February 19, 2007 (Sausalito, CA) – Welcome to Stage 1 at the 2007 Amgen Tour of California, a 156.4km (97.2-mile) road race underway from Sausalito to Santa Rosa which included a neutralized start.

American race leader Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) lead the peloton out today, once again under blue skies and warm temperatures. Good weather is expected to remain throughout the stage which is special for Leipheimer who lives in Santa Rosa, during the off season. Leipheimer was also leading the ToC on Stage 1 last year which also finished in Santa Rosa.

12:35 p.m. PST
Jurgen Van de Walle (Quick-Step) of Belgium took the first KOM of the race, 12.7 kilometers into the stage. He was followed by American Thomas Peterson (Slipstream) and Oliver Zaugg (Gerolsteiner) of Switzerland. There was radio report of a peloton crash on the decent of the climb, but it was later corrected to only some punctures of various riders.

1:25 p.m.PST
In the early flat sections of the stage as the riders appropached Point Reyes at 44.9 kilometers into the stage, George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) has taken the sprint time bonus of 3 seconds while his Australian teammate Allan Davis was second in the sprint. Steve Brunner, ToC media spokesperson, reports that the peloton is averaging about 36kph, pushing the estimated finish to around 4 p.m. PST

2:30 p.m.PST
Davide Frattini (Coalavita/Sutter Home) of Italy and countryman and reigning world champ Paolo Bettini (Quick-Step/Innergetic) opened a 30-second gap after approximately 75 kilometers. The gap increased to 30 seconds after 85 kilometers, but the two-man breakaway was absorbed and the pack is together.

3:15 p.m.PST
Frattini took off again but the peloton did not react and he had a good gap on the pack at the 95km mark but now they’ve hit the climb. Ivan Basso and Levi Leipheimer have moved to the front and at the 102 km mark they’ve caught Frattini. The field is strung out now down the road with about 50 kms to go.

3:30 PST
T-mobile is at the front with Quick Step as the pace picks up – CSC is also there. There’s been a crash as riders scramble to get to get back on their bikes. It’s not clear who was involved in the crash. About 50 riders are in the front group now heading to the finish.

3:45 PST
There is one lap to go and Quick Step is charging for Paolo Bettini with T-Mobile’s Henderson and Discovery’s Leipheimer giving chase. Jens Voigt (CSC) is there as well as they come down to the finish but it’s Rabobank’s Graeme Brown (Aus) who takes the win.

Unofficial

1. Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 4.17.20
2. Greg Henderson (NZl) T-mobile
3. Allan Davis (Aus) Discovery Channel