Stage 4 of the 2019 Amgen Tour of California ended with the expected sprinter shootout. UAE Emirates’ Jasper Philipsen (BEL) was the first to attack, pulling World Champion Peter Sagan (BORA-hansgrohe) in his wake. Ultimately, it was Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s Fabio Jakobsen (NED) who excelled, rocketing past both to claim the team’s third stage in three days. Cofidis’ Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) followed the trio across the line in fourth place.
After earlier team successes, it was Fabio Jakobsen’s turn to shine, and the 22-year-old Dutchman seized the moment, reigning supreme on the uphill finish after having been piloted into an excellent position by a superb lead-out train consisting of teammates Michael Mørkøv, Maximiliano Richeze and Zdenek Stybar.
“I had strong legs today, but also a formidable lead-out, which kept me out of the wind, protected me in those hectic final kilometers and delivered me where I needed to be for the sprint. This uphill drag to the line forced me to push hard, but I was confident and waited for the perfect moment to kick out and take another win for our team”, said Fabio after claiming his fourth success of the year.
“What makes us so successful? We are a great group of riders, all willing to sacrifice ourselves and work hard for each other”, responded Fabio when being asked at the press conference about the squad’s superb run at the Tour of California. “It’s worth mentioning also that we came here in good shape and the previous wins this week gave us a lot of confidence, so we’re just riding the wave at the moment and seizing every opportunity we get.”
Sagan, who won the 2017 Morro Bay stage on this same finish route, took third place today and moves into the green jersey, which he has worn regularly during his years at this race.
“Another long stage over 200km that was decided, as expected, in a fast sprint,” said Sagan. “The guys, and in particular Oscar Gatto, put in a strong effort to control the breakaway and positioned me very well in the final kilometres. We were at the front when needed and this was important today as we avoided the crashes. I missed just a bit of power in the final metres to take the stage but still, I’m satisfied with getting the green jersey again.”
Meanwhile, the peloton encountered the unexpected. When race leader Tejay van Garderen (Tacoma, Wash.) came off his bike and suffered a mechanical issue with about 5 miles left to ride, EF Education First Pro Cycling teammate Lachlan Morton (AUS) offered up his bike and the team worked to pace their leader back up to the main group. A crash at the back of the peloton that affected multiple GC riders neutralized the time gap that resulted, with the leader board ending up unchanged after today’s stage.
Tour organizers issued a controversial statement that said a major crash near the finish that held up van Garderen and many other top contenders would be treated ”such that all riders affected by the incident and the road blockage will receive the field time,” effectively giving van Garderen the lead back.
Regardless, it meant that rather than falling to 13th place and 47 seconds behind Kasper Asgreen for the race lead, van Garderen kept his yellow jersey by 6 seconds over Gianni Moscon – a rider who also was held up by the pileup.
“When they told me I was back in yellow, I was surprised,” van Garderen said. “I thought it was bad luck, and then they decided to give us the time from the crash because we were back on. I just have to applaud their decision.”
‘”Sometimes the cards fall your way,” van Garderen said.
A rain-dotted ride from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to Morro Bay featured the iconic coastal views of Central California’s Highway 1, which was reopened after a massive effort by Caltrans to repair damage from a 2017 landslide.
The breakaway that held for most of the 133.3-mile stage included two current National Champions – Hagens Berman Axeon’s Jonny Brown (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Israel Cycling Academy’s Roy Goldstein (ISR) – as well as Brown’s teammate Ian Garrison (Decatur, Georgia), Team Novo Nordisk’s Joonas Henttala (FIN), and USA Cycling National Team’s Michael Hernandez (Claremont, Fla.).
Hernandez was the last to be caught with just over 5 miles to go and earned the Breakaway from Cancer® Most Courageous Rider Jersey. USA Cycling National Team will have two riders in jerseys tomorrow with teammate and reigning U.S. U23 National Champion Alex Hoehn (Lenexa, Kansas) retaining the polka dot jersey.
The peloton of 19 teams (132 riders) representing 33 countries includes three World Champions, Olympians, Tour de France stage winners and six current National Road Race Champions from around the world. Throughout the week, cyclists will contest 773 miles of California’s most scenic highways, mountain roads and coastlines, visiting 13 cities throughout the state for stage starts and finishes, concluding in Pasadena on May 18.
Tomorrow’s Stage 5 presented by Lexus from Pismo Beach to Ventura is the longest road day of the week at 136.4 miles.
Also tomorrow, the Amgen Tour of California Women’s Race empowered with SRAM UCI WorldTour race kicks off in Ventura, showcasing the world’s best women cyclists. It will run concurrently for the final three days of the men’s event, May 16-18.
Stage 4 Brief Results:
- Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck – Quick Step) in 05h53’22”
- Jasper Philipsen (UAE Emirates) s.t.
- Peter Sagan (BORA-hansgrohe) s.t.
- Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) s.t.
- Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Team Dimension Data) s.t.
General Classification After Stage 4:
- Tejay Van Garderen (EF Education First) at 21h16’50”
- Gianni Moscon (Ineos) at 6″
- Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck – Quick Step) at 7″
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) ay 16″
- Maximillian Schachmann (BORA-hansgrohe) at 22″
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