Though intact, the leader board has grown tighter after day five of the 2019 Amgen Tour of California, with the crucial Queen Stage on tap tomorrow.
Stage 5 presented by Lexus from Pismo Beach to Ventura was the longest road day of the week at 136.4 miles. BORA-hansgrohe's three-time World Champion Peter Sagan (SVK) was determined to get into the breakaway today with multiple attempts, finally bridging to the early leaders with a small collection of others to form the day's lead group of 12. However with no Sprint wins today, Deceuninck – Quick-Step's Kasper Asgreen claimed enough bonus points to pull the green jersey from Sagan as well as move two seconds closer to the race leaderTejay van Garderen (Tacoma, Wash.) of EF Education First Pro cycling, who now leads by just four seconds with two racing days left.
BAHRAIN-MERIDA did some heavy lifting throughout the stage to chase down the breakaway and put their sprinter Ivan Garcia cortina(ESP) into the mix for the final bunch sprint where he seized his first pro victory, fending off some of the race's Sprint favorites and overtakingDeceuninck – Quick-Step's Maximiliano Richeze (ARG), who came in second for the stage.
On the fast approach to Ventura, EF Education First Pro Cycling's Sergio Higuita (COL) attacked at the top of the final climb with Jumbo-Visma's 2017 race champion george Bennett (NZL) on his wheel. The two sped together over the final two miles before being caught by a large chase group containing Higuita's teammate and race leader van Garderen (Tacoma, Wash.). Higuita remained in hot pursuit to the finish, picking up third place and valuable sprint bonus points; with Bennett claiming points at an intermediate Sprint, both rose in the overall standings to 6 and 8 respectively.
The infamous climb up Mt. Baldy looms tomorrow, with just 36 seconds separating the top 10 overall race leaders.
“We just gotta try to get into the base of Baldy with our top guys with as fresh of legs as possible, which means it's going to be a lot of heavy lifting from guys like Lawson [Craddock], Alex [Howes] and Lachlan [Morton] – but those guys have been stellar all week, and they rode like champions today,” said van Garderen.
Today's hilly stage caused the polka dot jersey to switch hands to Astana Pro Team's Davide Ballerini (ITA), while the TAG Heuer Best Young Rider Jersey remains for the fourth consecutive day with UAE Team Emirates Tadej Pogacar (SLO).
Stage 5 Brief Results:
- Ivan Garcia Cortina (ESP), Bahrain – Merida (BRN), 4h56'11”
- Maximiliano Richeze (ARG), Deceuninck – Quick-Step (BEL), +00”
- Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (COL), EF Education First Pro Cycling (USA), +00”
General Classification After Stage 5:
- tejay van garderen (EF Education First) at 26h13'01”
- Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck – Quick Step) at 4″
- Gianni Moscon (Team Ineos) at 6″
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 16″
- Maximillian Schachmann (BORA-hansgrohe) at 22″
Jerseys:
- Amgen Race Leader Jersey – Tejay van Garderen (USA), EF Education First Pro Cycling (USA)
- Breakaway from Cancer® Most Courageous Rider Jersey – Matteo Badilatti (SUI), Israel Cycling Academy (ISR)
- Lexus King of the Mountain (KOM) Jersey – Davide Ballerini (ITA), Astana Pro Team (KAZ)
- Visit California Sprint Jersey – Kasper Asgreen (DEN), Deceuninck – Quick-Step (BEL)
- TAG Heuer Best Young Rider Jersey – Tadej Pogacar (SLO), UAE Team Emirates (UAE)
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