|
Tour of California:
Cavendish wins first stage
Britain's Mark Cavendish used a finishing sprint in the first stage
of the 2010 Tour of California to seize the leader's yellow jersey on
Sunday.
The 10-time Tour de France stage winner edged out second place
finisher Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank) of Argentina while Norway's
Alexander Kristoff (BMC) was third in the 168 kilometre road stage from
Nevada City, California to Sacramento.
The second phase takes place Monday on 176 km course between Davis
and Santa Rosa, in the northern half of the state. There are eight
stages in the Tour of California which finishes Sunday in the hills
above Los Angeles.
Cavendish who rides for the American HTC-Columbia team, was timed in
four hours, four minutes and 46 seconds.
"It's seven weeks to go for the Tour de France and it gave the team
confidence," said Cavendish. "We should get the same results as we did
last year at the Tour de France."
With a 10-second bonus time for his win, Cavendish will benefit from
a four-second race lead over Haedo and a six-second margin over Kristoff
for the second stage.
Three-time defending race winner Levi Leiphiemer and RadioShack
teammate Lance Armstrong finished in the main field in the same time as
the winner.
Five riders, including former world titlists Tom Boonen (Quick Step)
of Belgium and Stuart O'Grady of Australia crashed on the final circuit.
The fallen riders finished and were given the same time as the winner.
Cavendish earned his third career stage win in the five year history of
the race. He remained behind several teammates as the field of 128
riders approached the beginning of the three final circuits around
Sacramento. He then moved to the front inside the final kilometres and
was briefly challenged by Haedo.
Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank), Marc De Maar (United Healthcare) both
of the Netherlands and Americans Chad Beyer (BMC), Paul Mach (Bissell)
emerged from the field after about 16 kilometres.
LOS ANGELES, AFP |
