Sagan storms in for Stage 1 victory despite a late puncture
Nicolas Roche has benefited from a common sense commissaires decision on the opening stage of the Tour of California after he came down in a pile up as the lead group was ramping up the speed heading into the finish.
The Ag2r rider and others fell just outside the 3km to go mark, inside which any riders suffering mechanicals or falls are credited with the time as the group they were with at the time of their mishap.
However, because the fallers were just metres from the 3km safety zone the commissaires decided to award them the same time as the lead group meaning their GC chances are not damaged.
The decision was a relief to the Irish rider who has said he is targeting a stage win in the US this week, as well as harbouring ambitions of doing a ride on GC.
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The crash occurred near the front of the peloton when young Australian Rabobank sprinter Michael Matthews appeared to rub wheels with his team mate just ahead of him.
That contact sent him across the group, seeing him wipe out a number of others just behind him including Roche. The Irishman did not appear to be badly injured and tweeted after the stage that he was OK.
He said he was grateful for the ruling that saw him credited with the same time as that of the 60-man lead group.
Philip Deignan thankfully had a less eventful day and was tucked in nicely in that lead group. The Unitedhealthcare rider will be looking for some results this week in a race that is one of the key targets of 2012 for his US team.
He was going well and looking aggressive on the recent Tour of Turkey, getting up the road in that race. He’ll be hoping his form has pushed on a notch of two since then and that he can use his climbing ability to get some results this week in what promises to be a tough race.
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Yesterday’s opening stage was far from a gentle warm up for the 130-rider field, with 186.5km and four mountains to be negotiated during the race into Santa Rosa.
Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) survived a puncture in the closing 10kms to get back on and win the stage with a very powerful gallop from Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Barracuda) and Fred Rodriguez (Team Exergy) after an early breakaway was overhauled.
Deignan was 48th on the same time as the winner, with Roche in 70th.
Today’s second stage is another very long one; 188.5km from San Francisco to Santa Cruz County with some climbing but which is likely to come down to a gallop from a fairly large group. The race finishes in Los Angeles next Sunday.
Stage 1 Result
1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale 4:42:35
2 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin - Barracuda
3 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Team Exergy
4 Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
5 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
6 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
7 Ryan Anderson (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10
8 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
9 Lawson Craddock (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team
10 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
48 Philip Deignan (Irl) Unitedhealthcare all same time
70 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Ag2r-La Mondiale @ 33 seconds
General Classification
1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale 4:42:25
2 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin - Barracuda 4 secs
3 Jeffry Louder (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
4 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Team Exergy 6 secs
5 Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell Cycling
6 Josh Atkins (NZl) Bontrager Livestrong Team 9 secs
7 Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 10 secs
8 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
9 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
10 Ryan Anderson (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10
50 Philip Deignan (Irl) Unitedhealthcare 10 secs
62 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Ag2r-La Mondiale 10 secs
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