May 16, 2010 (Sacramento, CA) – With no Prologue this year, Sacramento still got the best from the Amgen Tour of California as the strongest field ever assembled for the Tour was on hand despite competing against the Giro d’Italia across the great pond. The likes of Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep, Fabian Cancellara (Sui) Saxo Bank, and Liquigas riders were on the start line, including Mark Cavendish (Gbr) HTC-Columbia who delivered the victory sprint finish on Stage 1, from Nevada City to Sacramento, 167.8km.

The first stage began in a small Gold Rush town of Nevada City, north east of Sacramento, where the Nevada City Classic, the second oldest race in America is held. Nevada City is one of California’s most authentic beautiful Gold Rush towns that has held its charm without turning into a Disney version of itself (think Solvang, CA).

Gazing into the HTC-Columbia crystal ball, team manager Rolf Aldag gave his prediction during the race, “We’re going to protect Michael Rogers for the last three stages and set Mark Cavendish up today.” So far the formula has worked well as Cavendish was ushered to the line by his team for another seemingly easy sprint, collecting the golden leader’s jersey.

A four-man breakaway lasted for most of the day, but as none of the escapees – Maaren Tjallingii of Rabobank, Paul Mach of Bissell, Marc de Maar of United Health Care, and Chad Beyer of BMC – were GC contenders, the peloton let them dangle at the front for as much as 3:50 before they reeled them in a few kilometres before entering Sacramento.

From there it was a fierce battle between HTC-Columbia and Quickstep with Saxo Bank, SpiderTech and Fly V Australia following closely for the 3-lap circuit around the State Capitol. Even without the “Guv” Arnold [Schwarzenegger] to salute them, the peloton took to the flat streets of Sacramento with a fiery pace, hitting the pedals at over 60 km/hour – and after 4:04:46 – on what is considered to be the easiest of the eight stages this year (insert laugh by Cavendish himself), the victory came as no surprise.

Though the ending was not without a glitch as it came down to the wire. Both HTC-Columbia and Boonen’s Quickstep squad were poised to set up for the final clash up until the very last corner when wheels touched as Boonen went down with many other riders and suddenly it was a different finish. Cavendish was now going up against the only other sprinter who could possibly give him trouble – Saxo Bank’s JJ Haedo.

But Cavendish made it look too easy as he relegated Haedo to second.
JJ’s comment was simply, “It’s not as easy as it looks on TV to beat Mark Cavendish.”

Alexander Kristoff (Nor) BMC Racing Team rounded out the Stage 1 podium as Canada’s Guillaume Boivin (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy) was the top Canuck placing 7th in the final sprint to the line.

At the press conference Cavendish had another important objective on his mind – making sure the press gets his new book called “Boy Racer” more publicity, waving it with a grin while fielding questions.

A happy Cavendish exclaimed, “We have eight riders here and at the Tour de France we have nine. It takes everyone one of us to set up for one of us to win. The team delivers me close to the line, and I do the rest.”

When asked if he honestly gave it his best, he smiled wryly, “Of course I had to go 100%, but if someone came and put out 5-10% more on the line, so would I have – I have a second kick at the end that I didn’t need today.”

Last year’s Prologue winner in Sacramento, world TT champion Cancellara, who suffered from stomach flu after his stage win last year, stayed safely in the back pack while his team mate Stuart O’Grady crashed on the last corner along with Boonen, George Hincapie (BMC) and Canada’s Dominique Rollin (Cervelo). They all suffered some scrapes but there were no major injuries and all are expected to start Stage 2 on Monday in Davis, CA (home to the US Cycling Hall of Fame), not far from Sacramento, at 11am PST.

Results

1. Mark Cavendish (Gbr) HTC-Columbia 4:04:46
2. Juan José Haedo (Arg) Saxo Bank
3. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) BMC Racing Team
4. Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin-Transitions
5. Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Fly V Australia
6. Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
7. Guillaume Boivin (Can) SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy
8. Andreas Stauff (Ger) Quickstep
9. Nikolas Maes (Bel) Quickstep
10. Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank
11. Alex Candelario (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies
12. Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Doimo
13. Mark Renshaw (Aus) HTC-Columbia
14. Martin Gilbert (Can) SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy
15. Charles Dionne (Can) Fly V Australia
16. Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Radioshack
17. Michael Rogers (Aus) HTC-Columbia
18. Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) Fly V Australia
19. Francesco Chicchi (Italy) Liquigas-Doimo
20. Bernhard Eisel (Aut) HTC-Columbia
21. Manuel Quinziato (Italy) Liquigas-Doimo
22. Ken Hanson (USA) Team Type 1
23. Simon Zahner (Sui) BMC Racing Team
24. Theo Bos (Ned) Cervélo Testteam
25. Tejay Van Garderen (USA) HTC-Columbia
26. Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Columbia
27. Peter Latham (Nzl) Bissell
28. Valery Kobzarenko (Ukr) Team Type 1
29. Peter Stetina (USA) Garmin-Transitions
30. Steven Cozza (USA) Garmin-Transitions
31. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Transitions
32. Elia Viviani (Italy) Liquigas-Doimo
33. Sean Mazich (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Kenda
34. Kiel Reijnen (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Kenda
35. Eric Boily (Can) SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy
36. Ben Day (Aus) Fly V Australia
37. Matthew Wilson (Aus) Garmin-Transitions
38. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Radioshack
39. David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin-Transitions
40. Tom Danielson (USA) Garmin-Transitions
41. Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank
42. Stef Clement (Ned) Rabobank
43. Bert Grabsch (Ger) HTC-Columbia
44. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Radioshack
45. José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Esp) Radioshack
46. Zach Bell (Can) Kelly Benefit Strategies
47. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Saxo Bank
48. Max Jenkins (USA) Unitedhealthcare p/b Maxxis
49. André Steensen (Den) Saxo Bank
50. Robert Thomson Jay (RSA) Fly V Australia
51. Davide Cimolai (Italy) Liquigas-Doimo
52. Reid Mumford (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies
53. Christopher Baldwin (USA) Unitedhealthcare p/b Maxxis
54. Rory Sutherland (Aus) Unitedhealthcare p/b Maxxis
55. Davide Frattini (Italy) Team Type 1
56. Jeremy Powers (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Kenda
57. Will Routley (Can) Jelly Belly p/b Kenda
58. Bernard Van Ulden (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Kenda
59. Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell
60. Rob Britton (Can) Bissell
61. Marc De Maar (Ned) Unitedhealthcare p/b Maxxis
62. Lucas Euser (USA) SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy
63. Christopher Jones (USA) Team Type 1
64. Andy Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell
65. Ino Ilesic Aldo (Slo) Team Type 1
66. Lance Armstrong (USA) Radioshack
67. Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Esp) Quickstep
68. Paul Martens (Ger) Rabobank
69. Jackson Stewart (USA) BMC Racing Team
70. Jesse Anthony (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies
71. Andy Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank
72. Darren Lill (RSA) Fly V Australia
73. Ivan Santaromita (Italy) Liquigas-Doimo
74. Aaron Kemps (Aus) Fly V Australia
75. Francesco Bellotti (Italy) Liquigas-Doimo
76. Neil Shirley (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies
77. Christopher Horner (USA) Radioshack
78. Phil Zajicek (USA) Fly V Australia
79. Chris Butler (USA) BMC Racing Team
80. Scott Stewart (USA) Team Type 1
81. Lars Bak Ytting (Den) HTC-Columbia
82. Brian Vandborg (Den) Liquigas-Doimo
83. Thomas Peterson (USA) Garmin-Transitions
84. Paul Mach (USA) Bissell
85. Brett Lancaster (Aus) Cervélo Testteam
86. Ryan Anderson (Can) Kelly Benefit Strategies
87. Jeremy Venell (Nzl) Bissell
88. Kurt Hovelynck (Bel) Quickstep
89. João Correia (Por) Cervélo Testteam
90. Bruno Langlois (Can) SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy
91. Philip Deignan (Irl) Cervélo Testteam
92. Chad Beyer (USA) BMC Racing Team
93. Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank
94. Jeremy Hunt (Gbr) Cervélo Testteam
95. Cody O’reilly (USA) Bissell
96. Bradley White (USA) Unitedhealthcare p/b Maxxis
97. Michael Friedman (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Kenda
98. Javier Meijas Leal (Esp) Team Type 1
99. Matti Breschel (Den) Saxo Bank
100. Maarten Wynants (Bel) Quickstep
101. Daniel Holloway (USA) Bissell
102. Jason McCartney (USA) Radioshack
103. David Boily (Can) SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy
104. Andrew Randell (Can) SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy
105. Steve Morabito (Sui) BMC Racing Team
106. Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank
107. Oscar Pujol (Esp) Cervélo Testteam
108. François Parisien (Can) SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy
109. Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank
110. Fabian Cancellara (Sui) Saxo Bank
111. Jens Voigt (Ger) Saxo Bank
112. David Veilleux (Can) Kelly Benefit Strategies
113. Scott Zwizanski (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies
114. Karl Menzies (Aus) Unitedhealthcare p/b Maxxis
115. Matthew Crane (USA) Unitedhealthcare p/b Maxxis
116. George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
117. Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Radioshack
118. William Dickeson (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Kenda
119. Thomas Rabou (Ned) Team Type 1
120. Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Rabobank
121. Dominique Rollin (Can) Cervélo Testteam
122. Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep
123. Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quickstep
124. Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quickstep
125. Stuart O’Grady’ (Aus) Saxo Bank
126. Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cervélo Testteam
127. Andrew Pinfold (Can) Unitedhealthcare p/b Maxxis