Peter Sagan of Liquigas once again proved the strongest man in the peloton, blasting past the competition in the final hundred meters of Stage Three of the Tour of California to take his third win and keep the leader’s yellow jersey.
The 22-year-old Slovakian champion easily stayed near the front of the peloton through the stage’s three categorized climb, and when all organization fell apart in the final kilometer, showed his skill at the right wheel to follow.
With the riders sprinting into a headwind, timing was everything, and Sagan times his run perfectly. Garmin rider Heinrich Haussler started the sprint, with Sagan third wheel and Omega’s Tom Boonen fourth.
Haussler went too soon, and faded slightly in the final few kilometers; Boonen waited a fraction of a second too long and finished third. Sagan used his competition as a leadout train, then came around the two riders in front of him and crossed the line just ahead of Haussler, completing his sweep of the Tour of California’s opening stages
Perfect Stage for a Power Rider
Stage Three was a perfect stage for a power rider. It featured three categorized climbs: Cat 4 Calaveras Road 8.4 km into the route; Cat 2 Mt. Diablo at 87.4 km and Cat. 3 Patterson Pass, 15 km from the finish line.
This last climb was a perfect launching platform for crazy breakaway attacks; a rider who got a small advantage on the climb could push hard on the descent and possibly spoil the day for the sprinters, either by forcing them to work too hard on the climb or winning the stage, making the sprinters fight for second place.
A strong man like Peter Sagan or Omegas Pharma-Quicktep’s Tom Boonen were well-suited to this stage. The final climb was ling but not steep, so the heavier riders could keep up with the pure climbers and still have legs left at the end.
A four-rider break developed just over the first Cat 3 climb, only 8.5 kilometers into the 185.5 km stage. These four riders— Sébastian Salas (Team Optum,) Jonathan Patrick McCarty (Spidertech,) Jeremy Vennell (Bissell Cycling,) Wilson Alexander Marentes (Colombia-Coldeportes,)—got a gap of about eight minutes before Jeremy Vennell decided they were slacking and attacked, 69 km from the finish line. Wilson Marentes latched on, and the pair stayed away until the 25-km mark.
Liquigas and Omega Pharma-Quickstep led the chase, Liquigas riding for race leader Peter Sagan, Omega for roleur Tom Boonen, who had wanted to challenge Sagan in the first stage but punctured 500 meters from the finish.
Next: Crosswinds, HeadwindsCrosswinds, Headwinds
Once the peloton was all together Garmin kicked up the pace, trying to split the peloton in the crosswinds. They succeeded, but only briefly, as the road turned and the 40 or so riders who had been dropped made it back.
Two riders attacked 19 km from the finish, six km from the final climb. Fabio Duarte (Colombia-Coldeportes) was the first to go, covered immediately by Nicolas Roche (Ag2R.) This pair held the lead all the way up the long Patterson pass climb, holding a gap of 18 seconds over the crest, and 20 seconds at ten km. This pair couldn’t stretch the gap, and at 8.3 km were caught.
Five riders attacked as soon as the catch was made, with three more chasing. This group got nowhere; within 500 meters the peloton was whole again.
Liquigas then moved to the front to raise the pace to 50 kph (31 mph,) tired of the silly attacks. Tim Duggan who had pulled most of the way up the climb, continued The sprinters, some of whom had suffered on the climb, now had to push to stay in position; power riders like Boonen and Sagan pushed to the front, ready to challenge the sprinters’ teams.
Tim Duggan of Liquigas pulled off at 3.5 km, letting Rabobank take the lead, riding for Michael Matthews. But Rabobank lacked the firepower; they ran out of riders 1300 meters from the finish and the field fell into disarray.
It was every rider for himself around the final bend and onto the last straight run to the line. Sagan, who had been 20 riders back when Rabobank pulled off, immediately headed to the front, realizing he needed to find someone fast to follow.
Sagan settled on Heinrich Hassler, who had Optum’s Alex Candelario on his wheel. Sagan tucked in and let this pair get him close to the line. Boonen, seeing this, latched onto Sagan, but the Omega rider waited a fraction of a second too long and lost by a wheel-length.
Stage Four is the longest of the Tour at 209.5 km, with six categorized climbs, but they are early enough in the stage to allow everyone to come together in time for a sprint finish. Peter Sagan has a very good chance of winning this stage and continuing his complete domination of the 2012 Tour of California.
| Tour of California Stage Three | |||
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| rider | team | time |
| 1 | Peter Sagan | Liquigas-Cannondale | 4:50:49 |
| 2 | Heinrich Haussler | Garmin-Barracuda |
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| 3 | Tom Boonen | Omega Pharma-Quickstep |
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| 4 | Alexander Candelario | Team Optum |
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| 5 | Lloyd Mondory | Ag2R |
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| 6 | Fred Rodriguez | Team Exergy |
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| 7 | Hugo Houle | Spidertech |
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| 8 | Koen De Kort | Argos-Shimano |
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| 9 | Michael Matthews | Rabobank |
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| 10 | Wesley Sulzberger | Orica GreenEdge |
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| General Classification after Stage Three | |||
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| rider | team | time |
| 1 | Peter Sagan | Liquigas-Cannondale | 14:34:54 |
| 2 | Heinrich Haussler | Garmin-Barracuda | 0:12 |
| 3 | Jeffry Louder | UnitedHealthcare | 0:24 |
| 4 | Fred Rodriguez | Team Exergy | 0:26 |
| 5 | Ben Jacques-Maynes | Bissell Cycling |
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