The Tour of California wraps up with a tough 202km stage around the hills of Santa Cruz and San Francisco. The first half of the stage contains 4 longer climbs while the second half features the shark tooth profile of an Ardennes race. There are an explosion of KOM points available so the fight will be on in the breakaway for those.
Mas is the one rider in the race who excels on both the long and short climbs and he is first on the favorites list. Aramco will want an aggressive race so Mas can at least try to seize third from Dulanjana who is just 16 seconds ahead of him. But maybe he can do enough to put pressure on Amador and Diaz who are 1’19 and 46 seconds ahead of him in first and second, respectively. With Mas’ teammate Paez third on the favorites list Aramco has the tools to do some damage, while Volcanica and Hello Fresh have the team depth to apply a more measured pace.
A relatively quiet start as Selander makes his intention to defend the KOM jersey clear by being one of the first attackers. With him is Croes, the Aruban is a new face for Podium Ambition in the breakaway. They have 1 minute, 38 seconds, behind them is a group of four including Shirota, Orosco, Lietaer, and Joeaar. The first two are both threats in the KOM competition.
193k to go and the front riders have started the 14.7k climb to Felton, a long irregular climb it averages just 3.3% but has a few significantly steeper sections. 32 seconds between the first two groups.
3k to the top. The front 6 have come together. A surprisingly small breakaway. One more rider, Seigle, is trying to bridge across, he is 1’29 behind. He is probably Boswell’s strongest lieutenant, so maybe McCormick think the stage is too hard for Boswell or maybe it is a tactical move.
1k to the top. Seigle has joined them. Shirota attacks. Cat 3 points available.
Shirota takes first place points ahead of Lietaer and Selander.
With that the overall KOM standings look like this: Selander 42 Vansevenant 32 Orosco 30 Medvedev 24 Shirota 24
A descent and then the next climb, Cat 1 Ben Lomond Mountain, which is 8.4k at 8.3%.
5k to the top of Ben Lomond. The lead is 6’02, 165k left to ride. Joeaar and Croes are in trouble.
3.3k to go and Selander and Orosco are dropped. Shirota hoping to seize control of the KOM competition.
Seigle is dropped soon after.
1k to go and Shirota on his own. The peloton is at 8’22.
Shirota takes 1st (16), Orosco, 3rd (10) and Selander 5th (6). They have 40, 40 and 48 points. The break is spread all over the road. Not clear what happens next.
Aramco begin to push the pace near the top of the climb as the lead has expanded to 9 minutes. A few riders have been dropped.
140k to go. The front 5 have come back together. The lead is down to 5’36 as teams like Tafjord and BWT push the pace.
130k to go for the peloton which has been flying through this rolling section. The lead is down to 2’54. Ahead the front 5 are starting the climb of Saratoga gap, 9.2k at 4.4%.
1.5k from the top Shirota attacks but on these gentler slopes Selander is able to stay with him. On the climb the lead has ballooned back to almost 5 minutes.
But Selander overestimates himself and a counter from Shirota drops him. The Japanese rider holds on to take 10 more points.
Orosco takes 4th, Selander 5th.
The standing now look like this: Selander 50 Shirota 50 Orosco 44
108k to go for the peloton, Fernandez on the front as they catch Croes who had been on his own a long time. Joeaar was caught as well. The peloton is down to 78 riders and they trail by 4’11. Tatarinov punctured but was able to rejoin. One more long climb before the riders reach the punchy section.
5km to go on the final long climb for the breakaway. Kings Mountain is 6.1k at an average of 8.2%. The lead is 2’42. In the peloton, who haven’t started the climb, Ratiy, 16th on GC, has been dropped. No mention of a puncture on race radio, he is really bad downhill so it might have been the last descent.
3k to the top for the peloton. Ratiy made it back and Pas Normal are pushing on the front now with Prasad. The lead down to 2 minutes. Selander has been dropped from the break so he is about to lose the KOM lead.
Orosco led them up the climb but then cracked allowing Shirota to seize control 200 meters from the top.
Shirota takes the points and a commanding lead in the KOM competition (66 pts to 56 for Selander and 52 for Orosco).
64k for the remaining 4 breakaway riders. From here we enter the punchy section, the first climb is Bunker Hill 1.1k at 7.8%. Selander is back in the peloton, disappointment for the veteran American as he can’t defend his KOM lead. The 41-rider peloton is at 2’06 with Tafjord and Pas Normal working.
A group including Barta (14th on GC), Ratiy (16th) and Herrada (13th) got split off the back. Sakalou (19th) pacing them back. Tatarinov (24th) is in more trouble further back. The rest of the Kraftwerk riders are making a strong showing grouped around their leader up front.
60lk to go, Vogt setting the pace, the lead is down to 1’41. Herrada has been dropped again. Kraftwerk suddenly in trouble with their riders at the back of the group, as is Boswell.
50k to go, down to 2 at the front as only Lietaer still with the Shirota who has further padded his KOM lead while Lietaer is up into 4th. Chase group of 37 is 2’14 behind with Ratiy and Helme (18th on GC) dropped.
Then there were 25 as Potocki leads the peloton on to Clearfield Drive, 1k at 10%. 7th placed Jacobsen has been dropped as has Barta. Although the latter’s White Jersey is safe as the other contenders are all near him or behind him.
40km to go, the bad news continues for Minions as Haga has been dropped. The Jacobsen group rejoined but has been dropped again. The two frontrunners have just 37 seconds.
27k to go the race has stabilized a little. Lietaer is caught but Shirota still has 37 seconds. Mas is on the front. He needs to attack soon if he is going to put the others under pressure. The Jacobsen group which now includes Haga is hanging only 1’31 back. Vansevenant working in that group.
Halfway up the Edgewood park climb Shirota is caught. This climb is 1.1 k at 8.1% Costagli has been dropped by the front group leaving Dulanjana with only Dieteren. 21k to go.
At the top Borisavljevic forces the issue and only Aru stays with him.
Over the top Henao, 17th on GC, is dropped.
Hello Fresh and Aramco shut down the attackers but that distances Martin (9th on GC), a great day from McConvey, who is there trying to bring him back.
Martin able to rejoin. The next attack comes from Boswell, he has been quiet so far but this is the part of the course that suits him. Aru on his wheel as is Craddock.
They are on the Dalewood Way climb, this steep section is followed by another even steeper one. Craddock is on the front and has increased the gap to 20 seconds. Hello Fresh chasing.
As they crest this section Potocki closes them down. 12.5k to ride. Martin has been dropped again along with Brenes. Much better from the Costa Rican he will have been looking after his countryman, Amador. The latter on his own now.
10k to go, the riders are on the steep streets of San Francisco now. The first of 3 steep inclines between the riders and the finish looms in front of them. Dulanjana hanging on bravely at the back. The full list of surviving riders is: Mas Borisavljevic Paez Craddock Diaz Elissonde Potocki Dulanjana Dieteren Boswell Aru Pavlic Amador
Mt Sutro is the 2nd to last climb and as they turn onto the climb Mas attacks.
At the top he has a slim lead.
As they head towards the finishing climb he has just a 4 second lead. Dieteren, Pavlic and Craddock dropped. A great ride by Dulanjana he just needs to hang on up the short final climb.
1.3k to go as Mas is caught and the pace slows, the 3 dropped riders rejoin.
And as they goo over the top it is those three who break to the front, 800 meters of downhill to go.
Just 400 meters to go, the finish is around this corner. Dieteren has the inside line.
And a great win or Krafwerk as the 3 rejoining riders take the other group by surprise and cruise the downhill to win. Craddock 2nd, Pavlic 3rd.
Potocki edges Boswell for 4th. The Croatian has been outstanding for Hello Fresh throughout this race. Amador will be happy with 6th and a GC win secured with minimal fuss.
Mas takes 7th but will wonder if he should have attacked earlier. Borisavljevic, Aru and Dulanjana complete the top 10. An excellent GC podium for Kraftwerk.
In the end only Haga and Jacobsen lose time among the top ten, dropping to 12th and 17th respectively. Pavlic and Craddock move into the top 10. The latter will be even happier as he is the surprise winner of the points jersey. High finishes across both the TT and climbing stages pay off. He beats Amador by 1 point.
Barta wins the young rider jersey easily. McNulty finishes a distant 5th, 6’30 behind. In an ungracious concession the McCormick rider blames it on having to work for his leaders.
Tour of California 
