May 19, 2012 (Mt. Baldy, CA) – After what can only be described as an epic battle to the 6,445-foot summit atop Mt. Baldy, Robert Gesink (NED) of the Rabobank Cycling Team emerged victorious and took over the race lead, outclimbing two Colombia-Coldeportes riders to take the Stage 7 win of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California.
“I am very happy to take the stage victory, and of course am very happy with the effort the team put in,” said Gesink, who finished 6th overall and wore the Best Young Rider Jersey in the 2010 Tour de France while only a 23-year-old. “We started riding very early because we saw [Chris] Horner in the first group. A guy who does an attack like that has to be a really big rider to make a race as he did today. It was an incredible chase today; everyone was suffering. On the last climb I decided to go with five kilometers left. I think I looked back and the remaining group was small; it worked out perfectly. In the end, I was happy to take the stage victory. It’s a great day for me and also for my sponsor, Robobank.”
Gesink overtook Jhon Atapuma (COL) of Colombia-Coldeportes with a little under 1 kilometer to the finish on Saturday, crossing the finish line first after a stage that took the cyclists 78.3 miles from Ontario to the top of Mt. Baldy. Atapuma’s teammate and fellow Colombian, Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo, finished third.
Defending Amgen Tour of California champion Chris Horner (USA) of RadioShack-Nissan-Trek rode alone with Atapuma for more than 20 miles during Saturday’s race, but faded in the final three miles to finish in sixth place on the day. Danielson finished in fifth place, moving him to third place overall.
What the stage lacked in distance, it more than made up for in vertical climbs, featuring two brutal King of the Mountains (KOM) at Glendora Ridge Road and Glendora Mountain Road and 15 switchbacks before the finish. Compared to the epic stages of the European Grand Tours, Stage 7 of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California routed cyclists from the city of Ontario to the top of Mt. Baldy.
As with yesterday, the attacks started early after the official start of the race. Initially, it was Jens Voigt (GER) of RadioShack-Nissan-Trek and Dries Devenyns (BEL) of Omega Pharma-QuickStep that took off in front of a break of about 10 riders, but Devenyns dropped back and Voigt was joined by Michael Matthews (AUS) of the Rabobank Cycling Team and Bontrager Livestrong’s Nathan Brown (USA).
About eight kilometers from the first KOM of the day, there was a big group off the front with a one minute, 10 second advantage on the peloton. The group consisted of Voigt, Horner, George Bennett (NZL), Gregory Rast (SUI), all of RadioShack-Nissan-Trek; Timothy Duggan (USA) of Liquigas-Cannondale; Maxime Bouet (FRA) and Mikael Cherel (FRA) of AG2R La Mondiale; Marc De Maar (AHO) and Bradley White (USA) of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team; Atapuma; Alexandre Geniez (FRA) of Team Argos-Shimano; Lucas Euser (USA) of Spidertech Powered by C10; Christopher Baldwin (USA) of Bissell Pro Cycling; and Brown.
Points for the first KOM competition of the day went, in order, to Bennett, Voigt, Horner and White, and as the riders descended the twisty and technical road, the gap was at one minute, 45 seconds. The Rabobank Cycling Team, Garmin-Barracuda and Omega Pharma-QuickStep were taking turns at the front the group, and the gap held at two minutes. Shortly thereafter, Euser and White dropped from the break, leaving the initial eight riders.
Horner and Atapuma began working alone at the front of the break, while the rest continued to chase or dropped back to the main group. With a three minute, 40 second lead, they continued on as BMC Racing Team worked at the front the peloton for teammate van Garderen (USA). Atapuma and Horner were the first riders of the second KOM of the day, followed by Duggan and De Maar. With 20km from the finish, Atapuma and Horner’s lead held steady at two minutes, 25 seconds.
The two leaders continued to work together as they headed toward the base of Mt. Baldy one minute, 25 seconds ahead of the nearest chasers. The BMC Racing Team continued to push the pace at the front of the peloton. As Atapuma attacked and Horner responded, Gesink moved out in front of the peloton, attempting to catch the race leaders alone. He was followed by Danielson and van Garderen. Gesink and Danielson rode ahead of van Garderen, with Gesink just 35 seconds behind Atapuma.
Moving swiftly up the hill, Gesink dropped Danielson, then caught and passed Horner, but Horner didn’t give up easily, hanging onto Gensink’s wheel. Meanwhile, Arevalo began moving up, passing van Garderen and charging upwards. With less than one kilometer to go, Gesink passed Atapuma. Atapuma answered the attack, but was no match for Gesink, who crossed the line first.
“It was a very hard day,” said Atapuma during the post-race press conference. “I got in the break and I was looking at [Chris] Horner when I attacked so I could stay in his wake and contest for a stage win until the last climb. Then I moved away from Horner and couldn’t get the stage win. But, for our team to get second and third in a tough stage, and in such an important race, is a very good result anyway.”
With only one stage remaining in the race, the leader jerseys are as follows: Gesink is in the yellow Amgen Race Leader Jersey; Peter Sagan (SVK) of Liquigas-Cannondale remains in the Visit California Sprint Jersey; Sebastian Salas (USA) of Optum Powered by Kelly Benefit Strategies remains in the Nissan King of the Mountains Jersey; Wilco Kelderman (NED) of the Rabobank Cycling Team wears the Rabobank Young Rider Jersey; Atapuma is in the Exergy Most Aggressive Rider Jersey; and Horner wears the Amgen Breakaway from Cancer® Most Courageous Rider Jersey.
Results
1. Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 3:37:08
2. Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) Colombia-Coldeportes
3. Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col) Colombia-Coldeportes 0:14
4. Joseph Dombrowski (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team 0:18
5. Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin-Barracuda 0:26
6. Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan 0:38
7. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 1:04
8. Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack-Nissan 1:06
9. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:08
10. Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 1:22
11. David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin-Barracuda 1:25
12. Matthew Busche (USA) RadioShack-Nissan 1:33
13. Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 1:39
14. Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 2:22
15. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2:28
16. Sylvain Georges (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 2:58
17. Rory Sutherland (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 3:13
18. Philip Deignan (Irl) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 3:15
19. George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team 3:30
20. Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
21. Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 4:41
22. Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Argos-Shimano 4:56
23. Brian Vandborg (Den) Spidertech Powered By C10 5:03
24. Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 5:56
25. Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Esp) Rabobank Cycling Team
26. Michael Creed (USA) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies 6:18
27. Benjamin King (USA) RadioShack-Nissan 6:31
28. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Argos-Shimano
29. Fred Rodriguez (USA) Team Exergy 7:08
30. Timothy Duggan (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale 7:13
31. Yannick Eijssen (Bel) BMC Racing Team 7:15
32. Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 7:41
33. Michael Rodriguez Galindo (Col) Colombia-Coldeportes
34. Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 8:27
35. Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 9:24
36. Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 9:50
37. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:10:50
38. Marc De Maar (Aho) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 0:11:21
39. Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell Cycling 0:12:51
40. Alex Howes (USA) Garmin-Barracuda 0:14:23
41. Matt Cooke (USA) Team Exergy 0:14:25
42. Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:14:49
43. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
44. Travis Meyer (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
45. Josh Atkins (Nzl) Bontrager Livestrong Team 0:17:13
46. Andrew Bajadali (USA) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:17:56
47. Lawson Craddock (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team 0:18:19
48. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
49. Jason McCartney (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 0:18:49
50. Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col) Colombia-Coldeportes 0:20:32
51. Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin-Barracuda 0:21:36
52. Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:21:55
53. Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:22:38
54. Lucas Euser (USA) Spidertech Powered By C10 0:24:14
55. Thomas Peterson (USA) Garmin-Barracuda 0:24:17
56. Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:25:40
57. Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
58. Edward King (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale
59. Koen De Kort (Ned) Argos-Shimano
60. Sébastian Salas (Can) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies
61. Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
62. Christopher Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
63. Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
64. Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Bontrager Livestrong Team
65. Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
66. Frank Pipp (USA) Bissell Cycling
67. Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
68. Paul Martens (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team
69. Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
70. Wilson Alexander Marentes Torres (Col) Colombia-Coldeportes
71. Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale
72. Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin-Barracuda
73. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Esp) RadioShack-Nissan
74. Gavin Mannion (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team
75. David Boily (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10
76. Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Argos-Shimano
77. Jeremy Vennell (Nzl) Bissell Cycling
78. George Bennett (Nzl) RadioShack-Nissan
79. Carlos Julian Quintero (Col) Colombia-Coldeportes
80. Hugo Houle (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10
81. Guillaume Boivin (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10
82. Thomas Zirbel (USA) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies
83. Morgan Schmitt (USA) Team Exergy
84. Raymond Kunzli (Sui) Spidertech Powered By C10
85. Alexander Candelario (USA) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies
86. Serghei Tvetcov (Mda) Team Exergy
87. Jacob Rathe (USA) Garmin-Barracuda
88. Bradley White (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
89. Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
90. Jeffry Louder (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
91. Nathan Brown (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team
92. Christopher Baldwin (USA) Bissell Cycling
93. Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
94. Robbie McEwen (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
95. Roger Kluge (Ger) Argos-Shimano
96. Matthew Wilson (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
97. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
98. Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
99. Bert Grabsch (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
100. Alexandre Geniez (Fra) Argos-Shimano
101. Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank Cycling Team
102. Ryan Eastman (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team
103. Ken Hanson (USA) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies
104. Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Argos-Shimano
105. Andrés Díaz Corrales (Col) Team Exergy
106. Thimothy Roe (Aus) BMC Racing Team
107. Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Barracuda
108. Scott Zwizanski (USA) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies
109. Ian Boswell (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team
110. Grégory Rast (Sui) RadioShack-Nissan
DNF Carter Jones (USA) Bissell Cycling
DNF Logan Loader (USA) Team Exergy
DNF Ryan Anderson (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10
DNF Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
GC after Stage 7
1. Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 29:14:52
2. David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin-Barracuda 0:46
3. Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin-Barracuda 0:54
4. Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 1:17
5. Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col) Colombia-Coldeportes 1:36
6. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 2:13
7. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 2:30
8. Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan 2:49
9. Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack-Nissan 2:54
10. Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 3:05
11. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 3:15
12. Joseph Dombrowski (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team 3:38
13. Rory Sutherland (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 3:44
14. Matthew Busche (USA) RadioShack-Nissan 4:19
15. George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team 4:21
16. Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) Colombia-Coldeportes 4:28
17. Sylvain Georges (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
18. Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 5:03
19. Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 5:52
20. Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 6:02
21. Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Esp) Rabobank Cycling Team 6:57
22. Brian Vandborg (Den) Spidertech Powered By C10 7:21
23. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Argos-Shimano 7:29
24. Philip Deignan (Irl) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 7:49
25. Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 8:28
26. Fred Rodriguez (USA) Team Exergy 8:38
27. Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 9:53
28. Timothy Duggan (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:10:44
29. Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:12:05
30. Marc De Maar (Aho) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 0:12:49
31. Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:12:57
32. Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell Cycling 0:15:43
33. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:16:02
34. Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 0:16:04
35. Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Argos-Shimano 0:16:54
36. Matt Cooke (USA) Team Exergy 0:18:31
37. Lawson Craddock (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team 0:19:10
38. Alex Howes (USA) Garmin-Barracuda 0:19:27
39. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:21:20
40. Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin-Barracuda 0:23:32
41. Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Barracuda 0:25:49
42. Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:27:42
43. Paul Martens (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:27:54
44. Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:28:13
45. Yannick Eijssen (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:28:15
46. George Bennett (Nzl) RadioShack-Nissan 0:28:36
47. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:28:37
48. Ian Boswell (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team 0:28:58
49. Raymond Kunzli (Sui) Spidertech Powered By C10 0:29:09
50. Benjamin King (USA) RadioShack-Nissan 0:29:23
51. Christopher Baldwin (USA) Bissell Cycling 0:29:38
52. Jeffry Louder (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 0:32
53. Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:31:16
54. Michael Creed (USA) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:31:36
55. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:32:48
56. Andrés Díaz Corrales (Col) Team Exergy 0:33:18
57. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Esp) RadioShack-Nissan 0:33:39
58. Michael Rodriguez Galindo (Col) Colombia-Coldeportes 0:34:18
59. Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:37:12
60. Alexander Candelario (USA) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:37:18
61. Lucas Euser (USA) Spidertech Powered By C10 0:37:34
62. Gavin Mannion (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team 0:38:41
63. Andrew Bajadali (USA) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:39:54
64. Thomas Peterson (USA) Garmin-Barracuda 0:42:45
65. Alexandre Geniez (Fra) Argos-Shimano 0:43:48
66. Josh Atkins (Nzl) Bontrager Livestrong Team 0:50:31
67. Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Argos-Shimano 0:53:51
68. Grégory Rast (Sui) RadioShack-Nissan 0:53:59
69. Nathan Brown (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team 0:56:34
70. Thimothy Roe (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:59:10
71. Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col) Colombia-Coldeportes 1:00:32
72. Jeremy Vennell (Nzl) Bissell Cycling 1:00:40
73. Sébastian Salas (Can) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies 1:02:29
74. Hugo Houle (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10 1:04:33
75. Koen De Kort (Ned) Argos-Shimano 1:06:18
76. Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Bontrager Livestrong Team 1:07:19
77. Frank Pipp (USA) Bissell Cycling 1:08:51
78. David Boily (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10 1:09:58
79. Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Cannondale 1:10:20
80. Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 1:10:42
81. Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:11:36
82. Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:11:41
83. Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank Cycling Team 1:12:28
84. Edward King (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale 1:13:03
85. Christopher Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 1:14:37
86. Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:15:34
87. Thomas Zirbel (USA) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies 1:15:38
88. Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 1:16:32
89. Morgan Schmitt (USA) Team Exergy 1:17:35
90. Ryan Eastman (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team 1:18:00
91. Bert Grabsch (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:19:53
92. Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:20
93. Roger Kluge (Ger) Argos-Shimano 1:24:24
94. Scott Zwizanski (USA) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies 1:26:09
95. Bradley White (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 1:27:43
96. Guillaume Boivin (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10 1:28:20
97. Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 1:29:49
98. Jason McCartney (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 1:30:10
99. Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin-Barracuda 1:32:39
100. Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Argos-Shimano 1:32:52
101. Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:34:14
102. Matthew Wilson (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 1:34:37
103. Travis Meyer (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 1:35:12
104. Ken Hanson (USA) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies 1:35:48
105. Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 1:36:09
106. Serghei Tvetcov (Mda) Team Exergy 1:39:30
107. Robbie McEwen (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 1:40:53
108. Jacob Rathe (USA) Garmin-Barracuda 1:41:10
109. Carlos Julian Quintero (Col) Colombia-Coldeportes 1:44:58
110. Wilson Alexander Marentes Torres (Col) Colombia-Coldeportes 1:51:43