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Leipheimer wins his second consecutive Tour of California
Hincapie grabs the final stage win
Adding a ray of sunshine to an otherwise cloudy week of racing for Team High Road, American George Hincapie won the final stage of the 2008 Amgen Tour of California on Sunday, the 93.4-mile journey from Santa Clarita to Pasadena.
The American took the victory in downtown Pasadena ahead of breakaway companions Michael Creed, Jason McCartney, Rory Sutherland and Tom Zirbel.
Astana's Levi Leipheimer secured his second consecutive California overall title, wrapping up the often-soggy 8-day race that he anchored with a savvy second-place finish in Wednesday's mountainous stage 3 and a brilliant effort Friday in the Solvang time trial. The victory earned Leipheimer’s Astana team a much-needed morale boost, after the team learned this month that it would not be invited to the 2008 Tour de France.
“The theme of this year’s Tour of California has been the caliber of riders who showed up to race,” Leipheimer said. “For me to win the race is unbelievable. The reason this win is so special to me is because the competitors are so great.”
A new stage for the race, Sunday's journey rolled through Vasquez, Bouquet and Soledad canyons — valleys ravaged by forest fires in December and known to produce flash floods in rainy conditions.
The stage also featured the ascent of the Millcreek summit on the northern edge of the San Gabriel Mountains, which tops out at 4800 feet, just below the snowline. On the eve of the stage, race officials considered scrapping the stage for fear of flooding, and instead holding a circuit race in downtown Pasadena.
After a long week that included an epic 7-hour-plus stage 4 on Thursday, many riders were disappointed when officials decided to run Sunday's race as planned.
Slipstream-Chipotle's David Millar, Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie all came into the day within two minutes of Leipheimer. CSC’s Fabian Cancellara and Gustav Larsson also held hopes of toppling the American at 1:18 and 1:19 back, respectively.
At sign in, Zabriskie hinted the team planned more than a last-day parade.
“I think we’re going to ride around and just wave at people,” Zabriskie joked with race announcer Dave Towle.
While the pace was definitely not tranquilo, the peloton took on a controlled rhythm once a ten-man break separated itself 20 miles into the stage. Slipstream sent Danny Pate up the road with Hincapie, Creed, Zirbel, McCartney, Sutherland, Oliver Zaugg (Gerolsteiner), Yannick Talabardon (Credit-Agricole), Dimitri Champion (Bouygues Telecom) and Taylor Tolleson (BMC). The group quickly grabbed three minutes on the peloton, which was patrolled by Astana and Quick Step-Innergetic.
The group hit the base of Millcreek with a gusting headwind. The temperature dropped into the low 40s, and snow peppered the tops of the peaks. Drizzle escalated into a stiff rain as the riders pulled themselves closer to the summit.
Creed, who nearly dropped out of the race after suffering from a virus, came into the day as the lanterne rouge, the race’s furthest rider down on general classification. The 26-year-old Coloradan attacked relentlessly up the climb, opening up a 15-second advantage on his breakaway companions.
“I was on a mission today to do it — it felt good to stick out,” Creed said. “It felt good to finally be a part of the race.”
Back in the field, Slipstream attempted a few surges with Tom Peterson, who attacked with the race’s best young rider competition leader Robert Gesink (Rabobank) and Victor Hugo Peña (Rock Racing). But the blue train of Astana quickly gobbled up the short advances.
“It was a strong headwind and there wasn’t a whole lot we could do,” said Slipstream boss Jonathan Vaughters. “And you can’t do much with a straight headwind into the descent.”
Indeed conditions turned nasty on the Pasadena side of the San Gabriel mountains, as blowing rain and mist reduced visibility to a few hundred yards. The drop from Millcreek to the beginning of the finishing circuits outside of La Cañada lasted nearly 25 miles and sent many riders back to team cars for jackets.
The breakaway had a mere two minutes on the peloton once it entered the first of six 1.86-mile circuits around the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and the teamwork quickly transformed into aggression. McCartney and Sutherland attacked, dropping the riders from Slipstream, Credit Agricole, BMC and Bouygues Telecom. Then Zirbel took a dig. The big American, who finished 8th at the stage 5 time trial in Solvang, opened up a sizable gap.
“Everyone was fanning out and that’s the best opportunity to go and hope someone would go with me. I thought I’d last maybe a lap or two,” said Zirbel, whose solo effort ended up lasting five laps. “It kept going and going, and I started praying for someone to catch me. With two laps to go I had nothing.”
The dig earned Zirbel the most aggressive rider jersey, but it proved a fatal move. Hincapie and Sutherland bridged to the fading Bissell rider on the final lap, and with 1km remaining Creed and McCartney joined the group.
But no one in the group had the legs to match Hincapie in the sprint, and the big rider easily took the kick by two bike lengths ahead of Sutherland.
The win was sweet revenge for Hincapie, who finished a close second on the stage 4 slog from Seaside to San Luis Obispo, then watched in horror as race officials relegated his teammate Mark Cavendish from first to last place after stage 6.
“As far as I’m concerned we won two stages at this year’s race,” Hincapie said, referring to stage 6. “This is a big relief for us. We needed a win.”
Race Notes
- BMC rider Scott Nydam took the King of the Mountains competition, outlasting Belgian Jurgen Van Dewalle by seven points. Nydam took over the jersey after his teammate Jackson Stewart abandoned on stage 4 due to hypothermia while leading the competition.
- Toyota-United’s Dominique Rollin held off Argentinian Juan Jose Haedo (CSC) in the points competition. Rollin, who won the epic stage 4 into San Luis Obispo, came into the final stage nursing a mere three-point lead over Haedo, the green jersey winner in 2007, took the competition 44 points to 42.
- Robert Gesink (Rabobank) took the best young rider classification over Thomas Peterson (Slipstream-Chipotle) by 40 seconds. Peterson’s Slipstream-Chipotle team took the team classification by 16 seconds over Astana.
