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RACE REPORTS: TOUR OF CALIFORNIA STAGE 1: CAVENDISH IN CONTROL
Road Bike Action
May 16, 2010
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(Photo: Ken Conley)
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) out sprinted JJ Haedo (Saxo Bank) and Alexander Kristoff (BMC) to win the first stage of the Tour of California. The finish was marred by several crashes that saw Tom Boonen (Quick Step) and Andrew Pinfold (UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis) go down. All the crashes occurred in the last 3-kilometers, which prevented any time losses to those involved.
"It's seven weeks to go for the Tour de France and it gave the team confidence," said Cavendish. "We should get the same results as we did last year at the Tour de France."
The day was marked by a day long break that saw Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank), Chad Beyer (BMC), Marc De Maar (UnitedHealthcare) and Paul Mach (Bissell) all ride clear. The four riders worked well together, sharing the prizes out on the road. In the first sprint competition of the day in the town of Meadow Vista it was Tjallingii taking the points ahead of Mach and De Maar. At the second sprint of the day it was Beyer followed by De Maar and Tjallingii.
Up the climb up to the day’s only King of the Mountains points, the group’s lead increased to 5:00 as Mach and De Maar fought for the KOM points. Crossing the line first was Mach followed by de Maar, Tjallingii and Beyer. With the remainder the stage a gradual descent into Sacramento, the HTC-Columbia and Cervélo teams started the chase to reel in the four leaders. With 47-kilometers remaining the break’s gap was down to 3:15 and falling. With 40-kilometers to go, the gap had fallen to just over two-minutes with the peloton continuing to close.
As the break passed the 32-kilometer to go mark their lead was down to only 1:10, and with only 15-kilometers remaining the break was finally reeled in. As the race hit the first of three, 3.2-kilometer finishing circuits around the capital building in downtown Sacramento, the HTC-Columbia team took control. The HTC-Columbia team stayed at the front until the Saxo Bank, led by Fabian Cancellara and Jens Voigt, took over in hopes of getting the win for JJ Haedo.
On the final lap there were two trains on the front of the peloton. One led by Saxo Bank and the other HTC-Columbia. It was at this point that a crash near in the middle of the field split the peloton. Up front the Saxo Bank train ran out of steam, leaving the HTC-Columbia squad free deliver Cavendish to the line. The team’s job was made easier when a second crash took down several other sprinters, including Tom Boonen. In the run for the line Cavendish made it look easy and finished a bike length clear of Haedo. With his victory Cavendish assumes the overall lead in the race.
Tour of California Stage 1: Nevada City - Sacramento 104.3km
1. Mark Cavendish (GBr/HTC-Columbia)
2. Juan Jose Haedo (Den/Saxo Bank)
3. Alexander Kristoff (USA/BMC)
4. Robbie Hunter (USA/Garmin-Transitions)
5. Jonathan Cantwell (Aus/Fly V)
6. Marcus Burghart (USA/BMC)
7. Guillaume Boivin (Can/SpiderTech)
8. Andreas Stauff (Bel/Quick Step)
9. Nikolas Maes (Bel/Quick Step)
10. Thomas Leezer (Ned/Rabobank) |
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