Thor Hushovd won the bunch sprint in to Modesto today to take stage three of the Tour of California, and in doing so he demonstrated the importance of having a near perfect lead out.
Several of the sprinters? teams had helped to pull back the day?s four-man break, with Columbia doing the lion's share, but it was Cervelo that got the last kilometre just right.
On the wet finishing circuit that featured many corners, the Peloton?s newest team held their nerve and their formation to deliver the Norwegian right up to the line.
Behind them Oscar Friere, Tom Boonen and Mark Cavendish were all left fighting for the lower places as their lead out?s failed to materialise. Cavendish, who looked unbeatable at the Tour of Qatar last month was too far back coming in to the final straight and eventually finished fifth having been separated from his new lead out man, Mark Renshaw. ?Just before the last corner Mark lost the wheel,? Renshaw said. ?I think it was one of the Rock Racing riders that he got in a bit of a tussle with.
?Unfortunately I got a rider in between me and George Hincapie as well. When the sprint started he dropped the wheel which made it difficult for me, and there were a couple of guys between me and Mark Cavendish which made it extremely difficult for us to work as a unit today.?
There were no such problems for Cervelo who saved their race with the stage win. After their wins and impressive riding in Qatar they had been anonymous so far in the Tour of California. Sastre?s crash on the first day to Santa Rosa put him out of contention for the overall classification and they?ve missed the breaks since then.
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The race?s leader, Levi Leipheimer had a close call today, hitting the deck after touching the wheel in front of him that happened to belong to team mate Lance Armstrong. ?It was my fault, I looked down for one second, it was windy and everybody moved left to right a little bit and next thing you know I touched a wheel,? he said. ?Usually you can kind of put your foot down and pull it out, but not today, I went down on my ass!
?It was one of those crashes where it hurts really bad right away and then it goes away, so I think that?s a good sign.?
Photo by Graham Watson
Tour of California stage three: results 1. Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo 167.7km in 4-28-12
2. Oscar Freire (Esp) Rabobank
3. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Columbia-Highroad
4. Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
5. Mark Cavendish (GB) Columbia-Highroad
6. Brett Lancaster (Aus) Cervelo
7. Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Colavita
8. Freddy Rodriguez (USA) Rock Racing
9. Markus Zberg (Sui) BMC Racing
10. Pedro Horrillo (Esp) Rabobank all same time
General classification after stage two 1. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana in 13-51-14
2. Michael Rogers (Aus) Columbia-Highroad at 24 secs
3. David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin-Slipstream at 28 secs
4. Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana at 30 secs
5. Christopher Horner (USA) Astana at 34 secs
6. Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana at 38 secs
7. Thomas Lovkvist (Swe) Columbia-Highroad at same time
8. Jose Rubiera (Spa) Astana at same time
9. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas at same time
10. Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank at 39 secs
British
84. Mark Cavendish (GB) Columbia at 29-50 minutes
Riders pass a wind farm on stage three
(l-r) Mark Cavendish, George Hincapie and Lance Armstrong
Michael Barry chases for Team Columbia
2009 TOUR OF CALIFORNIA: LINKS
STAGE REPORTS
Stage two: Leipheimer takes the lead
Stage one: Mancebo's stage one win raises Puerto demons
Prologue: Cancellara Express derails the Armstrong show
Editor of Cycling Weekly magazine, Simon has been working at the title since 2001. He fell in love with cycling 1989 when watching the Tour de France on Channel 4, started racing in 1995 and in 2000 he spent one season racing in Belgium. During his time at CW (and Cycle Sport magazine) he has written product reviews, fitness features, pro interviews, race coverage and news. He has covered the Tour de France more times than he can remember along with two Olympic Games and many other international and UK domestic races. He became the 130-year-old magazine's 13th editor in 2015.
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