FollowStage 6 Palmdale – Big Bear Lake 186.3 km
Изоставен 48 км. преди финала от Sebastian Salas (Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies), Georges пресече финала напълно сам. В оставащите километри съумя да натрупа преднина близо 5′. Той беше гонен от пелотона и от Pieter Weening (Orica GreenEdge), който атакува 24 км. преди финала, присъединявайки се към по-рано откъсналите се Jeremy Vennell (Bissel) и Wilco Kelderman (Rabobank). Тримата колоездачи оформиха стръвна преследваческа група, в която всеки имаше мотиви да грабне етапната победа.
1,5 км. преди финала пелотонът настигна тримата, а преднината на Sylvain Georges се смали на 1’30“.
Въпреки това, волята за победа на френския състезател надделя. Той успя със сетни сили да задържи темпото, докарало го до бялата линия, където вдигна невярващо ръце на етапен победител.
Peter Sagan отново се представи. Този път словакът привлече вниманието със спечелването на второ място в етапа. Да му се противопостави се опита сънародника му Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), завършил трети. Правеше впечатление, че Sagan караше сякаш с лекота по непрекъснато водещия нагоре и нагоре път до „Big Bear Lake“.
David Zabriskie запазва лидерството, благодарение на своя отбор, който задаваше пресметливо темпото в основната група, а също така и на отбора на Liquigas-Cannondale, чиито интереси съвпаднаха с тези на Garmin-Barracuda. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) е на 34 секунди изоставане, а Robert Gesink (Rabobank) е трети в генералното на 39″.
***
Sylvain Georges (AG2R La Mondiale) with his biggest victory in his career.
Abandoned, with 48 kilometers to go, from Sebastian Salas (Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies), Georges crossed the finish line completely alone. In the next kilometers he managed to gain nearly 5 minutes advantage. He was chased down by the peloton and Pieter Weening (Orica GreenEdge) who attacked at the 24 kilometers banner, and joining to the earlier escapees Jeremy Vennell (Bissel) and Wilco Kelderman (Rabobank) on the way. The trio formed a furious chasing group, and every rider from it with ambitions for the win.
1,5 kilometers before the finish the peloton caught up the three breakaways and brought down the gap between them and Sylvain Georges to minute and a half. Despite that, the french rider’s will to win prevailed. He succeded with his final strength to keep the pace to the final line and unbelievingly raised his hand as a stage winner.
Peter Sagan performed again and performed well. With one escapee ahead, he let no one else to finish before him, when the bunch hit the line. To oppose Sagan tried his compatriot Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), but the second place slipped from his hands. It seemed that Sagan has no problems with the constantly climbing road to the „Big Bear Lake“.
David Zabriski is still in lead, with the help of his team and Liquigas-Cannondale, which shared common intersts with Garmin-Barracuda’s squad, and both teams kept the pace up in the peloton.
Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) is 34 seconds behind and Robert Gesink (Rabobank) is third overall at 39″.
Brief Results
1 Sylvain Georges (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 5:07:04
2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:29
3 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
4 Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Argos – Shimano
5 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Argos – Shimano
6 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
7 Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan
8 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
9 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
10 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
| Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin – Barracuda | 25:37:05 | |
| 2 | Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:34 | |
| 3 | Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:00:39 | |
| 4 | Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep | 0:00:45 | |
| 5 | Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin – Barracuda | 0:00:48 | |
| 6 | Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team | 0:01:01 | |
| 7 | Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin – Barracuda | 0:01:07 | |
| 8 | Rory Sutherland (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | 0:01:10 | |
| 9 | Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team | 0:01:26 | |
| 10 | Lawson Craddock (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team | 0:01:30 | |
| 11 | George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team | ||
| 12 | Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Argos – Shimano | 0:01:37 | |
| 13 | Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:01:40 | |
| 14 | Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quickstep | 0:01:44 | |
| 15 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:01:52 | |
| 16 | Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col) Colombia – Coldeportes | 0:02:01 | |
| 17 | Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team | 0:02:05 | |
| 18 | Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team | ||
| 19 | Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | ||
| 20 | Marc De Maar (AHo) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | 0:02:07 | |
| 21 | Fred Rodriguez (USA) Team Exergy | 0:02:09 | |
| 22 | Sylvain Georges (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | ||
| 23 | Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack-Nissan | 0:02:27 | |
| 24 | Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin – Barracuda | 0:02:35 | |
| 25 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:02:41 | |
| 26 | Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan | 0:02:50 | |
| 27 | Paul Martens (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:02:53 | |
| 28 | Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:02:54 | |
| 29 | Brian Vandborg (Den) Spidertech Powered By C10 | 0:02:57 | |
| 30 | Matthew Busche (USA) RadioShack-Nissan | 0:03:25 | |
| 31 | Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell Cycling | 0:03:31 | |
| 32 | George Bennett (NZl) RadioShack-Nissan | 0:03:35 | |
| 33 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team | 0:03:40 | |
| 34 | Ian Boswell (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team | 0:03:57 | |
| 35 | Joseph Dombrowski (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team | 0:03:59 | |
| 36 | Raymond Kunzli (Swi) Spidertech Powered By C10 | 0:04:08 | |
| 37 | Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:04:09 | |
| 38 | Timothy Duggan (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:04:10 | |
| 39 | Christopher Baldwin (USA) Bissell Cycling | 0:04:37 | |
| 40 | Matt Cooke (USA) Team Exergy | 0:04:45 | |
| 41 | Jeffry Louder (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | 0:05:01 | |
| 42 | Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) Colombia – Coldeportes | 0:05:07 | |
| 43 | Philip Deignan (Irl) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | 0:05:13 | |
| 44 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:05:37 | |
| 45 | Alex Howes (USA) Garmin – Barracuda | 0:05:43 | |
| 46 | Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:05:55 | |
| 47 | Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:06:14 | |
| 48 | Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan | 0:07:19 | |
| 49 | Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team | 0:07:47 | |
| 50 | Andrés Díaz Corrales (Col) Team Exergy | 0:08:17 | |
| 51 | Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan | 0:08:38 | |
| 52 | Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:10:00 | |
| 53 | Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:12:11 | |
| 54 | Alexander Candelario (USA) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies | 0:12:17 | |
| 55 | Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Argos – Shimano | 0:12:37 | |
| 56 | Gavin Mannion (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team | 0:13:40 | |
| 57 | Lucas Euser (USA) Spidertech Powered By C10 | 0:13:59 | |
| 58 | Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep | 0:18:26 | |
| 59 | Alexandre Geniez (Fra) Argos – Shimano | 0:18:47 | |
| 60 | Thomas Peterson (USA) Garmin – Barracuda | 0:19:07 |
Информация и превод: Cycling Junkies facebook
Photo: Rachel Luna / Staff Photographer