The Saginator Wins his 16th AMGEN Stage
World Champion Peter Sagan outsprinted everyone to take as uphill Sprint Finisg at Morro Bay on Stage 3 of the AMGEN Tour of California
It was a pretty long but, beautiful and picturesque day in the saddle for the Pro Peloton. From the gun a breakaway of five riders consisting of Pate, Lozano, Bennett, Zurlo and Wolfe built up a maximum lead of over 6 minutes.
Gap between the break and the bunch went down to around 4 minutes on only KOM of the day, the points going to 1st Lozano, 2nd Wolfe and 3rd Bennett.
On the descent the gap went back out to 5 minutes.
The Peloton got organized with BORA - Hansgrohe and Quick-Step Floors organizing the chase, the gap down to 3m 30s with 70 kms to go.
Ben Wolfe from Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis was in the breakaway again today after a very long breakaway yesterday, animating the race all day.
With 18 kms to go, Wolfe attacked his breakaway companions and built up a lead of over 35 seconds as the rest of the break was swallowed up by the Peloton.
Wolfe pressed on at 24 mph into a strong headwind, but the Peloton reeled him in on the final climb on the run into Morro Bay.
The finish was pretty technical with a climb 2 kms out and several tights bends along the beach front for the final 200 metres uphill sprint finish.
Katusha's and BORA - Hansgrohe lead out brought Sagan close to the front aswell as Kittel.
In the final sprint Rick Zabel opened up but Kristoff couldn't come round. Taylor Phinney from Cannondale Drapac went aswell as Jean-Pierre Drucker from BMC, but is was Peter Sagan who came round at least six riders and powered away from his rivals in the closing meters to take his 16th win at the AMGEN Tour of California.
The Saginator does it again, the Californian crowds went wild, they very much love the World Champion.
The Tour of California visited the roads of the SLO GranFondo today from Pismo Beach to Morro Bay. The fourth edition of SLO GranFondo on October 28 & 29, 2017 is a classic annual fall cycling event, presented by VisitAvilaBeach.com, that features three routes of 100 miles, 61 miles and 25 miles all showcasing many of the same scenic roads as this year’s stage 3 of the Tour of California.
For more information and to register, go to slogranfondo.com. Save $10 with code 17GRANFONDOGUIDE when you register!
Tomorrow's stage Stage 4 from Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita is 100.3 miles with 7,300 ft of climbing and features 4 categorized climbs.
Will the Wolfe strike again? Tune in tomorrow to find out!
2017 Tour of California Stage Three Top Ten
1. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 4-53-26
2. Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
3. Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
4. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin
5. Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
6. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
7. Taylor Phinney (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
8. Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Sunweb
9. Travis Mccabe (USA) UnitedHealthcare
10. Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb
2017 Tour of California General classification after stage three
1. Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 12-22-43
2. George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo, at 2s
3. Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky , at 14s
4. Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data, at 16s
5. Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo, at 45s
6. Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team, at 48s
7. Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
8. Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
9. Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors
10. Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
2017 Tour of California Stage 3 Video Highlights