May 16/10 21:33 pm - Amgen Tour of California: Stage 1 report, photos and full results

Posted by Editoress on 05/16/10
 

British sprinting ace Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) won the 167 kilometre first stage of the Amgen Tour of California in Sacramento, out kicking Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank) to take both the stage victory and the golden leader's jersey.  BMC's Alexander Kristoff was third and took the Best Young Rider jersey.  Guillaume Boivin (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy) finished seventh in the final sprint, and is 11th in the overall standings, once time bonuses were factored in.  Boivin is third in the Best Young Rider competition, for riders under 25 years.

Photo gallery

"My teammates did a great job to protect Martin [Gilbert] and I from hitting the wind all day," commented Boivin.  "On the final circuit they continued their good work bringing us to the front. A crash at two kilometres to go separated Martin and I. I had to do my best alone to prepare the final kick. I'm happy to make a good result, but I know if Martin and I were sprinting in tandem we could have done even better."

The final finishing circuits were marred by several large crashes, that took down or held up most of the peloton, including Tom Boonen (Quick Step) and Canadian Andrew Pinfold (United Healthcare).  Both riders have considerable road rash, but are expected to start tomorrow.  Pinfold's Team Director, Gord Fraser, says "Lots of skin lost .... Should be somewhat fine for tomorrow..."

After a neutral start in the streets of the old gold mining village of Nevada City, the race headed southwest towards the only categorized climb of the day.  Less than 15 kilometres into the stage, the obligatory break got away, with four riders - Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank), Paul Mach (Bissell), Marc de Maar (United Healthcare) and Chad Beyer (BMC).  The gap grew to nearly six minutes in the first 60 kilometres, before the sprinters' teams began to reel them back in.  They did manage to stay away for the KoM and both intermediate sprints, giving Mach the Climber's Jersey.

The group was caught less than ten kilometres from the finishing circuit, and then HTC-Columbia began to set up for Cavendish.  Kelly Benefit Strategies sent David Veilleux to the front for the first of three circuits around the state capital buildings, but HTC-Columbia moved to the front for the final five kilometres, with Cavendish and his leadout training missing the carnage behind them.

"Some of the smaller teams, they were maybe trying too hard, and didn't have the power," commented Cavendish.  "My team is perfect, it does everything for me.  I know I just have to follow Mark Renshaw's wheel, and he follows Bernhard Eisel, who follows Tony Martin, who follows Michael Rogers ... they just deliver me to the line."

Other top Canadians include Martin Gilbert (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy) in 14th and Charles Dionne (Fly V Australia) in 15th.  Almost the entire peloton were credited with the same time as the leaders, since the crashes happened in the last three kilometres.

Tomorrow's 177 kilometre stage from Davis to defending champion Levi Leipheimer's home of Santa Rosa is a hard one, with two intermediate sprints and four categorized climbs, including two Category 2 climbs.