Philip Deignan rips it up in California; animates final climb for third on stage and overall

Philip Deignan took the bull by the horns in California and is clearly in world class climbing form again, seen here as he just came over the finish line in 3rd place - many of the riders needed medical attention after the 200km stage

Philip Deignan has put in his best ride since winning a stage of the Vuelta back in 2009 when he lit up the Tour of California stage 2 today, Monday; going on the attack with just over 3km remaining in the blistering heat before being caught and holding on for third place.

The Unitedhealthcare rider’s attacking blew what was left of the select group apart and signalled that he is back to his very best, after taking overall victory at the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico the week before last.

Today's stage in California was almost 200kms and included the first KOM prime of Mountain Center at about 100 kms before a savage 5km uphill finish in Palm Springs, which a depleted peloton began intact after the early escapees were swept up.

The moment what was left of the field hit the final climb - averaging 9.7 per cent - the bunch exploded, with only around 20 riders remaining within 1km of the road starting to rise. Deignan, as he did on yesterday’s opening stage, looked very comfortable on the climb.

The yellow jersey of Lieuwe Westra was 2:20 down with 3km remaining and he would eventually lose almost 10 minutes.

Deignan’s team obviously had supreme confidence in him, leading the group into the final climb to set up the Irishman to let off his fireworks and he did not disappoint in that regard.

With some 3.4km remaining, he jumped the lead group on the right side of the road, building up a decent lead of around ten seconds almost instantly on the BMC-led group; with that team working for its GC hope Tejay van Garderen.

With 2.2km to go, he was still holding that gap, perhaps now pulled out to 15 seconds, as the small group behind whittled down even further and the time checks to the yellow jersey stretched to 3:30.

With 2km remaining, the group chasing Deignan were holding him at around 10 seconds, as Deignan continued to pump away but was being pulled back very slowly. It was van Garderen who took up the chase himself from team mate Matthias Frank, taking Michael Rogers (Saxo-Sungard) with him and Janier Acevedo (Jamis - Hagens Berman).

That trio caught the Irishman and van Garderen continued to press on, now with only Acevedo for company as Deignan fell off the back of the leading pair just before the 1km to go mark and Rogers fell back further behind.

The Colombian Acevedo then attacked well inside the final 1km, distancing van Garderen, but with the American doggedly holding the gap as Deignan did the same behind, holding third place on the road.

In the end Acevedo hung on for a great stage win by 12 seconds from van Garderen, with Deignan in third a further 15 seconds back. Those three riders fill the first three positions on the general classification; with Philip Deignan clearly back where he belongs, at the top of the sport.

Many of the riders were suffering from extreme dehydration at the finish and needed medical attention or to be helped into their team vehicles as the savage slopes of the final ascent and the heat took their toll. Having been in the US for some time, Deignan has clearly acclimatised very well and is riding with a renewed strength and a swagger not seen for a couple of seasons.

Stage 2: Murrieta - Greater Palm Springs (200km)

1 Janier Alexis Acevedo Colle (Col) Jamis - Hagens Berman 5:07:40

2 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing @12

3 Philip Deignan (Irl) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team @27

4 Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team @45

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