February 19/08 9:40 am - Tour of California: Stage 2 report, photos and results

Posted by Editor on 02/19/08
 

Tour of California

Photos

Stage two of the Amgen Tour of California was expected to be a day for the sprinters, and in the end that's what it came down to, with Tom Boonen (Quick Step) outsprinting Heinrich Haussler (Gerolsteiner) and the incredible Mario Cipollini (Rock Racing). The race also saw a lead change, as young Tyler Farrar (Slipstream Chipotle) grabbed the yellow jersey from Fabian Cancellara (CSC) after snagging time bonuses in the intermediate sprints. Canadian Dominique Rollin (Toyota United) finished seventh, to record his second consecutive top-ten result.

However, before the sprint fireworks, Team BMC repeated yesterday's lone breakaway tactic, this time sending Scott Nydam away for nearly 150 kilometres on the race from Santa Rosa to the state capital of Sacramento, with his lead growing to nearly 15 minutes at one point. Jonathan Sundt (Kelly Benefits) hovered in no mans land between Nydam and the peloton for a while before dropping back.

BMC's strategy served two purposes: first, it meant that no other team could grab the top KoM points, thus preserving Jackson Stewart's hold on the Climbers Jersey. Second, the aggressive riding of the team will, it is hoped, garner the squad some invites to European races in the coming months, according to Michael Sayers.

The top riders and their teams were content to let the lone break stay away until shortly before entering Sacramento. The heavy rain in the first hour, and the intermittent showers that swept through for the rest of the stage, probably had something to do with that, and they also stopped the field from splitting apart the way it did on stage one.

Once into the very flat run into Sacramento for the final 75 kilometres, when the wind picked up, the gap shrunk quickly and Nydam was back in the field with 30 kilometres to go.

The stage concluded with three laps of a three kilometre circuit around the state legislature, and a dead flat drag race of 400 metres out of the final left hand turn. No team took control of the final lap, so the sprint was a wild dash to the line.

Mark Cavendish (High Road) took off hard out of the final corner; so hard that the man he was leading out - Gerald Ciolek - couldn't stay on his wheel. Unfortunately, Cavendish's radio wasn't working, and he couldn't hear the screams to slow down from his team, so when he pulled off with 150 metres to go, there was no team mate there to take it home! To give him his due, he valiantly attempted to stretch his sprint to the line but died in the final metres, when Boonen, Haussler and Cipollini swept by him.

When Ciolek left a gap, everyone looked at each other to close it, and it was Boonen who managed to come by first in the final metres.

"It is always hectic when it is in the rain like this. In the final kilometre I got up to the front with Paolo Bettini to lead me. Cavendish was in front, and a few guys were bumping each other so there was no place for me, but then Cipollini left a hole, and it opened it up for me to sprint and I was able to come by in the final 10 metres. This sprint today was one of my best ever, I think. The gap was pretty immense to Cavendish, but as I got my speed up I was able to close it."

Cipollini basically agreed with Boonen's analysis, but pointed out "after Ciolek left a gap I didn't want to stay in front, so I chose to let others pass. It was a very difficult sprint."

Dominique Rollin wasn't completely satisfied with his sprint. "I misplaced myself in the sprint. I managed to get Boonen's wheel before the corner, but I was carrying too much speed and overshot the corner. I went by him and was out of the line of sprinters. I got too much wind, and it was too much work to come up after that. Still, it was another top-10, which I'll take."

Race Notes

- Farrar's team plan was to set him up to take the three seconds he needed to take the lead in the intermediate sprints. Farrar was third in the first sprint and second in the second one, to gain the lead by one second. "Basically, it played out exactly as we hoped. The team was perfect in delivering me to the sprints."

- Tomorrow is the queen stage of the race, with no less than five categorized climbs, including a Beyond Category (Hors Category) and a Category 1 climb. The HC climb is Mount Hamilton, and is new to the race at nearly 1300 metres. The rain is supposed to continue, and there is even a chance of snow at the top. The 165 kilometre stage begins in Modesto and finishes in San Jose.

- Tom Boonen was asked about sprinting against Cipollini, and if he was surprised to see him at the front. "He is going okay, I could see that yesterday, so it was no surprise to see him up there. I'm sure he has a possibility of winning a stage. Would I mind losing to him? It would be an honour."

- Cipollini was asked about his comeback, and if he had expected to do so well. "I believe that I am in good shape, but it has been a challenge for myself to be able to return and compete at this level. I am not a professional anymore, I do this just out of passion."

"It is a big challenge to have to do sprints on my own without a team; now I have to reinvent how I sprint. I feel like I am coming back after three years retirement with one leg and a half. Just competing here is a victory, because I am racing against riders who could be my children."

- The organization says that after three days there have been 425,000 spectators.