of his early escape. “We knew [Tinkoff] were trying to control and it had been hard for them. I was just trying to take an opportunity.”

The move never made if off of the opening circuits in downtown Los Angeles, however, the field was back together as the peloton started the short trip to Pasadena for the finishing circuits around the Rose Bowl Stadium.

The bunch approached the intermediate sprint together, and the speed kicked up to full throttle as the sprinters made their way down the long, flat stretch to the line. Cavendish easily took the win there, with the more important battle for the GC playing out behind him.

Sagan’s second place ahead of Alaphilippe whittled the gap between them down to just one second, leaving the general classification up to the time bonuses on offer at the finish.

Attacks went up the road again after the finish, with Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies’ Jesse Anthony gaining ground along with Hincapie’s Oscar Clarke and BMC’s Manuel Senni.

But with so much at stake at the finish, the moves were never going to get anywhere. When the field brought back the trio of escapees, more riders countered, and countered again. Sagan was isolated in the final few circuits, but he chased down any riders who may have wanted to grab the stage glory that would have also denied the Tinkoff leader the time bonuses he needed to take the overall.

QuickStep attacked again with two laps to go of the Rose Bowl finishing circuits, but Sagan nullified the moves. The attacks were merciless over the final laps, but so was the pace, and nobody could get an advantage.

The sprinters’ teams shiffled on and off the front over the final lap, with Sagan jumping early in the last kilometre. Cavendish had Alaphilippe on his wheel, but the Frenchamn couldn’t hang with the world’s fastest man and was washed away as the sprinters jumped.

Cavendish and Wippert were able to come over Sagan to the front of the race, and Farrar had a slight advantage over Sagan as the line approached. But the Slovakian champion threw his bike ahead of the American by mere millimetres at the line to secure the four-second time bonus and three-second overall win ahead of Alaphilippe.

Results :
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx – Quick-Step 2:14:55
2 Wouter Wippert (Ned) Drapac
3 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo
4 Tyler Farrar (USA) MTN – Qhubeka
5 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
6 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Jamis – Hagens Berman
7 Zico Waeytens (Bel) Team Giant-Alpecin
8 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
9 Logan Owen (USA) Axeon Cycling Team
10 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
11 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team
12 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step
13 John Murphy (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
14 Jempy Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
15 Danny van Poppel (Ned) TrekRacing
16 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
17 Robin Carpenter (USA) Hincapie Racing Team
18 Ben King (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
19 Jure Kocjan (Slo) Team SmartStop
20 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
21 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Axeon Cycling Team
22 Dion Smith (NZl) Hincapie Racing Team
23 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
24 Justin Oien (USA) Axeon Cycling Team
25 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
26 Daniel Summerhill (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
27 Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team
28 Dennis van Winden (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
29 Eric Marcotte (USA) Team SmartStop
30 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Axeon Cycling Team
31 Edward King (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
32 Phillip Gaimon (USA) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies
33 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky
34 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo
35 Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
36 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
37 Haimar Zubeldia Aguirre (Spa) TrekRacing
38 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team
39 Matthew Brammeier (Irl) MTN – Qhubeka
40 Carter Jones (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
41 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
42 Rob Britton (Can) Team SmartStop
43 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Etixx – Quick-Step
44 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
45 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
46 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo
47 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) MTN – Qhubeka
48 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
49 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) TrekRacing
50 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) MTN – Qhubeka
51 Lachlan Norris (Aus) Drapac
52 Daniel Alexander Jaramillo Diez (Col) Jamis – Hagens Berman
53 Matti Breschel (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
54 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
55 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
56 Ruben Zepuntke (Ger) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
57 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky
58 Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky
59 Jordan Kerby (Aus) Drapac
60 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
61 Luis Romero Amaran (Cub) Jamis – Hagens Berman
62 James Oram (NZl) Axeon Cycling Team
63 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky
64 Martin Velits (Svk) Etixx – Quick-Step
65 Stephen Leece (USA) Jamis – Hagens Berman
66 Koen de Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
67 Chris Butler (USA) Team SmartStop
68 Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo
69 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) TrekRacing
70 Joseph Schmalz (USA) Hincapie Racing Team
71 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
72 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Team Sky
73 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Team Sky
74 Michael Woods (Can) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies
75 Kiel Reijnen (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
76 Kevin De Mesmaeker (Bel) Team Novo Nordisk
77 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
78 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
79 Alexandr Braico (Mda) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
80 Gregory Obando Brenes (Crc) Jamis – Hagens Berman
81 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
82 Evan Huffman (USA) Team SmartStop
83 Gavin Mannion (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
84 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Hincapie Racing Team 0:00:11
85 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:00:13
86 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:00:14
87 Stijn Devolder (Bel) TrekRacing
88 Travis Meyer (Aus) Drapac 0:00:19
89 Gregory Daniel (USA) Axeon Cycling Team
90 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) TrekRacing
91 Graeme Brown (Aus) Drapac
92 Toms Skujins (Lat) Hincapie Racing Team 0:00:23
93 Tom Zirbel (USA) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies
94 Jacob Rathe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
95 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
96 Geoffrey Curran (USA) Axeon Cycling Team
97 Daniel Eaton (USA) Axeon Cycling Team
98 William Clarke (Aus) Drapac 0:00:25
99 Joseph Lewis (Aus) Hincapie Racing Team
100 Nathan Earle (Aus) Team Sky
101 Martin Kohler (Swi) Drapac
102 Lawson Craddock (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
103 Steve Fisher (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
104 Laurent Didier (Lux) TrekRacing
105 Darren Lapthorne (Aus) Drapac
106 Danny Pate (USA) Team Sky
107 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
108 Javier Megias Leal (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
109 Jacques Janse van Rensburg (RSA) MTN – Qhubeka 0:00:34
110 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:00:45
111 Daniele Ratto (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
112 Thierry Hupond (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin
113 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:00:48
114 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk 0:01:55
115 Matthew Busche (USA) TrekRacing 0:02:16
116 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) MTN – Qhubeka 0:02:17
117 Campbell Flakemore (Aus) BMC Racing Team
118 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) MTN – Qhubeka 0:02:36
119 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
120 Jesse Anthony (USA) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:03:47
121 Oscar Clark (USA) Hincapie Racing Team
DNF Jonathan Freter (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
DNF Nicolae Tanovitchii (Mda) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
DNF Will Routley (Can) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies
DNF Carson Miller (USA) Jamis – Hagens Berman
DNF David Williams (USA) Jamis – Hagens Berman
DNF Guillaume Boivin (Can) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies
DNF Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Travis McCabe (USA) Team SmartStop

Final General Classification :
1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo 28:13:12
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:00:03
3 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Team Sky 0:00:37
4 Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:01:14
5 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:01:15
6 Haimar Zubeldia Aguirre (Spa) TrekRacing 0:01:16
7 Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky 0:01:23
8 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) TrekRacing 0:01:24
9 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:44
10 Rob Britton (Can) Team SmartStop 0:02:10
11 Lachlan Norris (Aus) Drapac 0:02:19
12 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:02:21
13 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Axeon Cycling Team 0:02:36
14 Phillip Gaimon (USA) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:02:53
15 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:03:16
16 Carter Jones (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:03:23
17 Ben King (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:03:40
18 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:04:10
19 Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:04:46
20 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:04:48
21 Dion Smith (NZl) Hincapie Racing Team 0:04:55
22 Daniel Alexander Jaramillo Diez (Col) Jamis – Hagens Berman 0:05:08
23 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:05:41
24 Matthew Busche (USA) TrekRacing 0:07:48
25 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:07:49
26 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky 0:08:37
27 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:09:23
28 Lawson Craddock (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:09:38
29 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky 0:09:53
30 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Axeon Cycling Team 0:12:50
31 Jacques Janse van Rensburg (RSA) MTN – Qhubeka 0:13:13
32 Michael Woods (Can) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:14:30
33 Toms Skujins (Lat) Hincapie Racing Team 0:17:09
34 Gavin Mannion (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:17:59
35 Laurent Didier (Lux) TrekRacing 0:19:27
36 Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:20:29
37 James Oram (NZl) Axeon Cycling Team 0:20:41
38 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) TrekRacing 0:23:02
39 Robin Carpenter (USA) Hincapie Racing Team 0:25:46
40 Chris Butler (USA) Team SmartStop 0:28:00
41 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:28:26
42 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:28:40
43 Ruben Zepuntke (Ger) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:28:46
44 Geoffrey Curran (USA) Axeon Cycling Team 0:29:07
45 Gregory Obando Brenes (Crc) Jamis – Hagens Berman 0:29:14
46 Stijn Devolder (Bel) TrekRacing 0:32:14
47 Alexandr Braico (Mda) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:32:33
48 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) TrekRacing 0:33:04
49 Gregory Daniel (USA) Axeon Cycling Team 0:34:20
50 Evan Huffman (USA) Team SmartStop 0:35:55
51 Danny Pate (USA) Team Sky 0:36:20
52 Logan Owen (USA) Axeon Cycling Team 0:36:39
53 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Jamis – Hagens Berman 0:36:53
54 Darren Lapthorne (Aus) Drapac 0:37:07
55 Daniel Eaton (USA) Axeon Cycling Team 0:37:08
56 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:37:46
57 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:38:06
58 Daniel Summerhill (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:38:17
59 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:38:46
60 John Murphy (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:38:54
61 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Hincapie Racing Team 0:40:23
62 Campbell Flakemore (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:40:40
63 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo
64 Jempy Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team 0:40:59
65 Danny van Poppel (Ned) TrekRacing 0:41:00
66 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:41:18
67 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:41:21
68 Edward King (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
69 Justin Oien (USA) Axeon Cycling Team 0:41:37
70 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) MTN – Qhubeka 0:41:55
71 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk 0:42:02
72 Koen de Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:42:03
73 Tyler Farrar (USA) MTN – Qhubeka 0:42:05
74 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:42:24
75 Thierry Hupond (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:43:03
76 Luis Romero Amaran (Cub) Jamis – Hagens Berman 0:43:07
77 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) MTN – Qhubeka 0:43:24
78 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 0:43:50
79 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Team Sky 0:43:52
80 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:44:39
81 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) MTN – Qhubeka 0:44:45
82 Martin Kohler (Swi) Drapac 0:44:48
83 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:45:06
84 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:45:12
85 Zico Waeytens (Bel) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:45:17
86 Travis Meyer (Aus) Drapac 0:45:25
87 Eric Marcotte (USA) Team SmartStop 0:45:33
88 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:45:48
89 Joseph Lewis (Aus) Hincapie Racing Team 0:45:54
90 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:46:04
91 Dennis van Winden (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:46:08
92 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:46:30
93 Matthew Brammeier (Irl) MTN – Qhubeka 0:47:26
94 Jure Kocjan (Slo) Team SmartStop 0:47:31
95 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:48:08
96 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:48:20
97 Tom Zirbel (USA) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:48:42
98 Joseph Schmalz (USA) Hincapie Racing Team 0:48:50
99 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 0:48:59
100 Oscar Clark (USA) Hincapie Racing Team 0:50:23
101 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:50:32
102 Javier Megias Leal (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk 0:51:19
103 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk 0:51:25
104 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:51:37
105 William Clarke (Aus) Drapac 0:51:52
106 Jacob Rathe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:51:53
107 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:52:48
108 Stephen Leece (USA) Jamis – Hagens Berman 0:53:46
109 Martin Velits (Svk) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:54:14
110 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:54:38
111 Kevin De Mesmaeker (Bel) Team Novo Nordisk 0:54:40
112 Nathan Earle (Aus) Team Sky 0:54:42
113 Steve Fisher (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:54:55
114 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) MTN – Qhubeka 0:56:38
115 Jordan Kerby (Aus) Drapac 0:57:16
116 Wouter Wippert (Ned) Drapac 0:57:31
117 Kiel Reijnen (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:58:54
118 Graeme Brown (Aus) Drapac 1:00:26
119 Jesse Anthony (USA) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies 1:00:38
120 Daniele Ratto (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 1:02:34
121 Matti Breschel (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 1:03:02