photo credits @ Cannondale
Ben King (Cannonade) claimed stage 2 of the Amgen Tour of California today, after over-taking Evan Huffman (Rally Cycling) in a final surge for the line – during the closing few meters.
“I know Evan is a pretty quick sprinter — he smoked me in both of the king of the mountain sprints, so I was hesitant to let it come down to a sprint because I couldn’t drop him on the climbs,” King said. “Then we both fully committed to making the break stick to the finish, and I was able to come around him in the end.”
Race Highlights
King and Huffman were part of the day’s early breakaway group, which also included William Barta (Axeon Hagens Berman) and Sindre Lunke (Giant – Alpecin).
Lunke was first rider to get dropped from the breakaway group, following the two climbs of the Little Tujunga Canyon.
On the final descent, Barta experienced a mechanical problem with his bike, but after a quick bike change, the Axeon Hagens Berman rider managed to rejoin the two leaders after spending a few kilometers alone in purgatory.
Inside of the final 10 kilometers, the escapees were clinging to less than a minute advantage over the peloton, wherein Barta was dropped soon after.
However, King and Huffman managed to stay out front. And, as they entered the final kilometer, the duo had succeeded in establishing a lead of around one minute that proved insurmountable for the chase.
From there, Huffman led out the sprint, while a patient King timed his acceleration to perfection – coming around his rival during the last meters to siege the stage victory.
Meanwhile, Katusha’s Alexander Kristoff got the better of world champion Peter Sagan to take third spot on the podium.
King now leads the Tour of California by eight seconds over Huffman, while Kristoff moved up into third place in the overall GC.
Stage 2 Results USA 1 KING, Benjamin (CANNONDALE) 3:52:09 USA 2 HUFFMAN, Evan (RALLY CYCLING) NOR 3 KRISTOFF, Alexander (KATUSHA) + 8 SVK 4 SAGAN, Peter (TINKOFF) ITA 5 BONIFAZIO, Niccolo (TREK – SEGAFREDO) NED 6 VAN POPPEL, Danny (SKY) NZL 7 BEVIN, Patrick (CANNONDALE) AUS 8 HAAS, Nathan (DIMENSION DATA) FRA 9 COQUARD, Bryan (DIRECT ENERGIE) ITA 10 CANOLA, Marco (UNITEDHEALTHCARE) BEL 11 BOONEN, Tom (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) USA 12 MCCABE, Travis (HOLOWESKO / CITADEL P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR) NED 13 TEUNISSEN, Mike (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) USA 14 BOOKWALTER, Brent (BMC RACING) USA 15 OWEN, Logan (AXEON HAGENS BERMAN) BEL 16 VAN AVERMAET, Greg (BMC RACING) POR 17 GUERREIRO, Ruben (AXEON HAGENS BERMAN) ARG 18 RICHEZE, Maximiliano Ariel (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) GER 19 DEGENKOLB, John (GIANT – ALPECIN) DEN 20 MORKOV, Michael (KATUSHA) BEL 21 STUYVEN, Jasper (TREK – SEGAFREDO) USA 22 PHINNEY, Taylor (BMC RACING) FRA 23 ALAPHILIPPE, Julian (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) GBR 24 GEOGHEGAN HART, Tao (AXEON HAGENS BERMAN) GBR 25 PETERS, Alex (SKY) USA 26 RATHE, Jacob (JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS) NED 27 ROOSEN, Timo (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) USA 28 JONES, Christopher (UNITEDHEALTHCARE) USA 29 CARPENTER, Robin (HOLOWESKO / CITADEL P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR) SLO 30 BRAJKOVIC, Janez (UNITEDHEALTHCARE) LAT 31 SKUJINS, Toms (CANNONDALE) USA 32 VERMEULEN, Alexey (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) SVK 33 SAGAN, Juraj (TINKOFF) USA 34 POWLESS, Neilson (AXEON HAGENS BERMAN) FRA 35 BERNARD, Julien (TREK – SEGAFREDO) BEL 36 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (KATUSHA) POR 37 MACHADO, Tiago (KATUSHA) ESP 38 MEGIAS LEAL, Javier (NOVO NORDISK) NOR 39 NORDHAUG, Lars Petter (SKY) USA 40 STETINA, Peter (TREK – SEGAFREDO)
General Classification after Stage 2 USA 1 KING, Benjamin (CANNONDALE) 8:12:34 USA 2 HUFFMAN, Evan (RALLY CYCLING) + 8 SVK 3 SAGAN, Peter (TINKOFF) + 14 NOR 4 KRISTOFF, Alexander (KATUSHA) + 20 USA 5 EATON, Daniel (UNITEDHEALTHCARE) + 21 USA 6 BARTA, William (AXEON HAGENS BERMAN) NOR 7 SKJOESTAD LUNKE, Sindre (GIANT – ALPECIN) + 23 ITA 8 BONIFAZIO, Niccolo (TREK – SEGAFREDO) + 24 FRA 9 COQUARD, Bryan (DIRECT ENERGIE) NED 10 VAN POPPEL, Danny (SKY) BEL 11 BOONEN, Tom (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) POR 12 GUERREIRO, Ruben (AXEON HAGENS BERMAN) ITA 13 CANOLA, Marco (UNITEDHEALTHCARE) USA 14 MCCABE, Travis (HOLOWESKO / CITADEL P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR) NZL 15 BEVIN, Patrick (CANNONDALE) USA 16 BOOKWALTER, Brent (BMC RACING) USA 17 OWEN, Logan (AXEON HAGENS BERMAN) USA 18 PHINNEY, Taylor (BMC RACING) GBR 19 GEOGHEGAN HART, Tao (AXEON HAGENS BERMAN) USA 20 POWLESS, Neilson (AXEON HAGENS BERMAN)
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