With more than 100 miles to go in stage 2 of the Amgen Tour of California, Bissell’s Ben Jacques-Maynes joined nine other riders in a strong early break to try and win the stage in front on his hometown fans in Santa Cruz.

Jacques-Maynes, along with this break mates, battled the horrendous weather conditions that included pouring rain, hail and more hail, strong side- and headwinds, his own weakening body and the mental blow of learning about his twin brother Andy’s crash.

But it wasn’t to be. The break splintered on the final climb up Bonny Doon and Jacques-Maynes surrounded by screams of ‘Go Ben Go’ dug deep to pull his way up. He finished 1:52 behind the winner Tom Peterson (Garmin-Slipstream).

An emotional Jacques-Maynes was awarded the Most Courageous Jersey today for his fearless efforts on his hometown roads. The Amgen Breakaway from Cancer Most Courageous Jersey is a new addition to the tour this year and is given to the rider each day who best demonstrates courage.

“I heard all those people cheering for me too. I was really hoping I would get a good performance for them, I certainly didn’t stop trying to whole day. To get the Most Courageous Jersey is a real honor and it just felt awesome to get in front of the whole crowd there. I looked left and saw people I knew, I looked right and saw people I knew, I saw people I knew up on the balcony across the street, everywhere I looked, it was an awesome feeling.” said Jacques-Maynes.

As a local, Jacques-Maynes along with his twin brother and team mate Andy, had targeted this stage while working with the local organizing committee (LOC).

“Knowing every inch of every road is pretty key, a great trick to pull out of your bag of tricks. I’ve been thinking about this one for a long time.” said Jacques-Maynes.

As a passenger in the Bissell team car driven by Directeur Glen Mitchell, I had a front row seat to watch the drama unfold.

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Photo by Ken Conley

Photo by Ken Conley

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Photo by Ken Conley

Cyclists Cross Golden Gate Bridge On Route from Sausalito to Santa Cruz

SANTA CRUZ, CA – The second stage of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California brought excitement to the finish in Santa Cruz, as two-time defending champion Levi Leipheimer (USA) of Astana was propelled to take second in the stage and also a 24-second overall lead. Fellow American Thomas Peterson of Garmin-Slipstream, best young rider overall in the 2006 Amgen Tour of California, sprinted to the finish to take the stage victory. Stage 2, which took cyclists from Sausalito to Santa Cruz, a new city for the race, finished in front of record crowds.

“I had it in my head that I was going to try to win today,” said Leipheimer. “I looked around and saw that people were at their limit, but I felt really strong and inspired at that moment, so I went for it.”

After an enthusiastic start in Sausalito, Stage 2 began by taking the riders over one of the most iconic structures in the country, the Golden Gate Bridge. Despite, or perhaps because of, the weather conditions, an early breakaway of 10 riders was established less than 10 miles from the start, which included Santa Cruz native Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) of BISSELL Pro Cycling.

Riding in support of race leader Francisco Mancebo (ESP), who took Stage 1 yesterday after a truly epic and heroic 100-mile breakaway, Rock Racing kept a steady tempo at the front of the peloton; the gap fluctuated but never exceeded five minutes.

The first King of the Mountains (KOM) climb of the day came at 46.7 miles on Tunitas Creek Road, a category 2 climb of just over six miles that rises 1,562 feet. Carlos Barredo (ESP) of Quick Step set the tempo of the break on this climb, as they rode past the giant Redwood trees lining the street.

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Stage 2 top-five finishers:
1 - Thomas Peterson (USA), Garmin-Slipstream
2 - Levi Leipheimer (USA), Astana
3 - Michael Rogers (AUS), Team Columbia-High Road
4 - Christopher Horner (USA), Astana
5 - Oscar Sevilla (ESP), Rock Racing

General Classification top-five standings as of Stage 2:
1 - Levi Leipheimer (USA), Astana
2 - Michael Rogers (AUS), Team Columbia-High Road
3 - David Zabriskie (USA), Garmin-Slipstream
4 - Lance Armstrong (USA), Astana
5 - Christopher Horner (USA), Astana

Stage 2 jersey winners include:
Amgen Race Leader Jersey- Levi Leipheimer (USA), Astana
Amgen’s Breakaway from Cancer Most Courageous Rider Jersey- Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA), Bissell Pro Cycling
Herbalife Sprint Jersey- Francisco Mancebo (ESP), Rock Racing
Rabobank Best Young Rider Jersey- Robert Gesink (NED), Rabobank
California Travel & Tourism Commission King of the Mountain (KOM) Jersey- Francisco Mancebo (ESP), Rock Racing
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LOS ANGELES, CA – AEG announced today that for the first time the 2009 Amgen Tour of California professional cycling race will be broadcast internationally. The race will be broadcast live in more than 90 countries, which includes more than 200 million households across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Oceania and Africa. The unprecedented coverage is due to the partnership established with the Amaury Sport Organisation (owners of the Tour de France) which has assisted AEG with the international television distribution of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California, further strengthening the partnership between the two cycling tour owners, which was announced in June 2008.

Amongst the line-up of broadcasters, Eurosport, the leader in cycling broadcast coverage in Europe, will broadcast the race live in 77 countries throughout Europe and Asia-Pacific. Abu Dhabi Sports in the Middle East, HiSports in Nigeria, J-Sports in Japan, SBS in Australia and Sky TV in New Zealand are also amongst the race’s international broadcast partners. In addition to the live coverage, highlights will be made available to fans in a total of 201 countries and territories, in 22 languages by a total of 23 channels.

Additionally, the race will be broadcast to international military bases.
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