by ilsogno

I was at the KOM - I call it the “Cima Floyd” - for today’s stage. At 4900′ in altitude it is the highest point of this year’s Tour.

On the way up I snaped a pic of a couple of the soigneurs waiting at the feed zone.

I parked about 500 meters from the KOM and rode my Colnago up the rest of the way. Piece of cake! So long as you don’t have to ride from the bottom of the climb! I stationed myself at about 100 meters from the KOM line.

Here’s a view of the KOM finish line. and no, I don’t know who that person is.

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ilsogno, of Sherman Oaks, CA is our fourth jersey winner for her report on Stage 6! Here it is straight from Cindy’s keyboard…

I parked at the intersection of Broadway Road and Hwy 23 (Grimes Canyon) near Moorpark, CA. Got my Colnago off the roof rack and rode the climb up to the summit of Grimes Cyn.

This is the climb that comes after Balcom Canyon and it is uncategorized. Uncategorized!?!? My computer read 4%-5% grades for the first mile or so and then 7%-8% for the rest of the climb. Jeez!

Found a spot about 500 meters from the top. Seems the riders were taking their time today and were running at their slowest expected time. The Toyota United fan support car came along and gave out road writing chalk to everybody so I passed the time writing out a gigantic “CIPO” on the road.

Here I am hard at work

Here I am posing with my masterpiece.

Then we see and hear the helicopters overhead. An official ToC pulls up with a loudspeaker going and lets us all in on the race progress. A small breakaway group seven minutes in front of the peloton.

Then we see them approach from off in the distance.

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Luciano Pagliarini (BRA), First Place, Stage 6
Saunier Duval-Scott
On his win:
“I am very happy for my win, but it is not as good, considering the circumstances. It is good for my overall standings. I am so sorry for (Mark) Cavendish. I know High Road must be very disappointed.”

On today’s race:
“There was a lot of confusion during last kilometer, but during the breakaway, it was easy because I had a teammate in the front. I was ready for the sprint. This win was good for us.”

On representing Brazil:
“I’m so happy for Brazil. We need to show the world that we play more than just soccer; I hope to show them at the Olympics. I carry the Brazilian flag with me because I am proud. Brazil has so many riders and teams, and we are starting to be noticed. This win was very important, not only for me, but my country.”

Levi Leipheimer (USA), General Classification Leader
Astana
On today’s race:
“It’s sweet to be near the prize, but it’s never over until we cross the finish line. I think today’s race went exactly how I imagined it. I was confident that (David) Millar would try to do something in the end. I tried to look for him; I had Chris (Horner) go up to the front to close the gap. It just shows how strong the team really is.”
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Levi Leipheimer (USA), General Classification Leader and Stage 5 Winner
Astana
On today’s race:
“It was another great day for me here in Solvang. I’m just so happy and proud. I gave it my all today. Every time I had my doubts, I just told myself to do my best. The sign of a good time trial is that you don’t remember a lot of it, and I don’t remember a lot from today. Fortunately, I knew the course well, so I knew how to pace myself; I knew I had something left towards the end. With every kilometer, I was just yelling at myself to keep going. When I came to the last corner, I just hoped I didn’t crash since I was a little cross-eyed. This may be an even bigger win for me this year.”

“I gave 100 percent today. I didn’t hold back. I took the corners great, pushed myself in all the right places; the only fight I had to win was the one in my head.”

On wearing the Amgen Leader Jersey:
“I’ll try to defend this to the end since my team has done everything to put me in this place. They’ve been amazing all through the race, and yesterday, they were in front for nearly seven hours, so today I didn’t want to let them down.”

On how he felt before today’s time trial:
“To be honest, I was nervous. I’m not going to try and act like I’m a machine; I had my doubts. I just told myself to do my best. I knew it was going to be ugly, but I knew I’d fight. I wanted to show that we’re a fighting team and we’re not going to back down. I trained all winter for this. Astana has something to prove. We are the best team in the world and we need to be in the big races.”
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Photo c. Stephanie Gutowski

Photos by Stephanie Gutowski

Photo by Ken Conley

Stage 3 Results:
First Place - Robert Gesink (NED), Rabobank
Second Place - Levi Leipheimer (USA), Astana
Third Place - Jurgen Vandewalle (BEL), QuickStep

Overall Results (General Classification):
First Place - Levi Leipheimer (USA), Astana
Second Place - Fabian Cancellara (ARG), Team CSC
Third Place - Robert Gesink (NED), Rabobank

Stay tuned, full stage recap and photo galleries to come.

Photo by Ken Conley

SANTA ROSA, CALIF. – Record crowds were on-hand for Stage 1 of the Amgen Tour of California to watch the world’s best cyclists travel over some of California’s most scenic highways, from Sausalito to Santa Rosa, culminating with a climactic finish in downtown Santa Rosa as Juan Jose “J.J.” Haedo (ARG), of Team CSC, sprinted to an impressive win, his fifth stage win in the Amgen Tour of California (2006-2008), ahead of Gerald Ciolek (GER), of High Road, and Heinrich Haussler (GER) of Gerolsteiner.

“The final 60km (40 miles) of the race were very fast; I barely made it to the finish. That was a really hard part for me,” said Haedo, Stage 1 winner. “Everyone was really fast today, but when you see the last 200 meters, you go as hard as you can and don’t look back. We have a lot of good sprinters in the Amgen Tour of California, really a good level of competition.”

Haedo’s teammate Fabian Cancellara (SUI), the overall race leader after yesterday’s Prologue, retained the Amgen Leader’s Jersey after an exciting day of racing.

The 98.6-mile stage from Sausalito to Santa Rosa took the scenic coastal route along Highway 1 before turning inland for a difficult ascent up the 827-ft. Coleman Valley Road climb, 64 miles into the race. After about 10 miles, Jackson Stewart (USA) of Team BMC, who lives in nearby Los Gatos, Calif., found himself in a solo lead after attempting a breakaway move with three other riders.

“Suddenly I was a minute ahead of the field and I thought I’ll just keep it going and try for the KOM (California Travel and Tourism King of the Mountains classification points),” said Stewart.

Stewart achieved this goal by remaining clear of the field over the summit of Coleman Valley Road, where he backed off as the field raced up to reabsorb him about 20 miles before the Santa Rosa finish. Stewart also claimed the three intermediate Herbalife sprint prizes, at Point Reyes Station, Tomales and Bodega Bay. With 40 miles covered, Stewart’s lead over the peloton had grown to as much as 13 minutes, but as the field approached the steep Coleman Valley climb, with gradients up to 15 percent, the pace intensified and Stewart started to come back.

The peloton fragmented as it powered up Coleman Valley Road, and Jens Voigt (GER) of Team CSC showed strong form by following Kevin Seeldraeyers (BEL) of Saunier Duval – Scott over the top, second in the peloton. In the undulations following the summit, more attacks came and the group broke up into three, with 80 riders in the first group, 11 in the second and 33 in the third.

The tight Santa Rosa finishing circuits have gained a reputation in the short history of the Amgen Tour of California for producing thrilling action in front of a vast, roaring crowd. This year was no exception as the riders sped around the closing laps. QuickStep lined up its two World Champions, Tom Boonen (BEL) and Paolo Bettini (ITA), for the sprint, as did the formidable Team CSC and Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30.

George Hincapie (USA) of High Road also found himself in a good position for the sprint. Going around the final corner, with only a few hundred yards remaining, Hincapie touched wheels with Tom Boonen and crashed heavily, but made it to the finish in 74th place, despite being grazed from head to toe. High Road reported that he had no broken bones and is expected to start tomorrow.

“So far, the race has been fantastic; exceeding expectations,” said Andrew Messick, president of AEG Sports, presenter of the race. “We’ve been doing this for three years now and it keeps getting better. I think we’re getting to the point where we are one of the most important races on the calendar. We want to continue to grow bigger. We want to be one of the races that people plan their calendars around.”

Showing an impressive performance on Stage 1, the California Travel & Tourism Commission King of the Mountain (KOM) Jersey and the Tachyon Most Aggressive Jersey were both claimed by Jackson Stewart (USA) of Team BMC. And the Herbalife Sprint Jersey went to Haedo (ARG) of Team CSC. Gerald Ciolek (GER) of High Road took the Union Bank of California Best Young Rider Jersey. Team CSC, winner of the 2006 and 2007 overall team classification, leads the overall team classification.

The top-three general classification leaders after today are Cancellara (SUI) of Team CSC, Team Slipstream Chipotle Powered by H30’s Tyler Farrar (USA) in second and High Road’s Bradley Wiggins (GBR) in third.
Defending champion, Levi Leipheimer (USA) of Astana rode into a hometown welcome from the cheering crowds lining the roads in Santa Rosa. Fourth overall after today’s stage, Leipheimer heads into Stage 2 with high hopes for his team’s performance over the rest of the week.

“Compared to last year, the crowds just get bigger and bigger. Every year, I’m astonished at how many people are here,” said Santa Rosa resident Leipheimer. “Cycling has really grown around here and I think that is due in large part to the Amgen Tour of California. It feels great to have people cheer me on and to race on the roads that I know every inch of and have trained on for the past twelve years; it’s really special.”
As a new component to the 2008 Amgen Tour of California professional road cycling race, Stage 1 featured a category Pro 1,2 Women’s Criterium. Using portions of the Stage 1 men’s finishing circuit in Santa Rosa, the Women’s Criterium was enthusiastically welcomed by the fans lining the course. Brooke Miller from Tibco won the inaugural race.

In addition to the exciting race finish, today’s event included a special ride by local cancer survivors who cycled the final mile before the peloton came into the final circuits.

At the finish line of today’s stage, prior to the conclusion of the professional race, Santa Rosa resident and two-time breast cancer survivor Theresa Coursey was celebrated during a special event called the Breakaway Mile, a one-mile honorary ride across the finish line celebrating local cancer survivors and their support teams. During the Breakaway Mile, Coursey was joined by the support team that helped her during her battle with cancer, including her husband, stepson, doctors and friends, as well as Amgen scientist Terry Rosen who plays a crucial role in developing innovative medicines.

“Breakaway from Cancer is an integral component of the Amgen Tour of California that benefits cancer patients across the country,” said Terry Rosen, vice president chemistry research & discovery, Amgen. “We honor the courage of patients like Theresa and their caregivers in their fight against cancer. It was an honor to ride with her today and provide an example of what we can do working together as a team to fight the war against cancer.”
Amgen created Breakaway from Cancer™ in 2005 as a complementary component to its race sponsorship. The initiative is designed to help empower people affected by cancer and supports the services of two nonprofit organizations – The Wellness Community, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free support, education and hope to people affected by cancer, and National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, the oldest survivor-led cancer advocacy organization in the country.

Now in its third year, the Breakaway from Cancer initiative continues to help those touched by cancer take an active role in their recovery and find the resources they need to live well with – and beyond – the disease. For the latest information on the Breakaway from Cancer initiative and ways to support those living with the illness, visit breakawayfromcancer.com.

STAGE 1 description and profile:

Stage 1 of the 3rd Amgen Tour of California witnessed a long, courageous breakaway from BMC’s Jackson Stewart, a Santa Rosa resident, who escaped after 17 miles and was caught over 60 miles later by a supercharged peloton hungry to save the day for the sprinters. The 97-mile/156-km ride from Sausalito to Santa Rosa featured three Herbalife Sprints and one category 3 King of the Mountains climb. Stewart pocketed all the prizes along the way before the peloton gobbled him up as they approached the finishing circuit in Santa Rosa. In the end, CSC’s Juan Jose Haedo unleashed a fierce sprint to take the victory by a few bike lengths, his fifth ever Amgen Tour of California stage win. High Road’s Gerald Ciolek was 2nd and Gerolsteiner’s Heinrich Haussler took 3rd. CSC can also celebrate that Fabian Cancellara hung onto the golden leader’s jersey. High Road’s Bradley Wiggins and Team Slipstream’s Tyler Farrar retain their GC positions as well.

Team CSC has announced their squad for the 2008 version of the race. The members are:

• Stuart O’Grady (Australia)
• Jens Voigt (Germany)
• Bobby Julich (U.S.A.)
• JJ Haedo (Argentina)
• Jason McCartney (U.S.A.)
• Karsten Kroon (Netherlands)
• Gustav Larsson (Sweden)
• Fabian Cancellera (Switzerland)

Team CSC has shown to be very successful in both previous Tour of California’s, winning best team in both tries, but will aim to win the overall jersey this year. By bringing their A-Team they should have a very good chance at that.