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LATEST NEWS: MANCEBO ROCKS STAGE ONE OF THE TOUR OF CALIFORNIA
Road Bike Action
February 15, 2009
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Mancebo wins stage 1 in Santa Rosa
(Photo: Ken Conley)
Stage 1 of the 2009 Tour of California started in Davis, California in heavy rain and strong winds. Shortly after the peloton rolled out of Davis, Francisco Mancebo of Rock Racing attacked hard and quickly built a gap on a rain soaked peloton that was more interested in staying warm than racing.
The only riders to give chase were Tim Johnson of the OUCH p/b Maxxis team and David Kemp of the V Australia p/b Successful Living team. Johnson and Kemp quickly closed to within 50-seconds of Mancebo but were unable to bridge the gap for several miles. It wasn’t until the top of the first climb that Johnson and Kemp made the junction.
With all three riders working together the gap quickly grew to over 11-minutes. Behind the leading trio, the peloton was slowed by the cold weather and numerous mechanicals. At the first feed zone Levi Leipheimer became the race leader on the road as prologue winner Fabian Cancellara pulled out due illness. Up front the leading trio of Mancebo, Johnson and Kemp continued to work well together until the second category climb up Howell Mountain Road. On the steep twisty climb, Mancebo rode clear of both Johnson and Kemp.
As Mancebo forged ahead, the peloton fractured on the climb up Howell Mountain Road with a leading group of 21 going clear over the top. The leading group contained Levi Leipheimer, Lance Armstrong, Christopher Horner and José Luis Rubiera (Astana), Andy Schleck and Jens Voigt (Team Saxo Bank), Thomas Lövkvist and Michael Rogers (Team Columbia - Highroad), David Zabriskie (Garmin - Slipstream), Kevin Seeldraeyers and Jurgen Van De Walle (Quick Step), Robert Gesink and Bauke Mollema (Rabobank), Ivan Basso (Liquigas), Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas), Floyd Landis, Rory Sutherland and Jonathan Patrick McCarty (OUCH p/b Maxxis), and Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing).
The 21 strong chase group eventually caught Johnson and Kemp, as Mancebo continued to hold a 5-minute lead over the first chase group with the peloton another 7-minutes back. Mancebo continued his charge into Santa Rosa despite the pouring rain and wind. With 15 miles to go Mancebo’s lead had dropped to just over 4-minutes as the chase group worked hard to bring him back. Coming into Santa Rosa the Astana team took control of the chase group in the hopes of putting Leipheimer in the leaders jersey.
As Mancebo hit the first of three finishing circuits, Astana had cut his lead to 1-minute while the peloton was still 5-minutes behind. On the first lap of the finishing circuit, Floyd Landis suffered a mechanical and was dropped from the chase group, effectively ending his GC hopes.
At the front of the chase group, Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas and Jurgen Van De Walle of Quick Step attacked with Nibali quickly closing the gap to Mancebo. Van De Walle struggled but after a long effort was able to join Nibali and Mancebo at the front. As the finish line approached Mancebo launched one final attack catching Nibali and Van De Walle off guard. Despite their efforts, Nibali and Van De Walle couldn’t catch Mancebo and he powered his way to victory.
Click here for a full race report
Tour of California, February 14-22 2009
Sunday, February 15
Stage 1: Davis-Santa Rosa, California
1 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Rock Racing
2 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quick Step
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas
General Classification After Stage 1
1 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Rock Racing
2 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas
3 Jurgen van de Walle (Bel) Quick Step
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