Tour of California (2015) Photos May 10 - 17

« Tour of California 2015 Dashboard

The Stage 1 rollout from the California state capitol building in Sacramento		Green... an uncommon site in the Central Valley
The riders passing Ryde, California
Ben Jacques-Maynes (Jamis) is riding his 10th and final AToC
Another bridge shot		5 minutes!
This gravel road caused a lot of flats today		Dusty at the back
Daniel Oss, a victim of the dirt road	The Break	Flaaaaat stage next to precious California water
Matt Brammeier pulled for most of the day	Cav and old HTC Teammate Matt Goss
The return trip to the California state capitol building in Sacramento	Tinkoff-Saxo upping the pace before the sprint finish	Strung sprint finish in Sac
Not surprisingly, Mark Cavendish (EQS), took the first sprint finish. This could be a familiar for the rest of the week.	Not even close. Peter Sagan couldn't even stay on Cavendish's wheel.	Winning is a beautiful thing
Peter Sagan took a backseat again today continuing his 2015 tradition of placing high but not winning	Your Stage 1 podium: 2nd Peter SAGAN (TINKOFF - SAXO) st, 1st Mark CAVENDISH (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) 4:43:27, 3rd Jean-Pierre DRUCKER (BMC RACING) st

Stage 2:  Nevada City → Lodi, 194 km  Full Results and Report

Last minute fix with SRAM Neutral Support	Pre race call-ups	Depart Nevada City
	Local schools let the kids out to see the race today
Theo Bos
So COOL! Cool, California!
	Many rollers today
	The heat was on!
The break	The break
	Velits pulls for Etixx- Quickstep
Daniel Oss		Mark Cavendish beats Peter Sagan in a photo finish

Stage 3:  San Jose → San Jose, 175 km  Full Results and Report

This big photos collection is dedicated the memory of Jobst Brandt (seen here on Mt Hamilton in 1977 - photo credit: Peter Johnson), a legendary local cyclist who died last week at the age of 80. He started the popular Mount Hamilton Classic Road Race and had a big influence on many cyclists including myself. -- Steve	Mark Cavendish knew this would be his last day in the leader's jersey	The rollout from San Jose
The climbing started early with the climb up Caleveras Rd	Alameda county on the other side	The race cruising down CA 84
Hot and windy normally in this part of the Bay Area	Tinkoff-Saxo leading the chase	Mines Rd
The peloton on the cat 3 Mines Rd	Mark Cavendish	Team Sky now chasing
Tom Skujins (Hincapie Development) leading the seven-man escape on San Antonio Valley Rd	The break on the San Antonio Valley Rd KOM	The peloton four minutes back
	Peloton climbing the steep side of the HC Mount Hamilton	Mark Cavendish was dropped here and never made his way back
	Tom Skujins (Hincapie Development) attacked on Mount Hamilton with 50 km still to go	Tom Skujins (Hincapie Development) at the front of the race
Team Sky leading the chase now	Daniel Oss was part of the break	"I thought this last 2km is going to be insufferable. I didn’t look back at all like the whole race, except for that last kilometer because I was like, ‘No way they are going to catch me'."
Shocking win for 23 years old Tom Skujins (Hincapie Development)	And new race leader, Tom Skujins (Hincapie Development) by 32s	Peter Sagan was well behaved on the podium. The third day in a row he has finished second.
Your Stage 3 podium: 2nd Peter Sagan (Svk/Tinkoff-Saxo) + 1:06, 1st Toms Skujins (Lat/Hincapie Racing) 4:33:10, 3rd Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Etixx - Quick-Step) + 1:06	New San Jose Sharks fan	New KOM leader too

Stage 4:  Pismo Beach → Avila Beach, 172 km  Full Results and Report

	Mark Cavendish and race leader, Toms Skujin (Hincapie Racing) at the stage 4 start in Pismo Beach
Stage 4 rollout from Pismo Beach		Break get started on CA 1 after the neutral start ended
	Santa Barbara workers paying no attention to the race passing by
		Hincapie Racing at the front for race leader Toms Skujin
Tepusquet Canyon - Cat. 3 KOM with 88 km to go
		Mark Cavendish
The break	Last break survivor, Gregory Daniel (Axeon Cycling)	Race leader Toms Skujin (Hincapie Racing)
Peter Sagan	Gregory Daniel (Axeon Cycling) about to be caught	Daniel Oss (BMC) about to be caught after attacking with 2 km to go on the twisty run into Avila Beach
Peter Sagan (Svk/Tinkoff-Saxo) wins ahead of 2nd Wouter Wippert (Ned/Drapac) and 3rd Mark Cavendish (GBr/Etixx - Quick-Step)	Race leader Toms Skujin (Hincapie Racing) maintains his race lead	Peter Sagan hasn't been kissed much this year
Your stage 4 podium, 2nd Wouter Wippert (Ned/Drapac), 1st Peter Sagan (Svk/Tinkoff-Saxo) and 3rd Mark Cavendish (GBr/Etixx - Quick-Step)	Jersey leaders

Stage 5:  Santa Barbara → Santa Clarita, 154 km  Full Results and Report

A couple of race leader bears with another to join them at the end of the day	Although a local of San Luis Obispo, Stephen Leece of Team Jamis Hagens Berman has spent a long time living in Santa Barbara attending UCSB as well as participating in the collegiate cycling program. Needless to say, it is a very special stage start for him today in Santa Barbara. Here is a photo of him with former pro and UCSB cycling coach Cody O'Reilly and Stephen's mother who has been following the race since Stage 1.	Mark Cavendish and Peter Sagan called up to the line
Cav and Sagan		U.S. Road and Crit Champ Eric MARCOTTE (Smartstop). His best finish is a 15th after five stages.
Start line scene		Easy to identify the young U.S. domestic rider's legs compared to ProTour rider Daniel Oss
The Stage 6 rollout from Santa Barbara
	Eric MARCOTTE (Smartstop) at the front
First KOM, the cat 4 at CA 150
	Today's main break with Lachlan MORTON (Jelly Belly) and Danilo WYSS (BMC) at the front	Dennison Park - Cat. 3 KOM
	The break	The break
Peloton	Looking up at the Balcom Canyon KOM, the final climb of the day with 63 km to go	Baptism by water bottle... your reward for being first man up the climb
Race leader, Toms SKUJINS (HINCAPIE RACING)		Descending Balcom Canyon in the pouring rain
Balcom Canyon descent		More descending
Peter Sagan	The last three riders from the break Alex Howes (Cannondale-Garmin), Geoffrey Curran (Axeon Cycling) and Danilo Wyss (BMC)	Tinkoff Saxo chasing
Race leader, Toms SKUJINS (HINCAPIE RACING)	Danilo Wyss (BMC) would later be the last break survivor	Three men break in the pouring rain before Danilo Wyss (BMC) went off on his own
Sprint finish in full flight in Santa Clarita		Mark CAVENDISH (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) wins stage 5 ahead of Zico WAEYTENS (GIANT - ALPECIN) and Peter SAGAN (TINKOFF - SAXO)
		Peter Sagan was ok with finishing behind Mark Cavendish again today
Your Stage 5 winner, Mark Cavendish. Third win this week.	Your Stage 5 podium: 2nd Zico WAEYTENS (GIANT - ALPECIN), 1st Mark CAVENDISH (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) and 3rd Peter SAGAN (TINKOFF - SAXO)

Stage 6:  Santa Clarita, 10.6 km  Full Results and Report

Mark Cavendish getting his bike measured prior to the Stage 6 ITT in Santa Clarita	Sarah Storey (Pearl Izumi) was 13th in the women's TT + 34s	Current World Women's TT champ was 8th Lisa Brennauer (Velocio - SRAM) + 22s
Men's 10.6km TT: Jos VAN EMDEN (LOTTO NL - JUMBO) set a early best time that held until late in the day. He finished 2nd + 14s.	6th Tom ZIRBEL (OPTUM P/B KELLY BENEFIT STRATEGIES) + 25s	31st Mark Cavendish (Etixx - Quick-Step) + 45s
5th Daniele Bennati (Tinkoff-Saxo) + 22s	10th Daniel Oss (BMC Racing) + 28s	7th Sergio Henao (Sky) + 26s
4th Joey Rosskopf (BMC Racing) + 20s	8th Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff-Saxo) + 27s	9th Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo) + 27s
Peter Sagan had the ride of the day	Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) won the 10.6 km TT in 12:32	The race leader, Toms Skujins (Hincapie Racing) was 34th + 46s dropping him to 2nd + 28s
3rd Julian ALAPHILIPPE (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) + 18s	Has Julian ALAPHILIPPE (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) set himself up for the overall win. He's now 3rd overall + 45s.	Peter Sagan
Peter Sagan	Toms Skujins (Hincapie Racing)	The jersey leaders
Mark Cavendish and Peter Sagan have spent a lot of the time together on the podium this week	Mark Cavendish congratulates new race leader, Peter Sagan	Your Stage 6 ITT podium: 2nd Jos VAN EMDEN (LOTTO NL - JUMBO) + 14s, 1st Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) 10.6 km TT in 12:32, 3rd Julian ALAPHILIPPE (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) + 18s

Stage 7:  Ontario → Mt. Baldy, 129 km  Full Results and Report

Eddy Merckx and his son Axel, DS of Axeon Cycling Team prior to the start in Ontaro	Roll out from Ontario
	Glendora Ridge Rd. - Cat. 2 climb
	The peloton passing over the Glendora Ridge Rd. climb
	George Hincapie monitoring his team's performance
Lachlan MORTON (Jelly Belly) in the break	Race leader, Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) was expected to be in trouble at the end of today's mountain stage	Sky driving the pace
Ian Boswell setting pace for the GC contenders on Mt. Baldy (7.2 km, avg 8.7 % max 17 %)		Julian ALAPHILIPPE (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) and Sergio HENAO (SKY) trading attacks at the front of the race
Peter Sagan hung tough while the climbers danced and attacked	Julian ALAPHILIPPE'S (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) attack with 5 km to go was the key move
Final blessings for Julian ALAPHILIPPE (ETIXX - QUICK STEP)	Julian ALAPHILIPPE (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) wins Stage 7	A big and evidently emotional win for the 22 year-old Julian ALAPHILIPPE (ETIXX - QUICK STEP)
Smartly, Julian ALAPHILIPPE (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) didn't start to celebrate until he crossed the line	Sky teammates Sergio HENAO (right) and Ian BOSWELL with 2nd and 3rd +23s	Amazing performance by the big man, Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) finishing 6th + 47s, but he missed keeping the leader's jersey by 2s
Sagan just needs two bonus seconds on the final day which is quite achievable for him... if he has anything left in the tank. 6th place has been his lowest performance in seven stages... he deserves the overall win.	10th Laurens TEN DAM + 1:26 post race	Your Stage 7 Mt Baldy winner, Julian ALAPHILIPPE (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) and new race leader by just 2s over Peter Sagan
Sky sandwich on the Stage 7 podium: 2nd Sergio HENAO (SKY) + 23s, 1st Julian ALAPHILIPPE (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) 3:42:13, 3rd Ian BOSWELL (SKY) + 23s

Stage 8:  Los Angeles → Pasadena, 105 km  Full Results and Report

Rollout for Stage 8 at LA Live in Los Angeles
The course wasn't entirely flat
Tinkoff-Saxo spent a lot of time chasing down the breaks to preserve the chance for Peter Sagan to gain bonus time		Tinkoff-Saxo chasing
Etixx Quickstep had two men in the early break making life difficult for Tinkoff-Saxo	Real holy water today	Mark Cavendish
Peter Sagan	10:31:03	10:31:08
10:41:47	New break after the intermediate sprint
Race leader, Julian ALAPHILIPPE (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) now up by 1s	Mark CAVENDISH in front of Julian ALAPHILIPPE	Nearing the finish
One final sprint finish	Mark Cavendish wins stage 8 giving him four wins on the week and five for Etixx Quickstep	The great bike throw by Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) for 3rd gave him the overall by the slimmest of margins...
The photo finish that decided the overall; Peter Sagan edges out Tyler Farrar by 1/100 of a second for the 3rd place 4s bonus time
	The finish result is confirmed...	Peter Sagan is your 2015 10th anniversary Tour of California winner
Six wins and the overall from Cav and Sagan this week	They seem to like their win(e)	Stage 8 podium: 2nd Wouter WIPPERT (DRAPAC) st, 1st Mark CAVENDISH (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) 2:14:55, 3rd Peter SAGAN (TINKOFF - SAXO) st
Final jersey winners including best young rider and 2nd overall + 4s, Julian ALAPHILIPPE (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) on the left	Team Sky on the teams competition	Not sure what's going on here
Team Sky celebrates their team win
Your 2015 10th anniversary podium: 2nd Julian ALAPHILIPPE (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) + 31s, 1st Peter SAGAN (TINKOFF - SAXO) 28:13:12, 3rd Sergio HENAO (SKY) + 37s		Cheers
	A new Lexus for the winner
Photo op in front of the Rose Bowl	One last victory salute while no one is looking