Tour of California: Peter Sagan sprints again to go four from four.
Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) made it an incredible four from four in the Tour of California as he outsprinted the peloton at the end of the 209.6km between Sonora and Clovis. The Slovakian champion was the pick of the sprinters once more at the end of a long, hot day across the hills of central California.
Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Barracuda) made it a somewhat less celebratory fourth in a row for himself, as he finished a close second behind Sagan, as he had done in every preceding stage. Fellow Australian Michael Matthews (Rabobank) improved on his ninth place the day before, by taking the final place on the podium.
The sprint finish was only possible after a late attack from Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Barracuda) was pulled back inside the final two kilometres. The US time trial champion attacked with six kilometres to go, disrupting what was looking to become a relaxed lead out by the sprinters teams. Omega Pharma-Quick Step - riding to set up Tom Boonen - was forced to increase its pace, but Zabriskie’s teammate Haussler was unable to take full advantage as the Sagan was led the line perfectly by teammate Daniel Oss for a fourth straight time.
The stage began with a number of attacks, with a group of eleven staying clear for the majority of the day’s climbs. It was finally pulled back at the foot of the climb to Crane Valley Road, which led to another, six-man group breaking away.
It too was caught on the descent, and the peloton relaxed to allow dropped riders to rejoin; the final 60 kilometres were ridden almost as a procession, with the speed fast enough to prevent breakaways, but not so fast as to put anybody in trouble. Jonathan Clarke (UnitedHealthcare) jumped away with 15 kilometres left, but was reeled back almost in slow motion by a seemingly reluctant peloton.
Only when Zabriskie jumped away was the peloton forced into any real pace; Omega Pharma-Quick Step pulled him back, but was then squeezed out by Garmin-Barracuda, Argos-Shimano, and finally Liquigas-Cannondale, as Sagan was launched at the line.
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A big group finally gets clear across the hills of Mariposa and Madera Counties
The first attempted break came from Stijn Vandenbergh (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Bradley White (United Healthcare) and Yannick Eijssen (BMC Racing), as they tried to get away on the first climb inside the first 25km. Shortly after the climb though, which came after 32km, an eleven man group got clear, and by the time it reached the second climb after 64km, it had opened up a gap of four minutes.
The break was made up of: Eijssen again, Markel Irizar and Ben King (RadioShack-Nissan), Alex Howes (Garmin-Barracuda), Dries Devenyns (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Wilco Kelderman (Rabobank), Timmy Duggan (Liquigas-Cannondale), Wesley Sulzberger (Orica-GreenEdge), Mikael Cherel (AG2R La Mondiale), and John Darwin Atapuma and Carlos Quintero (both Colombia-Coldeportes).
The Liquigas-Cannondale-led peloton gradually reeled in the group however, and they were caught with 79km to go, as the final climb to Crane Valley Road was just beginning. George Bennett (RadioShack-Nissan), Tom Peterson (Garmin-Barracuda) and Michael Rodriguez (Colombia-Coldeportes) promptly attacked, chased by Bram Tankink (Rabobank), Brian Vandborg (Spidertech p/b C10) and Cherel again; they came together over the top, but could not get more than 40 seconds clear, and the Liquigas-Cannondale team pulled them back on the descent with 65km to go.
Having split on the climb, the peloton’s speed relaxed as it reached the foot of the descent and most of the dropped riders were able to rejoin. With 40km to go, and with the peloton completely reorganised, the speed began to rise, as Omega Pharma-Quick Step, Garmin-Barracuda, Rabobank, and BMC Racing all put men on the front to prevent any breaks.
Jonathan Clarke attacks; Zabriskie counters; Sagan sprints
The peloton was calmly heading to the finish in this way until, with 15km to go, Clarke jumped away on the flat, straight road. There was no reaction whatsoever from the peloton, as the Australian opened up a 15-second gap. He was kept in sight as the sprinters’ teams calmly reeled him in, without significantly raising their relaxed pace.
Clarke was almost freewheeling, his hands on the tops, but the peloton refused to catch him until, with just over nine kilometres to go it gradually - and reluctantly - edged past the Australian. With the race all together again, AG2R La Mondiale began to wind the pace up and, with eight kilometres to go Omega Pharma-Quick Step came forward in force.
The pace was still relatively low however, until Zabriskie countered a move from two riders, and jumped away. The US time trial champion’s move was a game-changer, and injected the missing urgency into the sprinters’ trains as his prowess against the clock could easily have seen him stay away.
Omega Pharma-Quick Step gradually reeled Zabriskie in however, until he was finally caught with 1.4km to go. The Belgian team had spent a lot of its firepower in the chase though and Garmin-Barracuda was looking to capitalise on its teammate’s move, as it took over into the final kilometre.
Argos-Shimano was there in force however, as it brought German prodigy Marcel Kittel forward but, as the line approached, Oss calmly led Sagan through the middle of the pack and released the yellow-clad Czech champion with less than 300 metres to go.
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