Tour of California

Tour of California: Zabriskie grabs TT stage win and yellow jersey

Photo:
© Garmin - Barracuda

Photo:
© Garmin - Barracuda

Jens Voigt takes unexpected runner-up slot behind USA TT champ

USA champion Dave ‘Captain America’ Zabriskie grabbed both the stage win and the overall lead in the Amgen Tour of California, dominating the stage five time trial with a superb performance.

The Garmin Barracuda rider beat the surprisingly-good veteran Jens Voigt (RadioShack Nissan) by 23 seconds, with upcoming American talent Tejay Van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) clocking third, 34 seconds back. Rabobank’s Dutch climber Robert Gesink was fourth, with Andrew Talansky (Garmin Barracuda) and Peter Velits (Orica GreenEdge) completing the top six.

“The biggest factor was probably the heat, the second factor the wind and thirdly there wasn’t much to look at out there, so it was mentally tough out there,” Zabriskie said afterwards. “But that’s the kind of course I like.”

Zabriskie has clocked up six national TT titles and earlier this year, took the opening time trial in the Tour de Langkawi. The Amgen Tour of California has long been a target for him, the 33 year old netting second in 2009 and 2010, and winning the time trial last year.

He gave an insight into the degree of focus he had, revealing that he came out to this area in February in order to make a video-tape of the 29.7 kilometre course. “I have been watching it quite a bit since then,” he said. “There were specific spots where I wanted to ease back on the pedals but maintain the speed; that sounds strange, but it’s possible to do. The turn was one of those.”

The energy conservation was of value, as he had to push hard on the approach to the line. “The wind picked up on the way back,” he explained. “I knew I had to stay concentrated there and keep my speed.”

The result saw him grab the yellow jersey from Peter Sagan (Liquigas Cannondale), with the Slovakian finishing three minutes 27 seconds back in 52nd place. As expected the time trial reshuffled the general classification, with Van Garderen now 34 seconds back in second place, Gesink five seconds further behind and Andrew Talansky (Garmin Barracuda) 48 seconds off the top slot.



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