After eight days of hard riding, the Amgen Tour of California came down the final seconds of the final stage, as the cyclists circled the cities of Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, and Agoura Hills, northwest of LA, Sunday afternoon.
In the end, HTC-Columbia’s Michael Rodgers defended every attack thrown at him, earning himself the top step of the podium, a scant nine seconds ahead of second-place finisher David Zabriskie of Garmin-Transitions. Three-time consecutive winner Levi Leipheimer of Team Radioshack did not repeat this year, instead finishing third, 25 seconds behind.
After the race, Rodgers told Bob Roll of Versus-TV that he expected the constant attacks.
“It was pretty tough out there but I managed to hold on. They attacked us from the gun,” he explained. “I had two star teammates, T.J. Van Garderen and Tony Martin—they really saved the day for me. I knew if they could get me to the last climb fresh there wasn’t any one of them was going to drop me.
“Radio Shack threw everything, Zabriskie threw everything at me. I’m just so happy, and relieved that it’s finished, and I could hold onto this jersey,” [the leader’s yellow jersey.]
The race was two races in one: the race for the stage win, and the race for the overall victory. George Hincapie of BMC started the race firm in the decision that he was going to win the final stage, and he very nearly did.
Hincapie ignored the first big break, a seven-rider effort led by Saxo Bank’s Fabian Cancellara. Shortly after that break was ridden down, halfway through the second lap of the 21-mile course, Team Type 1’s Thomas Rabou and Quickstep’s Carlos Barredo set off on another break, and this one Hincapie chose to join.
Four other riders joined this break: Oscar Pujol of Cervélo, Sebastian Langeveld of Rabobank, Jaroslav Popovych of RadioShack, and Jeremy Vennel of Bissell.
These seven stayed ahead until halfway through the final lap, opening a gap of more than two minutes.
In the end, HTC-Columbia’s Michael Rodgers defended every attack thrown at him, earning himself the top step of the podium, a scant nine seconds ahead of second-place finisher David Zabriskie of Garmin-Transitions. Three-time consecutive winner Levi Leipheimer of Team Radioshack did not repeat this year, instead finishing third, 25 seconds behind.
After the race, Rodgers told Bob Roll of Versus-TV that he expected the constant attacks.
“It was pretty tough out there but I managed to hold on. They attacked us from the gun,” he explained. “I had two star teammates, T.J. Van Garderen and Tony Martin—they really saved the day for me. I knew if they could get me to the last climb fresh there wasn’t any one of them was going to drop me.
“Radio Shack threw everything, Zabriskie threw everything at me. I’m just so happy, and relieved that it’s finished, and I could hold onto this jersey,” [the leader’s yellow jersey.]
The race was two races in one: the race for the stage win, and the race for the overall victory. George Hincapie of BMC started the race firm in the decision that he was going to win the final stage, and he very nearly did.
Hincapie ignored the first big break, a seven-rider effort led by Saxo Bank’s Fabian Cancellara. Shortly after that break was ridden down, halfway through the second lap of the 21-mile course, Team Type 1’s Thomas Rabou and Quickstep’s Carlos Barredo set off on another break, and this one Hincapie chose to join.
Four other riders joined this break: Oscar Pujol of Cervélo, Sebastian Langeveld of Rabobank, Jaroslav Popovych of RadioShack, and Jeremy Vennel of Bissell.
These seven stayed ahead until halfway through the final lap, opening a gap of more than two minutes.
