Yesterday saw an unexpected GC shake up with a big pile up near the finish, today natural selection should be the order of the day. It is a lumpy stage into Sierra Road that could be more decisive that the finish up to Mount Baldy. Today, along with the Baldy finish and the time trial were picked out before the race as the key days of the race.
Sure enough Wikipedia are even more prominent in the early stages chasing down the breaks.
Of course we do get a break eventually as we near the first categorised climb: Evgeni Sokolov Horacio Gallardo Matej Vysna David Loosli Rafael Serrano José Antonio Pecharroman Johann Tschopp João Cabreira
and José Antonio Redondo
Paul Voss
and Luis Fernández Oliveira
also chase across.
Tschopp is the only rider with mountain points and is able to add to his tally in the first two mountains primes moving up to 13 KoM points just three behind Fedrigo. However the rider is to be disappointed by the organisers decision to remove some of the primes with the only one remaining atop of Mount Hamilton which is the big climb towards the end of the stage before Sierra Road. Pecharroman helps himself to five points and Cabreira nabs six points both decent climbers to watch out for.
Meanwhile Konstantin Siutsou
launches a mid stage bridging move with 75km to go.
The Belerussian does a good job of quickly getting across to the break and with 45km to go he is there meaning he can help pace up the Hamilton climb. The gap back to the pack though is not that big standing at four and a half minutes and reducing.
Santander and Festina have taken over pacing from Wikipedia who will be grateful for the rest.
With Siutsou and a couple of decent climbers in the break some of the weaker ones are shelled on the ascent of Mount Hamilton. First Gallardo and Sokolov and then Loosli, Serrano and Voss....
Behind the pack are now led up by José Serpa
with Wikipedia looking comfortable.
Pecharroman takes the prime at the top for 10 extra KoM points, Siutsou is second and Cabreira third.
Tschopp need 4th place to take the KoM jersey but can only take fifth meaning the provisional standings are:
Fedrigo (16), Tschopp (15), Pecharroman (15), Cabreira (12), Mancuso (8), Siutsou (8)
There are more points available on the last climb up Sierra Road but the break would need to stay away to collect those points. The pace up Mount Hamilton from the pack has been high enough to cause an elite group to go clear.
Making the cut are: Andrei Kashechkin José Serpa Alberto Contador Peter Velits Tejay Van Garderen Taylor Phinney Beñat Intxausti David Zabriskie Justo Tenorio Rubén Plaza
and Patrik Sinkewitz
Chasing a minute or so behind is a small group containing Romandie hero Aleksandr Efimkin
Meanwhile Stefan Schumacher
having completely missed the split has his domestiques on the front of the next big group trying to repair the damage.
Also in this group are Robin van der Hugenhaben Walter Pedraza
and Martijn Keizer
It proves a desperate chase on the rolling downhill towards this last short sharp climb. Doing very well is the lead group of seven riders (Suitsou, Redondo, Tschopp, Vysna, Pecharroman, F Oliveira and Cabreira) as with 25km to go they lead the favourites group by three minutes.
Voss having been caught is now on domestique duty along with Tejay Van Garderan with the dual purpose of pulling the break back and keeping those dropped on Hamilton behind.
But just before the bottom both the Efimkin group and the Schumacher group do make it across, but they have barely anytime to reach the front before the climb begins and Peter Velits seizes the moment.
Right on his wheel are Kashechkin, Zabriskie and Tenorio. Phinney waits a moment and takes stock, Velits and Kashechkin need to be chased and Van Garderen has nothing left to chase so Phinney is forced to respond.
It's a now or never moment here in California, Zabriskie having responded to the Velits move has blown. Contador and Intxausti are on Phinney's wheel looking for the weakness the young American showed in Romandie.
However the climb is a fairly short one measured at 5.3km admittedly averaging 9.1%, Wikipedia are likely to know it well. The attackers from he favourites group do reach out break very quickly, alarmed Cabriera immediately attacks...
It's a strange move as Intxausti is clearly showing weakness struggling to keep up at the back of the lead group.
Cabriera starts to fall back then as we edge towards the final 2 kilometres of the climb five men seperate themselves from the rest.
Kashechkin, Phinney, Contador, Velits and Tenorio. Velits moves to take a position between Phinney and Kashechkin whilst Contador seems satisfied to follow wheels today.
We are expected to see a big burst by Phinney as we have seen on flatter stages but Velits is edging inches further away from him.
Indeed a bit of a shock as Velits takes the win by half a big length on Phinney who takes second just ahead of Kashechkin.
Contador and Tenorio are also given the same time just behind, neither really looked for the win there. Behind Intxausti fought hard to get past the other breakaway riders to finish sixth 54 seconds behind and then it's Tschopp and Siutsou who both just miss out on KoM points.
The Jack Wolfskin jersey is that of Plaza who rode well in California last year but couldn't do much today and he battles in timed at 1.14 with Serpa, Fernandez Olivera, Sinkewitz, Cabriera, Kiserlowski and at the bottom of the picture Zabriskie.
Schumacher had a hard day finishing behind Zabriskie timed at 2.22, meanwhile Keizer comes in at 3.34 who just has not found his climbing legs.
Though he did at least battle Vlad Karpets is having a horror show coming in at 14.51.
Stage results
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Peter Velits
Pearl Adidas
3h38'23
2
Taylor Phinney
Wikipedia
s.t.
3
Andrei Kashechkin
Webeffect
s.t.
4
Alberto Contador
Festina - Conec
s.t.
5
Justo Tenorio
Santander
s.t.
6
Beñat Intxausti
Vesuvio-Accumalux
+ 54
7
Johann Tschopp
UBS - La Pierre
+ 59
8
Konstantin Siutsou
Pendleton's Twicer
s.t.
9
Rubén Plaza
Jack Wolfskin
+ 1'14
10
José Serpa
Festina - Conec
+ 1'21
11
Luis Fernández Oliveira
Sony Ericsson
+ 1'26
12
Patrik Sinkewitz
Spyker Cars
+ 1'37
13
João Cabreira
Vesuvio-Accumalux
s.t.
14
Walter Pedraza
Sony Ericsson
s.t.
15
Robert Kiserlovski
Hollister
s.t.
16
David Zabriskie
Pendleton's Twicer
+ 2'04
17
José Antonio Pecharroman
Spyker Cars
s.t.
18
Vitor Rodrigues
Webeffect
+ 2'15
19
Stefan Schumacher
UBS - La Pierre
+ 2'22
20
Aleksandr Efimkin
Milka - Vittel
+ 2'52
21
Maxim Iglinski
Vesuvio-Accumalux
s.t.
22
Florentino Marquez
UBS - La Pierre
s.t.
23
José Antonio Redondo
Warner Brothers
+ 3'03
24
Domenik Klemme
Team B&O
s.t.
25
Tejay Van Garderen
Wikipedia
s.t.
26
Matej Vysna
Milka - Vittel
s.t.
27
Martijn Keizer
Bacardi - Ignis
+ 3'34
28
Jakob Fuglsang
Spyker Cars
+ 4'05
29
Rasmus Guldhammer
Team B&O
+ 4'18
30
Rémy Di Gregorio
Carmeuse - Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
31
Robin van der Hugenhaben
Sony Ericsson
s.t.
32
Óscar Solis
Carmeuse - Bouygues Telecom
+ 4'57
33
Michael Albasini
UBS - La Pierre
s.t.
34
Paul Voss
Festina - Conec
+ 5'07
35
Jukka Vastaranta
Pearl Adidas
+ 6'03
36
Rafael Serrano
Santander
+ 6'22
37
Carlos Betancourt
Vesuvio-Accumalux
+ 7'36
38
Tim Dees
Festina - Conec
+ 7'52
39
Chris Barton
Wikipedia
s.t.
40
Evgeni Popov
Pearl Adidas
+ 8'06
41
Danny Summerhill
Wikipedia
s.t.
42
Francisco Ventoso
Santander
s.t.
43
Edward King
Wikipedia
+ 8'20
44
David Loosli
Nestlé Cycling Team
+ 8'30
45
Brent Bookwalter
Wikipedia
s.t.
46
Zdenek Stybar
Milka - Vittel
+ 8'48
47
Wout Poels
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
48
Allan Davis
Hollister
s.t.
49
Juan Miguel Mercado
Hollister
s.t.
50
Evgeni Sokolov
Bacardi - Ignis
s.t.
51
Maurice Schreurs
Spyker Cars
+ 10'08
52
Drasutis Stundzia
Vesuvio-Accumalux
+ 10'56
53
Ben Gastauer
Vesuvio-Accumalux
+ 11'48
54
Lars Ytting Bak
Spyker Cars
s.t.
55
Bjorn Selander
Hollister
+ 12'05
56
Aidis Kruopis
Bacardi - Ignis
+ 12'21
57
Salvatore Mancuso
Bacardi - Ignis
s.t.
58
Ian Bibby
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
+ 12'30
59
Tony Gallopin
Carmeuse - Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
60
Jurgen Roelandts
Carmeuse - Bouygues Telecom
+ 12'39
61
Sébastien Duret
Pendleton's Twicer
s.t.
62
Tom Diggle
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
s.t.
63
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
s.t.
64
Russell Downing
Pendleton's Twicer
s.t.
65
Stefan Cohnen
Spyker Cars
s.t.
66
Dmitri Muravjev
Sony Ericsson
s.t.
67
Chiaffredo Grippo
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
s.t.
68
Raúl Granjel Cabrera
Sony Ericsson
s.t.
69
Joe Hicks
Hollister
s.t.
70
Paul Mach
Hollister
s.t.
71
Michel Kreder
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
72
Alexandre Geniez
Spyker Cars
s.t.
73
Sylwester Szmyd
Hollister
+ 13'50
74
Adrian Honkisz
Milka - Vittel
s.t.
75
Chu Thien Sinelobov
UBS - La Pierre
s.t.
76
Paul Martens
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
77
Juan Abenhamar Gallego Martin
Santander
s.t.
78
Cheng Ji
Pearl Adidas
+ 14'51
79
Vladimir Karpets
Nestlé Cycling Team
s.t.
80
Romain Vanderbiest
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
81
David Vitoria
Nestlé Cycling Team
s.t.
82
Julien El Fares
Carmeuse - Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
83
David Millar
Pendleton's Twicer
s.t.
84
Tom Leezer
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
85
Bradley McGee
Team D
+ 15'09
86
Horacio Gallardo
Café de Colombia
s.t.
87
Borut Bozic
Pendleton's Twicer
+ 15'15
88
Clément Lhotellerie
Carmeuse - Bouygues Telecom
+ 15'20
89
Danny Pate
Wikipedia
s.t.
90
Welle Jallays
Jack Wolfskin
+ 15'32
91
Pierrick Fédrigo
Nestlé Cycling Team
+ 15'39
92
Kevin Fouquet
Sony Ericsson
s.t.
93
Mathieu Heijboer
Bacardi - Ignis
+ 16'12
94
Christophe Le Mével
Warner Brothers
+ 16'40
95
Kenny De Ketele
Warner Brothers
s.t.
96
Alexander Giraldo
Warner Brothers
+ 16'50
97
Maximiliano Richeze
UBS - La Pierre
+ 16'55
98
Eric Berthou
Pearl Adidas
+ 17'06
99
Tyler Farrar
Wikipedia
s.t.
100
Juan-Antonio Flecha
Warner Brothers
s.t.
101
Anthony Lavoine
Festina - Conec
+ 17'15
102
Aitor Galdos
Santander
s.t.
103
Tom Danielson
Webeffect
+ 18'14
104
Óscar Pereiro Sio
Café de Colombia
s.t.
105
Steven Caethoven
Carmeuse - Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
106
Gianluca Coletta
Warner Brothers
+ 18'23
107
Marcel Sieberg
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
108
Scott Nydam
Team D
s.t.
109
Yasmani Martinez
Hollister
s.t.
110
Jos Van Emden
Jack Wolfskin
+ 18'31
111
Klaas Sys
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
112
Sébastien Joly
Café de Colombia
s.t.
113
Richard Tanguy
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
s.t.
114
Abolfazl Gilanipoor
Webeffect
s.t.
115
Simas Kondrotas
Bacardi - Ignis
s.t.
116
Kobe Vanoverschelde
Team B&O
s.t.
117
Martin Hacecký
Team B&O
s.t.
118
Jérôme Baugnies
Webeffect
s.t.
119
Gian Piero Signorini
UBS - La Pierre
s.t.
120
Fabio Silvestre
Webeffect
s.t.
121
Kris Boeckmans
Webeffect
s.t.
122
William Germán Rodríguez Parra
Café de Colombia
s.t.
123
Francisco Javier Echarri
Santander
+ 19'00
124
Óscar Avelino
Webeffect
+ 19'06
125
Niki Østergaard
Festina - Conec
s.t.
126
Leonardo Duque
Café de Colombia
s.t.
127
Jempy Drucker
Team B&O
s.t.
128
Roy Sentjens
Festina - Conec
+ 19'20
129
Tiago Pinto
Warner Brothers
+ 22'09
130
Nico Schinker
Vesuvio-Accumalux
s.t.
131
Nicolas Portal
Nestlé Cycling Team
s.t.
132
Matt Rowe
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
s.t.
133
Andreas Stauff
Vesuvio-Accumalux
s.t.
134
Jaime Alberto Castañeda
Café de Colombia
s.t.
135
Alexander Kristoff
UBS - La Pierre
s.t.
136
Yauheni Hutarovich
Milka - Vittel
+ 22'37
137
Danilo Kupfernagel
Nestlé Cycling Team
s.t.
138
Christian Vande Velde
Team D
s.t.
139
Sam Bennett
Café de Colombia
s.t.
140
Andrew Fenn
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
+ 22'50
141
Cameron Meyer
Sony Ericsson
s.t.
142
Svein Tuft
Team D
s.t.
143
Kevin Peeters
Carmeuse - Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
144
Tim Kennaugh
Pendleton's Twicer
+ 23'18
145
Max Öste-Macdonald
Sony Ericsson
s.t.
146
Pedro Pablo Pérez Márquez
Team D
s.t.
147
Jerome Coppel
Milka - Vittel
s.t.
148
Giacomo Nizzolo
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
149
Thomas Riber-Sellebjerg
Team B&O
+ 23'36
150
Marvin Van der Pluijm
Warner Brothers
s.t.
151
Damion Drapac
Festina - Conec
s.t.
152
Pieter Mertens
Pendleton's Twicer
+ 25'37
153
Troels Vinter
Team B&O
s.t.
154
Patrick Gretsch
Nestlé Cycling Team
s.t.
155
Igor Abakoumov
Bacardi - Ignis
+ 26'51
Four riders are eliminated today: Russell Hampton Arkaitz Durán Kristian Sobota Ivano Lo Cicero
