“Today was a good day”, said Sagan of his 14th Amgen Tour of California career victory (the race’s all-time record holder for stage wins). Also, the level of the race is very good, and it’s also very good for preparation because it’s good weather. And I prefer to come here to train and prepare. Their lead at that point dipped to about 2 minutes, but King and Huffman worked well together – rather than playing a cat-and-mouse game – to keep the charging peloton at bay.
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However, Katusha led the the chase and eventually closed the gap.
Sagan once more earned the overall leader’s jersey, which he kept to the finish previous year.
With about two miles left in the stage, Team Lotto NL – Jumbo leapt to the front of the pack with Tinkoff jockeying for position to bring Sagan to the front.
Huffman finished second for Rally Cycling.
The Amgen Tour of California Bicycle Race kicked off this weekend, with the top riders going from San Diego to South Pasadena in a little under four and a half hours.
Sagan won the world championship last September in Richmond, Virginia.
“The fans are very nice”.
The route will see the peloton make an elevation gain of 10,639 feet as it finishes with a climb up the region’s famed Gibraltar Road into the heart of the Santa Ynez Mountains. For the eleventh annual stage race, this year’s field includes 11 World Champions, five Olympic medalists and Rio Olympic hopefuls.
The 2016 Amgen Tour of California will reach Sacramento County on Friday with time trials on a 12.6-mile course in Folsom.
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King, a former US road race champion, became the first American stage victor at California since Taylor Phinney two years ago in Santa Barbara.
