Amgen Tour of California 2008- Stage Two

Stage Two: Santa Rosa to Sacramento, 186 km

The rain that had been promised for Tuesday arrived on schedule this morning in Santa Rosa and the riders took off to a cold, wet start. Some rolling hills with two KOM climbs lay ahead for the riders in the first half of this long stage with a flat second half that held two intermediate sprints and then a long, flat run into the finish – perfect for the sprinters to shine again.

Right away Scott Nydam (BMC) and once again it was a lone BMC rider who took off down the road and opened up a gap on the pack.

Jonathan Sundt (Kelly Benefit Strategies) came out from the front of the pack to chase Nydam. He didn’t make it up to the leader but didn’t fall all the way back, instead sitting in the middle as the gap continued to grow.

When Nydam went over the first KOM climb he was six minutes ahead. BMC clearly had plans this morning of protecting that KOM jersey that Jackson Stewart grabbed for them yesterday. Despite the pain that Stewart must be in after his enormous effort yesterday he was up in front to take third place through that first KOM climb after Sundt.

Nydam opened the gap up to over 15 minutes at one point but as the race moved closer to the second KOM climb of the day, and the first intermediate sprint, the peloton upped the pace and the gap began to close. Jonathan Sundt was caught right after taking second place over the KOM climb with Jackson Stewart again taking third. Excellent work on the part of the BMC team to protect that KOM jersey for another day – wow!

Coming through the first intermediate sprint, Nydam was still 13 minutes out in front and took the three second time bonus. The peloton heated up for a few minutes as they fought it out for second and third place which ended up going to Gerald Ciolek (High Road) and Tyler Farrar (Slipstream) respectively. With that one second time bonus for third, Farrar was now only one second away from Cancellara on the GC board.

At the second and final intermediate sprint Nydam went through about 8 minutes ahead of the pack and again it was a sprint for second and third place and the two remaining time bonuses. This time it was Tyler Farrar in second and Ciolek in third. That two second time bonus made Farrar the virtual GC leader out on the road.

The KOM jersey protected for the day and the big sprint time bonuses eaten up, Nydam seemed to ease back and wait to be caught. The effort combined with the lousy weather had taken its toll and the fatigue was evident in his posture.

With Farrar now in first place the Slipstream boys kicked it into high gear to try to secure the yellow jersey. David Millar had six of his men on the front pulling the peloton and closing in quickly on Nydam who was caught at the 27 km to go mark.

With just under 20 km to go Sébastien Turgot (Bouygues Telecom) attacked and opened up a gap before suffering a flat tire – bad timing! He was caught soon after by the peloton being led by Slipstream and CSC’s Jason McCartney looking to set up another sprint win for JJ Haedo who also suffered a flat but was quickly back up on the road.

The sprinter’s teams all moved up to the front, just like yesterday, trying to set up their man for the win. Among them Quick Step with Boonen, CSC with Haedo, and High Road with Cavendish. High Road tried an odd tactic of sitting up very early and launching Cavendish into an attack when they were still quiet a way back of the line.  It didn’t work and he was quickly swallowed up and passed by the other sprinters.  In the end it was the big blue train of Quick Step that timed it perfectly today dropping Boonen off in that sweet spot that he needs to bring it home. His first win on American soil and a big thrill for the fans.

Tyler Farrar, the 23-year-old American from Slipstream, takes over the yellow jersey tonight making it a great day for Slipstream.

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Tags: Amgen Tour of California 2008- Stage Two, bike race, Cycling, High Road, Slipstream

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