Lieuwe Westra wins Tour of California opener

Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) kicked off his Tour of California campaign with the perfect start - winning the opening stage in Escondido from a late attack.

Westra had escaped in the stage's final five kilometres with Francisco Mancebo (5 Hour Energy) and easily beat his companion to the line to take the victory.

Peter Sagan (Cannondale) led the peloton home at six seconds to take third.

With temperatures nudging 40 degrees celcius and the stage featuring an ascent and descent of Palomar Mountain, the opening day of the tour presented quite a challenge.

A four-man escape group had ben given up to 12 minutes lead up and over Palomar before the WorldTour squads wound up the pace and the catch was made with just five kilometres to the line, when first Michael Rogers (Sax-Tinkoff), and then Westra and Mancebo put in late attacks.

On Monday, the riders face stage two from Murietta to Greater Palm Springs over 200km, including a mid-stage ascent of Idyllwild mountain and a summit finish.

Results

Tour of California 2013, stage one: Escondido to Escondido, 165.1km

1. Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM in 4-31-33

2. Francisco Mancebo Perez (Spa) 5 Hour Energy at same time

3. Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale at 6 secs

4. Gianni Meersman (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep

5. Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Bontrager

6. Jacob Rathe (USA) Garmin-Sharp

7. Alexander Candelario (USA) Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies

8. Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge

9. Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Bissell

10. Tanner Putt (USA) Bontrager at same time

Overall classification after stage one

1. Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM in 4-31-33

2. Francisco Mancebo Perez (Spa) 5 Hour Energy at same time

3. Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling at 6 secs

4. Gianni Meersman (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep at 6 secs

5. Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Bontrager at 6 secs

6. Jacob Rathe (USA) Garmin-Sharp at 6 secs

7. Alexander Candelario (USA) Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies at 6 secs

8. Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge at 6 secs

9. Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Bissell at 6 secs

10. Tanner Putt (USA) Bontrager at 6 secs

Related links

Tour of California 2013: The Big Preview