May 16, 2012 - Amgen Tour of California Stage 2

After McEvoy and Blain put in some hard work to bring back a large break including fifth place Leukemans, a smaller group of six riders were allowed away. The best rider was Langeveld, again, with Moyano, Jerome and Frattini were also present.


Today it was Rabobank and Sky bringing the break back for their sprinters, Renshaw and Boasson Hagen. They were flying along now and the breakaway stood no chance of surviving.


As the break was caught, Oliver Zaugg of Radioshack tried to escape the fast-moving peloton. A strange decision as he isn't very strong on the flat anyway. He didn't last very long.


Rabobank were the team driving it along in the final five kilometres with Bibby and Wilkinson both in their train. Sky had Flecha on the front but Boasson Hagen was way back behind Thomas and Eisel with no chance of getting to the front for the sprint.


Then a massive pile-up in the middle of the peloton caused carnage and a split in the peloton which would see around seventy riders lose two minutes today. The biggest names left behind were Brajkovic, Sagan, Danielson, Ballan and Tiralongo.


A really, really odd sprint was won by Renshaw ahead of his team mate Bol. Bennati, Blythe and Vermeltfoort completed the top five, with Bibby, who was meant to be leading out Wilkinson, taking a remarkable sixth! Wilkinson came in fifteenth.

May 17, 2012 - Amgen Tour of California Stage 3

Again, the break took numerous attempts to form but when it did it was bigger than yesterday, with ten riders being present. The biggest names were Geraint Thomas and Nick Nuyens, but the best placed was Aramendia, over four minutes down.


Today, it was Liquigas and Rabobank lending us a hand at the head of the peloton. Sagan was obviously feeling better than he has been in the last couple of days. The gap to the leaders soon came down. Two riders had heavy crashes today and had to abandon, Roy Jans of An Post and, more importantly, Ballan for BMC.


Coming into the final, with the break long caught, it was Liquigas and Rabobank still on the front trying to set up Sagan and Renshaw, respectively. On the left, you can see Wilkinson being brought to the front on Bibby's wheel. Sky were nowhere to be seen again.


But it was Mark Renshaw who confirmed his superiority here as he saw off the challenge of Peter Sagan. Bennati was third again ahead of Boivin, Kocjan and Blythe. Wilkinson managed twelfth with Bibby two places further back. Boasson Hagen was down in eighteenth. Whatever Sky's plan is, it isn't working.

May 18, 2012 - Amgen Tour of California Stage 4

At the start there was the usual multiple attacks until a group of nine looked like it had established itself, with Fleeman making it into this group. However, Garmin weren't happy and brought it all back together.


In the end, the break was made up of just two riders, Brajkovic of Astana and Liquigas' Koren. Neither of them were major threats as they had both lost a lot of time on the first two stages.


Over the tough climb of Mt. Hamilton, Tom Danielson was ripping the peloton up. As they hit the summit, the "peloton" contained just ten riders, both Fleeman and Tiernan-Locke in there for Endura. However, the next group caught back up on the descent, including Bibby, Camano and Wilkinson.


Onto the final ascent and Ryder Hesjedal was looking to capitalise on Garmin's hard work by putting in the first proper attack. Schleck responded straight away with Poels, Uran and Evans also following along with several others.


And as breakaway survivor Jani Brajkovic tied up at the very top, Schleck came around him to take the win by eight seconds. Hesjedal saw off Evans with Horner, Navarro and Samu Sanchez also finishing well. Tiernan-Locke finished a brilliant fifteenth ahead of Kloden, a little over two minutes down.


Wilkinson had had a really tough day and it was just a relief to see the finish line. He came in with Kai Reus, Boasson Hagen and Romain Sicard, showing how well he did today. Now his focus switches to winning the KoM competition.

May 19, 2012 - Amgen Tour of California Stage 5

He may have lost the yellow yesterday but this wasn't going to stop Wilkinson today. He was back out there to try and clinch the polka dot jersey and did very well, taking maximum points at the first two categorised climbs. He was in a breakaway that was eleven-riders strong.


Unfortunately for the breakaway, Radioshack, pretty much the strongest team there's ever been at the ToC, were controlling it very easily today. Zaugg, Cancellara and Hermans were on the front from start to finish to ensure the break wouldn't make it to the end.


The high pace set by Radioshack over the climbs caught out numerous riders who were sitting too far back in the peloton. The main losers were LL Sanchez and Oroz, both of whom would lose their decent GC placings today. Oroz was up in 17th but not anymore.


With the very small peloton approaching the final drop into the finish, Evans tried to get away and gain vital seconds on Schleck but Kloden and Zaugg weren't going to let that happen and the stage would definitely end in a sprint. Only Tiernan-Locke was present in this group for Endura but the likes of Sagan and Boasson Hagen were not.


And the sprint of the climbers was won by Ryder Hesjedal, the Garmin man just outsprinting Uran in the white jersey. Poels took third after trying a very late attack with Tiernan-Locke a superb sixth, just behind Schleck and Sanchez. Only twenty riders were in this lead group, with Bibby Endura's next finisher, four minutes down.