Canadian Cyclist

 

May 12/15 22:21 pm - Tour of California: Stage 3


Posted by Editoress on 05/12/15
 

In what might come to be the greatest escape of the 10th anniversary Amgen Tour of California, 23-year-old Toms Skujins (Hincapie Racing Team) suffered through the mountainous 107.6-mile (169.8 km) stage to claim a solo victory by more than a minute along with the coveted Amgen Race Leader Jersey.

 

PHOTO

Toms Skujins (Hincapie Racing Team) wins

 

Stage 3, presented by SRAM, began and ended in 10-time host city San Jose, the only city to have hosted the Amgen Tour of California every year since it began in 2006. In between, there was high drama at high elevations as riders confronted six King of the Mountain (KOM) climbs: one HC at Mt. Hamilton, a Category 2 climb and four Category 4 climbs, including the uphill finish.

The first 20 miles (32. kms) of the race were spotted with several foiled breakaway attempts, with the peloton traveling at speeds over 40 mph (64 kmph). Near Livermore, BMC Racing Team’s Daniel Oss (ITA) found his way to the successful breakaway for the second day in a row, along with six other riders, who worked together to increase their lead up to nearly 5 minutes at the 3-hour point of the 4.5-hour race.

Oss swept the first three KOMs, after which the group began to break up, with Skujins sailing off to a solo lead, which he steadily increased to 1:35 over the chase group and 4 minutes over the peloton by the time the more than 4,000-foot (1220 metre) KOM summit at Mt. Hamilton was in his sights. Oss kept his hopes alive for the KOM competition, crossing the Mt. Hamilton KOM line second. With Skujins winning today’s competition, it will be second-place Oss who will wear the KOM jersey tomorrow since Skujins will don the coveted yellow leader.

“This is big. It’s pretty massive for us… I knew that a breakaway had a chance today,” said Skujins, who was Latvia’s Under-23 National Road Race Champion in 2013. “The last half-mile was just pure pain. My legs were locking up… I was not able to go any harder.”

Oss said of his two consecutive days in the breakaway that he wasn’t surprised. “It was a really hard start. I found a good moment and I tried because a few riders were there. I went because it was also good to think about the final climb because maybe from the group someone will want to attack and I can stay there for a teammate to help in the final.”

In the peloton, Tinkoff-Saxo and ultimately Team Sky drove up the pace to try to catch the escapees, with all but Skujins reabsorbed. The Latvian rider’s lead was just too large, and though he was struggling going it alone on the final climb to the finish, his efforts paid off with the overall race lead and a 32s advantage over Tinkoff-Saxo’s Peter Sagan, who finished second for the third day in a row and holds on to second place overall. Etixx – Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team’s 22-year-old Julian Alaphilippe was along with him to take third (fourth overall, at 43s) as well as the SRAM Best Young Rider award today. Team SmartStop’s Rob Britton holds third position overall (at 44s).

Tour of California press release

 

Team Smartstop report

Mt Hamilton proved to be the deciding factor in the outcome of stage three of the Tour of California on Tuesday, when Rob Britton had an incredible ride to move himself up to third on the general classification after three days of racing at the Amgen Tour of California.

The stage was always going to be a general classification shake up with a Hors Categorie climb, and Team SmartStop had a great day on the bike and made the most of the opportunities presented to them.

Early on in the stage the racing was once again aggressive, with Etixx-Quick Step and Tinkoff-Saxo both very determined to control the composition of the breakaways that went up the road.

 

PHOTO

 

 

When Chris Butler made it into a breakaway of six riders, he was certain it would stay away, since it was straight out of the gun and into a climb, but after 6km off the front Tinkoff-Saxo decided to chase it down.

A flurry of attacks continued and, with four riders up the road, Team SmartStop's Evan Huffman went on the attack with Jonathan Clarke of United HealthCare Pro Cycling and Oscar Clark of Hincapie Racing Team to bridge across and create a breakaway group of seven that would not be chased down.

"It was really hard in the beginning but then once it got out to two minutes, it settled down and everyone rotated pretty smoothly," said Huffman, "there was a race for the KOM points between Oss and Skujins."

The group of seven gained a maximum advantage of five minutes heading towards Mt Hamilton. "Once it hit Hamilton the breakaway just exploded and everyone was on their own," explained Huffman.

Almost immediately Toms Skujins (Hincapie Racing Team) took off up Mt Hamilton and was never to be seen again, riding solo for the remaining 55km, taking the stage with a 46 second advantage over the 25-man reduced peloton and, with that, the yellow jersey, ahead of Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo).

Rob Britton, with the support of all his teammates, made his way back into the front group after a wheel change from Huffman and support from Chris Butler and Travis McCabe to catch back onto the peloton in the Mt Hamilton descent.

Sporting Director, Michael Creed is really impressed with the way the team is riding: "It was really good, we had a plan and we stuck to it, everyone was on board, it damn near perfect work."

"Toms had an amazing ride and there's not much we could do about that and, last I checked, Peter Sagan was a pretty good bike rider so there wasn't a whole lot we could do about that either."

Britton finished with the front group, the field sprint for second won by Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) and did not lose any time to his other general classification riders in that group moving himself up to third on the general classification.

Creed said: "Having Rob in third doesn't mean a whole lot right now, its really nice that people will see his name up there and understand what a quality bike rider he is, but it's the general classification at the finish that ultimately matters."

With five more stages to go, including an individual time trial and the summit finish on Mt Baldy, the general classification should see more shake ups throughout the week.

"With the field as good as it is he can't really have any bad days. It's going to be tricky to hold onto that spot, but I know Rob is really determined so he is going to do his best."


 

Photo Gallery

 

Results from the third stage in California

Stage 3: San Jose to San Jose, 169.8 km
1 Toms Skujins (Hincapie Racing Team) 4:33:10
2 Peter Sagan (Tinkoff - Saxo) at 1:06
3 Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx - Quick Step)
4 Daniel Alexander Jaramillo Diez (Jamis - Hagens Berman) both s.t.
5 Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing Team) 1:09
6 Robert Gesink (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo)
7 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Team Sky)
8 Michael Woods (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
9 Lawson Craddock (Team Giant - Alpecin)
10 Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (Team Cannondale - Garmin)
11 Dion Smith (Hincapie Racing Team)
12 Ben Hermans (BMC Racing Team)
13 Joseph Rosskopf (BMC Racing Team)
14 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Trek Factory Racing)
15 Rob Britton (Team Smartstop)
16 Phillip Gaimon (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
17 Riccardo Zoidl (Trek Factory Racing)
18 Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky)
19 Tao Geoghegan Hart (Axeon Cycling Team)
20 Benjamin King (Team Cannondale - Garmin)
21 Manuel Senni (BMC Racing Team)
22 Matthew Busche (Trek Factory Racing)
23 Janez Brajkovic (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team)
24 Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff - Saxo) all s.t.
25 James Oram (Axeon Cycling Team) 1:18
26 Lachlan Norris (Drapac Professional Cycling) s.t.
27 Carter Jones (Team Giant - Alpecin) 1:25
28 Ian Boswell (Team Sky) 1:35
29 Christian Knees (Team Sky) 1:39
30 Laurent Didier (Trek Factory Racing) 1:57
31 Philip Deignan (Team Sky) s.t.
32 Gregory Obando Brenes (Jamis - Hagens Berman) 2:16
33 Ruben Guerreiro (Axeon Cycling Team) 3:39
34 Alex Howes (Team Cannondale - Garmin) 4:45
35 Michael Schär (BMC Racing Team)
36 Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Tinkoff - Saxo) both s.t.
37 Jasper Stuyven (Trek Factory Racing) 6:05
38 Chris Butler (Team Smartstop) 6:34
39 Laurens Ten Dam (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) 7:25
40 Daniel Oss (BMC Racing Team) 7:45
41 Gregory Daniel (Axeon Cycling Team) 8:00
42 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (MTN - Qhubeka) 8:10
43 Travis McCabe (Team Smartstop) 8:54
44 Ruben Zepuntke (Team Cannondale - Garmin) 12:23
45 Gavin Mannion (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) s.t.
46 Jonathan Clarke (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) 13:42
47 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Team Sky) 14:26
48 Danny Pate (Team Sky) s.t.
49 Alexander Braico (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) 14:28
50 Evan Huffman (Team Smartstop) 15:19
51 Oscar Clark (Hincapie Racing Team) s.t.
52 Jos Van Emden (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) 16:07
53 Daniel Eaton (Axeon Cycling Team)
54 Logan Owen (Axeon Cycling Team)
55 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Jamis - Hagens Berman)
56 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Trek Factory Racing)
57 Matthew Harley Goss (MTN - Qhubeka)
58 John Murphy (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team)
59 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Etixx - Quick Step)
60 Nicolae Tanovitchii (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis)
61 Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN - Qhubeka)
62 Roy Curvers (Team Giant - Alpecin)
63 Andzs Flaksis (Hincapie Racing Team)
64 Javier Megias Leal (Team Novo Nordisk)
65 Robin Carpenter (Hincapie Racing Team)
66 Will Routley (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
67 Lachlan David Morton (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis)
68 Geoffrey Curran (Axeon Cycling Team)
69 Daniel Summerhill (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) all s.t.
70 Daniele Bennati (Tinkoff - Saxo) 16:31
71 Koen De Kort (Team Giant - Alpecin) 21:01
72 Zico Waeytens (Team Giant - Alpecin)
73 Yves Lampaert (Etixx - Quick Step)
74 Joonas Henttala (Team Novo Nordisk)
75 Andrea Peron (Team Novo Nordisk)
76 Johann Van Zyl (MTN - Qhubeka)
77 Stijn Devolder (Trek Factory Racing)
78 Fred Rodriguez (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis)
79 Charles Planet (Team Novo Nordisk)
80 Mike Teunissen (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo)
81 Jordan Kerby (Drapac Professional Cycling)
82 Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing)
83 Guillaume Boivin (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
84 Eric Marcotte (Team Smartstop)
85 Edward King (Team Cannondale - Garmin)
86 Tyler Farrar (MTN - Qhubeka)
87 Tom Zirbel (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
88 Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC Racing Team)
89 Thierry Hupond (Team Giant - Alpecin)
90 David Lozano Riba (Team Novo Nordisk)
91 Maarten Wynants (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo)
92 Luis Romero Amaran (Jamis - Hagens Berman)
93 Dennis Van Winden (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo)
94 Tom Van Asbroeck (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo)
95 Sep Vanmarcke (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo)
96 Stephen Leece (Jamis - Hagens Berman)
97 Robert Sweeting (Team Smartstop)
98 Mark Renshaw (Etixx - Quick Step)
99 Kevin De Mesmaeker (Team Novo Nordisk)
100 Carson Miller (Jamis - Hagens Berman)
101 Travis Livermon (Team Smartstop)
102 Matt Brammeier (MTN - Qhubeka)
103 Mark Cavendish (Etixx - Quick Step)
104 Jure Kocjan (Team Smartstop)
105 Joseph Schmalz (Hincapie Racing Team)
106 Kristoffer Skjerping (Team Cannondale - Garmin)
107 Joseph Lewis (Hincapie Racing Team)
108 Tanner Putt (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team)
109 Justin Oien (Axeon Cycling Team)
110 Lasse Norman Hansen (Team Cannondale - Garmin)
111 Darren Lapthorne (Drapac Professional Cycling)
112 Campbell Flakemore (BMC Racing Team)
113 Matteo Trentin (Etixx - Quick Step)
114 Michael Morkov (Tinkoff - Saxo)
115 Steve Fisher (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) all s.t.
116 Martijn Verschoor (Team Novo Nordisk) 21:56
117 Martin Kohler (Drapac Professional Cycling)
118 Travis Meyer (Drapac Professional Cycling)
119 Jesse Anthony (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
120 Kiel Reijnen (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team)
121 Gerald Ciolek (MTN - Qhubeka)
122 Martin Velits (Etixx - Quick Step)
123 Thomas Soladay (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
124 David Williams (Jamis - Hagens Berman)
125 Daniele Ratto (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team)
126 Stijn Vandenbergh (Etixx - Quick Step)
127 Jacob Rathe (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) all s.t.
128 Nathan Earle (Team Sky) 22:32
129 Eric Young (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) 26:47
130 Matti Breschel (Tinkoff - Saxo)
131 Johnathan Freter (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) both s.t.
132 William Clarke (Drapac Professional Cycling) 27:49
133 Graeme Brown (Drapac Professional Cycling) s.t.
134 Wouter Wippert (Drapac Professional Cycling) 28:19
DNF Maciej Bodnar (Tinkoff - Saxo)
DNF Michael Kolár (Tinkoff - Saxo)
DNF Theo Bos (MTN - Qhubeka)
DNF Marco Canola (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team)
DNF Scott Ambrose (Team Novo Nordisk)
DNS Warren Barguil (Team Giant - Alpecin)
DNS Tyler Magner (Hincapie Racing Team)
 
GC
1 Toms Skujins (Hincapie Racing Team) 14:04:01
2 Peter Sagan (Tinkoff - Saxo) at 0:32
3 Rob Britton (Team Smartstop) 0:43
4 Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx - Quick Step) 0:44
5 Daniel Alexander Jaramillo Diez (Jamis - Hagens Berman) s.t.
6 Dion Smith (Hincapie Racing Team) 0:47
7 Robert Gesink (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo)
8 Ben Hermans (BMC Racing Team)
9 Lawson Craddock (Team Giant - Alpecin)
10 Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff - Saxo)
11 Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky)
12 Michael Woods (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
13 Janez Brajkovic (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team)
14 Joseph Rosskopf (BMC Racing Team)
15 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Team Sky)
16 Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing Team)
17 Phillip Gaimon (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
18 Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (Team Cannondale - Garmin)
19 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Trek Factory Racing)
20 Manuel Senni (BMC Racing Team)
21 Tao Geoghegan Hart (Axeon Cycling Team)
22 Riccardo Zoidl (Trek Factory Racing)
23 Benjamin King (Team Cannondale - Garmin)
24 Matthew Busche (Trek Factory Racing) all s.t.
25 Lachlan Norris (Drapac Professional Cycling) 0:56
26 Carter Jones (Team Giant - Alpecin) 1:03
27 Ian Boswell (Team Sky) 1:13
28 Christian Knees (Team Sky) 1:17
29 Philip Deignan (Team Sky) 1:35
30 Laurent Didier (Trek Factory Racing) s.t.
31 James Oram (Axeon Cycling Team) 1:38
32 Gregory Obando Brenes (Jamis - Hagens Berman) 1:54
33 Ruben Guerreiro (Axeon Cycling Team) 3:17
34 Alex Howes (Team Cannondale - Garmin) 4:23
35 Michael Schär (BMC Racing Team) s.t.
36 Jasper Stuyven (Trek Factory Racing) 5:43
37 Laurens Ten Dam (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) 7:03
38 Gregory Daniel (Axeon Cycling Team) 8:00
39 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (MTN - Qhubeka) 8:10
40 Travis McCabe (Team Smartstop) 8:32
41 Daniel Oss (BMC Racing Team) 9:02
42 Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Tinkoff - Saxo) 10:47
43 Chris Butler (Team Smartstop) 11:06
44 Gavin Mannion (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) 12:01
45 Ruben Zepuntke (Team Cannondale - Garmin) 12:23
46 Jonathan Clarke (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) 13:42
47 Danny Pate (Team Sky) 14:04
48 Alexander Braico (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) 14:06
49 Oscar Clark (Hincapie Racing Team) 14:57
50 Robin Carpenter (Hincapie Racing Team) 15:36
51 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Trek Factory Racing) 15:39
52 John Murphy (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) 15:45
53 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Jamis - Hagens Berman)
54 Logan Owen (Axeon Cycling Team)
55 Javier Megias Leal (Team Novo Nordisk)
56 Roy Curvers (Team Giant - Alpecin)
57 Daniel Summerhill (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team)
58 Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN - Qhubeka)
59 Daniel Eaton (Axeon Cycling Team)
60 Andzs Flaksis (Hincapie Racing Team)
61 Matthew Harley Goss (MTN - Qhubeka)
62 Lachlan David Morton (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis)
63 Geoffrey Curran (Axeon Cycling Team) all s.t.
64 Daniele Bennati (Tinkoff - Saxo) 16:09
65 Evan Huffman (Team Smartstop) 17:28
66 Nicolae Tanovitchii (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) 17:36
67 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Team Sky) 18:15
68 Will Routley (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) 18:49
69 Mark Cavendish (Etixx - Quick Step) 20:19
70 Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC Racing Team) 20:35
71 Zico Waeytens (Team Giant - Alpecin) 20:39
72 Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing)
73 Guillaume Boivin (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
74 Tyler Farrar (MTN - Qhubeka)
75 Koen De Kort (Team Giant - Alpecin)
76 Jure Kocjan (Team Smartstop)
77 Eric Marcotte (Team Smartstop)
78 Andrea Peron (Team Novo Nordisk)
79 Dennis Van Winden (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo)
80 Mike Teunissen (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo)
81 Mark Renshaw (Etixx - Quick Step)
82 Stijn Devolder (Trek Factory Racing)
83 Jordan Kerby (Drapac Professional Cycling)
84 Sep Vanmarcke (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo)
85 Joseph Lewis (Hincapie Racing Team)
86 Charles Planet (Team Novo Nordisk)
87 Edward King (Team Cannondale - Garmin)
88 Tanner Putt (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team)
89 Joonas Henttala (Team Novo Nordisk)
90 Justin Oien (Axeon Cycling Team)
91 Matteo Trentin (Etixx - Quick Step)
92 Thierry Hupond (Team Giant - Alpecin)
93 Lasse Norman Hansen (Team Cannondale - Garmin)
94 David Lozano Riba (Team Novo Nordisk) all s.t.
95 Robert Sweeting (Team Smartstop) 20:57
96 Kristoffer Skjerping (Team Cannondale - Garmin) 21:01
97 Travis Livermon (Team Smartstop) s.t.
98 Luis Romero Amaran (Jamis - Hagens Berman) 21:28
99 Martijn Verschoor (Team Novo Nordisk) 21:34
100 Kiel Reijnen (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team)
101 Travis Meyer (Drapac Professional Cycling)
102 Jesse Anthony (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
103 Martin Kohler (Drapac Professional Cycling) all s.t.
104 Joseph Schmalz (Hincapie Racing Team) 21:35
105 Michael Morkov (Tinkoff - Saxo) 21:47
106 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Etixx - Quick Step) 23:03
107 Yves Lampaert (Etixx - Quick Step) 23:10
108 Johann Van Zyl (MTN - Qhubeka)
109 Maarten Wynants (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) both s.t.
110 Thomas Soladay (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) 23:43
111 Matt Brammeier (MTN - Qhubeka) s.t.
112 Steve Fisher (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) 24:08
113 Campbell Flakemore (BMC Racing Team) 24:50
114 Jacob Rathe (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) 25:51
115 Darren Lapthorne (Drapac Professional Cycling) 26:02
116 Nathan Earle (Team Sky) 26:21
117 Tom Van Asbroeck (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) 26:23
118 Eric Young (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) 26:54
119 Fred Rodriguez (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) 27:03
120 Tom Zirbel (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
121 Stephen Leece (Jamis - Hagens Berman) both s.t.
122 Johnathan Freter (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) 27:11
123 William Clarke (Drapac Professional Cycling) 27:18
124 Jos Van Emden (Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo) 27:25
125 Carson Miller (Jamis - Hagens Berman) 27:27
126 Wouter Wippert (Drapac Professional Cycling) 27:53
127 Kevin De Mesmaeker (Team Novo Nordisk) 27:55
128 Daniele Ratto (Unitedhealthcare Cycling Team) 27:58
129 Martin Velits (Etixx - Quick Step) s.t.
130 Stijn Vandenbergh (Etixx - Quick Step) 28:50
131 Gerald Ciolek (MTN - Qhubeka) 29:36
132 David Williams (Jamis - Hagens Berman) 32:51
133 Graeme Brown (Drapac Professional Cycling) 33:32
134 Matti Breschel (Tinkoff - Saxo) 33:43

 


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