May 10/15 19:52 pm - Tour of California: Stage 1
Posted by Editoress on 05/10/15
The 10th anniversary edition of the Amgen Tour of California began Sunday, with the longest ride of this year's 8-stage race (126.2 miles) beginning and ending at the California State Capitol building in Sacramento, where Etixx - Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team's Mark Cavendish (GBR) rocketed to his tenth stage win of the 2015 season.
Canada's Rob Britton (SmartStop) was in the race-long break, and is fifth overall after receiving four seconds in time bonuses, while Guillaume Boivin (Optum) was fifth on the stage and is seventh overall.
A site of some of the most well-attended stages and memorable sprinter shootouts in race history, including last year's photo finish that Cavendish (GBR) claimed over John Degenkolb (GER), the rider from the Isle of Man won his sixth overall AToC stage and second consecutive Sacramento stage win.
An early breakaway of four riders lasted most of the nearly five hour day of racing, with the gap approaching seven minutes early on. The 143 cyclists representing 18 teams from around the world ambled through nearby small towns, over dirt and gravel roads - which led to mechanical issues for some and a withdrawal from a local favorite - and made several river crossings on the beautiful course, including two passes over the iconic Tower Bridge.
The halfway point of the race saw the gap steadily closing, down to five minutes, with Etixx - Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team continuing to set the peloton's pace as they had for much of the ride, working early to position 25-time Tour de France stage winner Cavendish to take his sixth Amgen Tour of California win, which ties him for second of all-time.
Drapac Professional Cycling's William Clarke (Aus) and Team SmartStop's Robert Sweeting (USA) were the last two standing in the breakaway as they approached the downtown Sacramento circuit. Clarke earned the Amgen Breakaway from Cancer Most Courageous Rider Jersey for his role in the breakaway and claiming maximum points at every Sprint line up until the finish.
The final of three circuits saw Tinkoff-Saxo leading the field, with Amgen Tour of California stage win record holder (11 wins) Peter Sagan (Svk) ready to pounce and Etixx - Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team biding their time to lead out Cavendish. While other teams with sprinters in the hunt for the stage win worked to get their men in position, no one was a match for Cavendish and his teammate Mark Renshaw (Aus), who delivered him decisively over the finish ahead of Sagan, also putting him at the top of the Sprint classification.
"First and foremost, there was no hill gravity," explained Cavendish, "so it comes down to the sprint. Big, wide, straight roads, nearly one kilometre to go, is great for a sprint. I was a bit nervous because of all the criterium riders here so it freaked me out. Makes you want to stay to the front a bit more."
Results from the first stage in California
| Stage 1: Sacramento Circuit , 203.1 km | |
| 1 Mark Cavendish (Etixx - Quick Step) | 4:43:27 |
| 2 Peter Sagan (Tinkoff - Saxo) | |
| 3 Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC Racing Team) | |
| 4 John Murphy (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) | |
| 5 Guillaume Boivin (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | |
| 6 Zico Waeytens (Team Giant - Alpecin) | |
| 7 Wouter Wippert (Drapac Professional Cycling) | |
| 8 Tyler Farrar (MTN - Qhubeka) | |
| 9 Koen de Kort (Team Giant - Alpecin) | |
| 10 Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) | |
| 11 Robin Carpenter (Hincapie Racing Team) | |
| 12 Martijn Verschoor (Team Novo Nordisk) | |
| 13 Jure Kocjan (Team Smartstop) | |
| 14 Mark Renshaw (Etixx - Quick Step) | |
| 15 Travis McCabe (Team Smartstop) | |
| 16 Ben Hermans (BMC Racing Team) | |
| 17 Logan Owen (Axeon Cycling Team) | |
| 18 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Jamis - Hagens Berman) | |
| 19 Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff - Saxo) | |
| 20 Dion Smith (Hincapie Racing Team) | |
| 21 Marco Canola (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) | |
| 22 Christian Knees (Team Sky) | |
| 23 Jordan Kerby (Drapac Professional Cycling) | |
| 24 Luis Romero Amaran (Jamis - Hagens Berman) | |
| 25 Dennis Van Winden (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) | |
| 26 Joseph Rosskopf (BMC Racing Team) | |
| 27 Robert Gesink (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) | |
| 28 Gavin Mannion (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) | |
| 29 Andrea Peron (Team Novo Nordisk) | |
| 30 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Trek Factory Racing) | |
| 31 Lawson Craddock (Team Giant - Alpecin) | |
| 32 Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky) | |
| 33 Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx - Quick Step) | |
| 34 Eric Marcotte (Team Smartstop) | |
| 35 Thomas Soladay (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | |
| 36 Theo Bos (MTN - Qhubeka) | |
| 37 Kiel Reijnen (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) | |
| 38 Rob Britton (Team Smartstop) | |
| 39 Warren Barguil (Team Giant - Alpecin) | |
| 40 Fred Rodriguez (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) | |
| 41 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (MTN - Qhubeka) | |
| 42 Tanner Putt (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) | |
| 43 Tyler Magner (Hincapie Racing Team) | |
| 44 Michael Schär (BMC Racing Team) | |
| 45 Ruben Zepuntke (Team Cannondale - Garmin) | |
| 46 Janez Brajkovic (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) | |
| 47 Joseph Schmalz (Hincapie Racing Team) | |
| 48 Yves Lampaert (Etixx - Quick Step) | |
| 49 Jos Van Emden (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) | |
| 50 Daniele Bennati (Tinkoff - Saxo) | |
| 51 Alex Howes (Team Cannondale - Garmin) | |
| 52 Mike Teunissen (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) | |
| 53 Maciej Bodnar (Tinkoff - Saxo) | |
| 54 Carter Jones (Team Giant - Alpecin) | |
| 55 Laurens Ten Dam (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) | |
| 56 Travis Meyer (Drapac Professional Cycling) | |
| 57 Tom Van Asbroeck (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) | |
| 58 Michael Woods (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | |
| 59 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Team Sky) | |
| 60 Roy Curvers (Team Giant - Alpecin) | |
| 61 Philip Deignan (Team Sky) | |
| 62 Tom Zirbel (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | |
| 63 Toms Skujins (Hincapie Racing Team) | |
| 64 Gregory Obando Brenes (Jamis - Hagens Berman) | |
| 65 Stijn Devolder (Trek Factory Racing) | |
| 66 Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN - Qhubeka) | |
| 67 Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (Jamis - Hagens Berman) | |
| 68 Javier Megias Leal (Team Novo Nordisk) | |
| 69 Joseph Lewis (Hincapie Racing Team) | |
| 70 Daniel Summerhill (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) | |
| 71 Tao Geoghegan Hart (Axeon Cycling Team) | |
| 72 Justin Oien (Axeon Cycling Team) | |
| 73 Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (Team Cannondale - Garmin) | |
| 74 Kristoffer Skjerping (Team Cannondale - Garmin) | |
| 75 Phillip Gaimon (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | |
| 76 Matteo Trentin (Etixx - Quick Step) | |
| 77 Manuel Senni (BMC Racing Team) | |
| 78 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Trek Factory Racing) | |
| 79 Daniel Eaton (Axeon Cycling Team) | |
| 80 James Oram (Axeon Cycling Team) | |
| 81 Lasse Norman Hansen (Team Cannondale - Garmin) | |
| 82 Edward King (Team Cannondale - Garmin) | |
| 83 Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing Team) | |
| 84 Laurent Didier (Trek Factory Racing) | |
| 85 Riccardo Zoidl (Trek Factory Racing) | |
| 86 Danny Pate (Team Sky) | |
| 87 Jesse Anthony (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | |
| 88 Ian Boswell (Team Sky) | |
| 89 Benjamin King (Team Cannondale - Garmin) | |
| 90 Ruben Guerreiro (Axeon Cycling Team) | |
| 91 Daniele Ratto (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) | |
| 92 Nathan Earle (Team Sky) | |
| 93 Alexander Braico (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) | |
| 94 Jasper Stuyven (Trek Factory Racing) | |
| 95 Gregory Daniel (Axeon Cycling Team) | |
| 96 Chris Butler (Team Smartstop) | |
| 97 Charles Planet (Team Novo Nordisk) | |
| 98 Travis Livermon (Team Smartstop) | |
| 99 Sep Vanmarcke (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) | |
| 100 Johann Van Zyl (MTN - Qhubeka) | |
| 101 Joonas Henttala (Team Novo Nordisk) | |
| 102 Jonathan Clarke (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) | |
| 103 Matthew Busche (Trek Factory Racing) | |
| 104 Thierry Hupond (Team Giant - Alpecin) | |
| 105 Lachlan Norris (Drapac Professional Cycling) | |
| 106 Daniel Alexander Jaramillo Diez (Jamis - Hagens Berman) | |
| 107 Stephen Leece (Jamis - Hagens Berman) | |
| 108 Evan Huffman (Team Smartstop) | |
| 109 Andzs Flaksis (Hincapie Racing Team) | |
| 110 Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Tinkoff - Saxo) | |
| 111 Oscar Clark (Hincapie Racing Team) | |
| 112 Martin Velits (Etixx - Quick Step) | |
| 113 Martin Kohler (Drapac Professional Cycling) | |
| 114 David Lozano Riba (Team Novo Nordisk) | |
| 115 William Clarke (Drapac Professional Cycling) | |
| 116 Lachlan David Morton (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) | |
| 117 Matthew Harley Goss (MTN - Qhubeka) | |
| 118 Campbell Flakemore (BMC Racing Team) | |
| 119 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Team Sky) | |
| 120 Geoffrey Curran (Axeon Cycling Team) | |
| 121 Maarten Wynants (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) | all s.t. |
| 122 Robert Sweeting (Team Smartstop) | 0:21 |
| 123 Nicolae Tanovitchii (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) | |
| 124 Jacob Rathe (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) | |
| 125 Michael Morkov (Tinkoff - Saxo) | all s.t. |
| 126 Carson Miller (Jamis - Hagens Berman) | 0:24 |
| 127 David Williams (Jamis - Hagens Berman) | 0:27 |
| 128 Eric Young (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | 0:29 |
| 129 Michael Kolár (Tinkoff - Saxo) | |
| 130 Scott Ambrose (Team Novo Nordisk) | both s.t. |
| 131 Will Routley (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | 0:33 |
| 132 Matt Brammeier (MTN - Qhubeka) | s.t. |
| 133 Daniel Oss (BMC Racing Team) | 0:37 |
| 134 Johnathan Freter (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) | 0:46 |
| 135 Stijn Vandenbergh (Etixx - Quick Step) | 0:52 |
| 136 Kevin De Mesmaeker (Team Novo Nordisk) | 0:52 |
| 137 Gerald Ciolek (MTN - Qhubeka) | 1:38 |
| 138 Steve Fisher (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) | 3:31 |
| 139 Matti Breschel (Tinkoff - Saxo) | 4:47 |
| 140 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Etixx - Quick Step) | s.t. |
| 141 Graeme Brown (Drapac Professional Cycling) | 5:23 |
| 142 Darren Lapthorne (Drapac Professional Cycling) | s.t. |
| DNF Andrew Talansky (Team Cannondale - Garmin) | |
| GC | |
| 1 Mark Cavendish (Etixx - Quick Step) | 4:43:17 |
| 2 William Clarke (Drapac Professional Cycling) | at 0:01 |
| 3 Peter Sagan (Tinkoff - Saxo) | 0:04 |
| 4 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Bmc Racing Team) | 0:06 |
| 5 Rob Britton (Team Smartstop) | s.t. |
| 6 John Murphy (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) | 0:10 |
| 7 Guillaume Boivin (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | |
| 8 Zico Waeytens (Team Giant - Alpecin) | |
| 9 Wouter Wippert (Drapac Professional Cycling) | |
| 10 Tyler Farrar (Mtn - Qhubeka) | |
| 11 Koen De Kort (Team Giant - Alpecin) | |
| 12 Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) | |
| 13 Robin Carpenter (Hincapie Racing Team) | |
| 14 Martijn Verschoor (Team Novo Nordisk) | |
| 15 Jure Kocjan (Team Smartstop) | |
| 16 Mark Renshaw (Etixx - Quick Step) | |
| 17 Travis Mccabe (Team Smartstop) | |
| 18 Ben Hermans (Bmc Racing Team) | |
| 19 Logan Owen (Axeon Cycling Team) | |
| 20 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Jamis - Hagens Berman) | |
| 21 Jay Mccarthy (Tinkoff - Saxo) | |
| 22 Dion Smith (Hincapie Racing Team) | |
| 23 Marco Canola (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) | |
| 24 Christian Knees (Team Sky) | |
| 25 Jordan Kerby (Drapac Professional Cycling) | |
| 26 Luis Romero Amaran (Jamis - Hagens Berman) | |
| 27 Dennis Van Winden (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) | |
| 28 Joseph Rosskopf (Bmc Racing Team) | |
| 29 Robert Gesink (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) | |
| 30 Gavin Mannion (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) | |
| 31 Andrea Peron (Team Novo Nordisk) | |
| 32 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Trek Factory Racing) | |
| 33 Lawson Craddock (Team Giant - Alpecin) | |
| 34 Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky) | |
| 35 Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx - Quick Step) | |
| 36 Eric Marcotte (Team Smartstop) | |
| 37 Thomas Soladay (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | |
| 38 Theo Bos (Mtn - Qhubeka) | |
| 39 Kiel Reijnen (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) | |
| 40 Warren Barguil (Team Giant - Alpecin) | |
| 41 Fred Rodriguez (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) | |
| 42 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (Mtn - Qhubeka) | |
| 43 Tanner Putt (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) | |
| 44 Tyler Magner (Hincapie Racing Team) | |
| 45 Michael Schär (Bmc Racing Team) | |
| 46 Ruben Zepuntke (Team Cannondale - Garmin) | |
| 47 Janez Brajkovic (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) | |
| 48 Joseph Schmalz (Hincapie Racing Team) | |
| 49 Yves Lampaert (Etixx - Quick Step) | |
| 50 Jos Van Emden (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) | |
| 51 Daniele Bennati (Tinkoff - Saxo) | |
| 52 Alex Howes (Team Cannondale - Garmin) | |
| 53 Mike Teunissen (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) | |
| 54 Maciej Bodnar (Tinkoff - Saxo) | |
| 55 Carter Jones (Team Giant - Alpecin) | |
| 56 Laurens Ten Dam (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) | |
| 57 Travis Meyer (Drapac Professional Cycling) | |
| 58 Tom Van Asbroeck (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) | |
| 59 Michael Woods (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | |
| 60 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Team Sky) | |
| 61 Roy Curvers (Team Giant - Alpecin) | |
| 62 Philip Deignan (Team Sky) | |
| 63 Tom Zirbel (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | |
| 64 Toms Skujins (Hincapie Racing Team) | |
| 65 Gregory Obando Brenes (Jamis - Hagens Berman) | |
| 66 Stijn Devolder (Trek Factory Racing) | |
| 67 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Mtn - Qhubeka) | |
| 68 Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (Jamis - Hagens Berman) | |
| 69 Javier Megias Leal (Team Novo Nordisk) | |
| 70 Joseph Lewis (Hincapie Racing Team) | |
| 71 Daniel Summerhill (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) | |
| 72 Tao Geoghegan Hart (Axeon Cycling Team) | |
| 73 Justin Oien (Axeon Cycling Team) | |
| 74 Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (Team Cannondale - Garmin) | |
| 75 Kristoffer Skjerping (Team Cannondale - Garmin) | |
| 76 Phillip Gaimon (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | |
| 77 Matteo Trentin (Etixx - Quick Step) | |
| 78 Manuel Senni (Bmc Racing Team) | |
| 79 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Trek Factory Racing) | |
| 80 Daniel Eaton (Axeon Cycling Team) | |
| 81 James Oram (Axeon Cycling Team) | |
| 82 Lasse Norman Hansen (Team Cannondale - Garmin) | |
| 83 Edward King (Team Cannondale - Garmin) | |
| 84 Danilo Wyss (Bmc Racing Team) | |
| 85 Laurent Didier (Trek Factory Racing) | |
| 86 Riccardo Zoidl (Trek Factory Racing) | |
| 87 Danny Pate (Team Sky) | |
| 88 Jesse Anthony (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | |
| 89 Ian Boswell (Team Sky) | |
| 90 Benjamin King (Team Cannondale - Garmin) | |
| 91 Ruben Guerreiro (Axeon Cycling Team) | |
| 92 Daniele Ratto (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) | |
| 93 Nathan Earle (Team Sky) | |
| 94 Alexander Braico (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) | |
| 95 Jasper Stuyven (Trek Factory Racing) | |
| 96 Gregory Daniel (Axeon Cycling Team) | |
| 97 Chris Butler (Team Smartstop) | |
| 98 Charles Planet (Team Novo Nordisk) | |
| 99 Travis Livermon (Team Smartstop) | |
| 100 Sep Vanmarcke (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) | |
| 101 Johann Van Zyl (Mtn - Qhubeka) | |
| 102 Joonas Henttala (Team Novo Nordisk) | |
| 103 Jonathan Clarke (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) | |
| 104 Matthew Busche (Trek Factory Racing) | |
| 105 Thierry Hupond (Team Giant - Alpecin) | |
| 106 Lachlan Norris (Drapac Professional Cycling) | |
| 107 Daniel Alexander Jaramillo Diez (Jamis - Hagens Berman) | |
| 108 Stephen Leece (Jamis - Hagens Berman) | |
| 109 Evan Huffman (Team Smartstop) | |
| 110 Andzs Flaksis (Hincapie Racing Team) | |
| 111 Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Tinkoff - Saxo) | |
| 112 Oscar Clark (Hincapie Racing Team) | |
| 113 Martin Velits (Etixx - Quick Step) | |
| 114 Martin Kohler (Drapac Professional Cycling) | |
| 115 David Lozano Riba (Team Novo Nordisk) | |
| 116 Lachlan David Morton (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) | |
| 117 Matthew Harley Goss (Mtn - Qhubeka) | |
| 118 Campbell Flakemore (Bmc Racing Team) | |
| 119 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Team Sky) | |
| 120 Geoffrey Curran (Axeon Cycling Team) | |
| 121 Maarten Wynants (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) | all s.t. |
| 122 Robert Sweeting (Team Smartstop) | 0:28 |
| 123 Nicolae Tanovitchii (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) | 0:31 |
| 124 Jacob Rathe (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) | |
| 125 Michael Morkov (Tinkoff - Saxo) | both s.t. |
| 126 Carson Miller (Jamis - Hagens Berman) | 0:34 |
| 127 David Williams (Jamis - Hagens Berman) | 0:37 |
| 128 Eric Young (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | 0:39 |
| 129 Michael Kolár (Tinkoff - Saxo) | |
| 130 Scott Ambrose (Team Novo Nordisk) | both s.t. |
| 131 Will Routley (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | 0:43 |
| 132 Matt Brammeier (Mtn - Qhubeka) | s.t. |
| 133 Daniel Oss (Bmc Racing Team) | 0:47 |
| 134 Johnathan Freter (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) | 0:56 |
| 135 Stijn Vandenbergh (Etixx - Quick Step) | 1:02 |
| 136 Kevin De Mesmaeker (Team Novo Nordisk) | s.t. |
| 137 Gerald Ciolek (Mtn - Qhubeka) | 1:48 |
| 138 Steve Fisher (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) | 3:39 |
| 139 Matti Breschel (Tinkoff - Saxo) | 4:57 |
| 140 Guillaume van Keirsbulck (Etixx - Quick Step) | s.t. |
| 141 Graeme Brown (Drapac Professional Cycling) | 5:33 |
| 142 Darren Lapthorne (Drapac Professional Cycling) | s.t. |
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