February 20/08 10:45pm EST - Tour of California Stage 3 report & photos

Posted by Editoress on 2/20/08.

Tour of California

Photos

Stage 3 is not the longest of the Amgen Tour of California, but it is indisputably the hardest. After five major climbs which shattered the field, the race saw defending champion Levi Leipheimer (Astana) take over the lead, when he and Robert Gesink (Rabobank) broke away from 14 others on the final climb. Gesink took the stage win in San Jose, and Leipheimer the jersey, by 13 seconds over Prologue winner Fabian Cancellara (CSC).

The leader after stage 3, Tyler Farrar (Slipstream Chipotle) had barely half the stage to enjoy being in yellow before pulling off and abandoning, a victim of the stomach virus which has hit the peloton - and particularly his squad - hard. Dominique Rollin (Toyota United) finished with the sprinters group some 24 minutes back, while Keven Lacombe (Kelly Benefits) was taken to hospital after crashing into the back of a stopped CSC vehicle and going through the rear window. He has since been released with no serious injuries or lacerations.

The 165 kilometre stage started in Modesto under promising sunshine and the expected rain did not materialize, although it did get down to single digit temperatures at the top of the Mount Hamilton climb.

A group of four broke clear as the race left Modesto containing yesterday's lone breakaway Scott Nydam (BMC), Paul Martens (Rabobank), Cyril Lemoine (Credit Agricole) and Steven Cozza (Slipstream Chipotle). The group reached a maximum lead of about six minutes before the top of the first KoM, and it slowly trickled away from that point on, with all but Martens caught three kilometres from the top of Hamilton (KoM #4), and Martens reeled in with two kilometres to go to the top.

For Nydam it worked out well, since he was able to take maximum points on each of the first three KoMs, putting him solidly into the lead for the Climbers Jersey.

However, by the most serious climb up Mount Hamilton, an elite chase group had formed, powered by Astana, who were serious about thinning down the competition for an attack on the final Sierra Road climb. José 'Chechu' Rubiera was doing massive amounts of work for Leipheimer, and single-handedly pulled the leaders up Hamilton.

"We knew that today was the hardest stage in the three year history of the race," explained Leipheimer. "For Team Astana we had something to prove today. Chechu was really inspiring, he rode the entire climb at the front, and then he rode at the front for half of Sierra as well. After that, I couldn't let the guys down."

Over the top of Hamilton it was an elite group, including Leipheimer, Rubiera, Jurgen Vandewalle (Quick Step), Alexandre Moos (BMC), Mauricio Ardila (Rabobank), Gesink, Gustav Larsson (CSC), Chris Horner (Astana), David Millar (Slipstream), Tom Peterson (Slipstream), Kevin Seeldraeyer (Quick Step), Victor Hugo Pena (Rock Racing), Oliver Zaugg (Gerolsteiner), Christian Vandevelde (Slipstream) and David Zabriskie (Slipstream). On the way down the extremely narrow and twisty backside of the climb, Cancellara and Hincapie rejoined the leaders, with Hincapie shooting right by them to open up a 35 second gap after an amazing display of descending skill. He was caught shortly into the final climb and dropped for good.

On the final Sierra climb, after Rubiera pulled off, the lead group was cut in half, but then it was the turn of Gesink to set the pace. The tall young Dutch rider set a blistering pace, which only Leipheimer could follow, and the duo crested the top of the climb with a 1:20 lead. However, Leipheimer has been in this position on this stage in previous years, only to see the lead evaporate on the descent and final flat run into the finish.

"I don't know how we stayed away," he commented afterwards. "At the top we had a minute twenty, but I wasn't fully committed, because I've been there before. But the gap wasn't coming down as i expected, so as we got closer to the line i gave it everything."

The chances of staying away didn't look good because the reformed chase group contained some huge time trialling talent - Millar, Cancellara and Zabriskie. But I guess maybe they weren't working together as well as they could have. So we worked well together and both got something out of it."

Gesink called the win - his second as a pro - "better than my win at the Tour of Belgium last year, because of the calibre of the riders. I was planning to go away with Levi, and to possibly be in a position to win, so first Mauricio my team mate worked at the front and then I took over."

"We both had the same goals, to be in front, so that's why we worked together. There wasn't much talking; we just screamed at each other to ride harder and faster."

The chase group reintegrated to come in 19 seconds behind the front pair, and Vandewalle took the final podium spot. But the damage had been done, and Leipheimer now has a cushion on his main time trail rivals for Friday's stage, with 13 seconds on cancellara, 20 on Millar and 21 on Zabriskie. There are really only 15 riders in serious contention for the overall after today's stage.

"These seconds are very important going into the time trial; it gives me a lot more confidence, because this race is going to be won in seconds, not minutes."

Race Notes

- Tomorrow's stage, at 218 kilometres is the longest of the race, heading along the scenic Pacific Coast Highway from Seaside on the Monterey Peninsula to San Luis Obispo, the headquarters town of High Road. It is by no means an easy stage, with three categorized climbs, but the wind on the open sections, and the time trial in Solvang the following day, mean that no one serious is likely to mount an attack.


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