Peter Sagan Back to Victory in Stage 4

Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) won his 15th Amgen Tour of California Stage victory today on the Monterey Speedwell. Despite Sagan’s second stage victory, Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-QuickStep) still leads the Tour with a 22-second advantage. Stage 4 ran from Morro Bay to the Mazda Speedway in Monterey County, 217 kilometers away.

A seven-man breakaway formed 67 kilometers into the Stage. The group included a surprise rider, Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data), along with Will Routley (Rally Cycling), Ryan Anderson (Direct Energie), Timo Roosen (LottoNL-Jumbo), Michael Morkov (Katusha), Tanner Putt (UnitedHealthCare) and Greg Daniel (Axeon Hagens Berman). Cavendish probably is using the Amgen Tour to tune up for the Tour De France and get noticed by the British Olympic selection committee. The breakaway group opened a gap of 4 minutes and 45 seconds. The Tour leader, Alaphilippe, was in the middle of the peloton, surrounded by teammates. Earlier in the stage he gained a 3-second bonus in an intermediate sprint, increasing his lead to 22 seconds.

Tinkoff led the peloton, keeping teammate Peter Sagan near the front and out of trouble. Etixx-QuickStep took over the front of the peloton as the peloton neared the finish. The gap slowly decreased leading up to the Laureles grade, a Category 2 climb, 14 kilometers from the finish.

On the Laureles grade, Cavendish and Putt were dropped by the other 4 riders; Daniel, Morkov, Roosen, and Andersen. Daniel attacked again, taking the summit of the climb alone. The peloton topped the climb 11 seconds behind Daniel and everyone descending fast.

Daniel started the last steep climb into the Speedway with a 10-second lead. The peloton caught Daniel with 3.2 km to go, with Sagan near the front. Sagan kept close with 1km to go. Sagan outraced the group to the victory. Julian Alaphilippe and the other top cyclists finished at the front, so the overall standings changed very little.

Stage Results

1. Peter Sagan, Tinkoff, in 5:16:33
2. Greg Van Avermaet, BMC Racing Team -  :00
3. Nathan Haas, Dimension Data -  :00
4. Brent Bookwalter, BMC Racing Team -  :00
5. Tao Geoghegan, Hart, Axeon – Hagens Berman -  :00
6. Neilson Powless, Axeon – Hagens Berman -  :00
7. Rohan Dennis, BMC Racing Team -  :00
8. Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Team Katusha -  :00
9. Rob Britton, Rally Cycling -  :00
10. Julian Alaphilippe, Etixx – Quick Step -  :00
11. Peter Stetina, Trek – Segafredo -  :00
12. Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez, BMC Racing Team -  :00

Overall Standings

1. Julian Alaphilippe, Etixx – Quick Step, in 18:06:17
2. Peter Stetina, Trek – Segafredo -  :22
3. George Bennett, Team Lotto NL – Jumbo -  :37
4. Brent Bookwalter, BMC Racing Team -  :40
5. Neilson Powless, Axeon – Hagens Berman -  :43
6. Laurens Ten Dam, Team Giant – Alpecin -  :49
7. Rohan Dennis, BMC Racing Team -  1:01
8. Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez, BMC Racing Team -  1:01
9. Rob Britton, Rally Cycling -  1:12
10. Haimar Zubledia Agirre, Trek – Segafredo -  1:15
11. Andrew Talansky, Cannondale Pro Cycling Team -  1:15
12. Lawson Craddock, Cannondale Pro Cycling Team -  1:18