Rafal Majka wins Tour of California Stage 2

Posted by on

Rafal Majka wins Tour of California Stage 2

Rafal Majka of Bora-Hansgrohe won a tough Stage 2 of the Amgen Tour of California taking the overall lead in the stage race. Majka beat George Bennet of Team LottoNL-Jumbo in a final cat-and-mouse sprint to the finish line in San Jose yesterday. Ian Boswell of Team Sky and Lachlan Morton, Team Dimension Data, crossed the line 7 seconds behind them. Majka, Bennet, Boswell and Morton are the current leaders in the Tour. This group of four riders broke away from the peloton on Mount Hamilton, the hardest of the 5 categorized climbs on yesterday’s stage. They caught up with the remains of the early breakaway group, Toms Skujins (Cannondale-Drapac), Daniel Jaramillo (UnitedHealthcare), and Morton’s Dimension Data teammate Scott Thwaites.
They dueled each other over the final categorized climb, Quimby Road with Thwaites driving the tempo. On the descent, Skujins crashed hard, suffered a concussion and a broken collarbone. He had a difficult time getting back on his bike and was nearly run over by the following peloton and Tour support cars. His team CEO Jonathan Vaughters pulled Skujins from the race and had him put into the team’s internal concussion program. In the final uphill two kilometers, Majka, Bennet, Boswell and Morton battled each other. Bennet and Majka pulled away from the other two in the final 200 meters. Majka slipped by with Bennet nearly sneaking by at the line.
This stage, along with Mount Baldy Stage 5, were going to be decisive. This stage yesterday did not disappoint. The Tour leaderboard has undergone a complete change, and with Stage 5 and the Big Bear Time Trial the following day, there may not be other opportunities to get on the podium.
The 144.5 km (89.5 mile) hilly stage from Modesto to San Jose featured 5 categorized climbs, including an HC climb of Mount Hamilton. The stage featured 9,000 feet of climbing. San Jose hosted the Tour for the eleventh time, the most of any California city.

Stage 2 Results

#
Rider
Time
1
Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
3:43:46
2
George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo

3
Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky
0:00:07
4
Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data

5
Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
0:00:37
6
Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team

7
Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky

8
Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb

9
Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors

10
Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac

Overall Tour Standings

#
Rider
Time
1
Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
7:29:14
2
George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
0:00:02
3
Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky
0:00:14
4
Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data
0:00:16
5
Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
0:00:48
6
Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team

7
Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb

8
Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac

9
Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors



Comments

Post a Comment