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| Dominque Rollin Took the fourth stage (© Amgen Tour of California) |
"Last time I raced in such tough weather, I won the stage," said Rollin, referring to a stormy day in Quebec’s 2005
Tour de Beauce. "The worse it is, the better I am. When the wind came, I said keep it coming."
Thursday morning brought
cold rain to the longest stage of the eight-day Amgen Tour of California. At 135 miles, the picturesque stage along Highway
1 would prove to be a long, difficult trek masked by clouds, drizzle and a steady 30-mph headwind. But in cycling, such problems
provide opportunities.
At the start of the race, strong man Henk Vogels (AUS) of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team
launched an attack, which preempted several counterattacks. However, it would be Rollin who blasted up the road with Jackson
Stewart (USA) of Team BMC to take the lead. Others soon joined the breakaway, including George Hincapie (USA) of High Road,
Iker Camano (ESP) of Saunier Duval-Scott, Bryce Meade (USA) of the Jelly Belly Cycling Team and Edward King (USA) of BISSELL
Pro Cycling. Eventually, the break would grow to include 11 riders, and their gap on the field grew to 4:35.
"We were
thinking of setting up the sprint for Mark Cavendish (GBR). I decided to go across just to be represented," said Hincapie,
the legendary veteran who arrived to find a solid tempo being set by the young Americans. "This is the biggest race in the
U.S. These guys have everything in the world to prove. I remember when I was a young rider in a big race; this is the one
shot to prove yourself."
The field, meanwhile, remained content to allow Astana, riding to protect overall leader Leipheimer,
to churn away at the front. Team CSC, with its leader Fabian Cancellara (SUI) just 13 seconds behind Leipheimer in the overall
standings, rode in the second spot.
Five hours into the race, the weather conditions caused some of the strongest men
in the field to dissolve. Stewart and Meade would leave the breakaway and abandon the race due to signs of hypothermia. More
than a dozen others would abandon the race due to the collapse in their core temperatures.
"He went from being an
animator, taking all the KOMs, being in control of everything he wanted to do," said Gavin Chilcott, team director of Team
BMC, of Stewart. "He was in control of all that until he lost control of his core temperature. You can’t operate your
brakes."
As the peloton continued their charge with nearly two hours to go, Rollin’s confidence grew. "With 40
km to go I started looking around and realized I was the strongest guy in the break," said Rollin, who raced three years in
France before racing in the American pro ranks last season. "With 20 km to go, I managed to get three or four meters and could
see the guys weren’t reacting."
George Hincapie (USA) of High Road chased valiantly hoping to post the win near
the San Luis Obispo headquarters of his team, but fell short by 17 seconds to finish second. Camano finished just behind Hincapie
in third.
"It was definitely pretty epic as far as conditions go," said Hincapie, who rode in the break most of the
day.
The field finished 2:27 down on Rollin. Leipheimer remained in the lead, just ahead of Cancellara going into the
critical Stage 5 individual time trial.
In addition to the stage win, Rollin took the Herbalife Sprint Leader Jersey
and the Tachyon Most Aggressive Rider Jersey. Today's California Travel and Tourism King of the Mountain Jersey was, once
again, awarded to Scott Nydam (USA) from Team BMC. Robert Gesink (NED) of Rabobank held onto the Union Bank of California
Best Young Rider Jersey.
Join our forum and discuss the Tour of California
Picture gallery: Tour of California, Stage 3, February 20, 2008
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Special Coverage Tour of California 2008
Results Tour of California 2008
Stage 4
1 Dominique Rollin (Can) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 6.56.08
(31.288 km/h)
2 George Hincapie (USA) High Road
0.18
3 Iker Camano Ortuzar (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott
4 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) High Road
2.28
5 Mark Cavendish (GBr) High Road
6 Juan Jose Haedo (Arg) Team CSC
7 Freddie Rodriguez (USA) Rock Racing
8 Alexander Candelario (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies / Medifast
9 Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
10 Mario Cipollini (Ita) Rock Racing
11 Timothy Johnson (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis
12 John Murphy (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis
13 Luciano André Pagliarini Mendonca (Bra) Saunier Duval-Scott
14 Alexandre Moos (Swi) BMC Racing Team
15 Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Rock Racing
16 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana
17 Julien Simon (Fra) Credit Agricole
18 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) High Road
19 Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Spa) Rabobank
20 Jeff Louder (USA) BMC Racing Team
21 Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col) Rock Racing
22 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
23 David Millar (GBr) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30
24 Christopher Horner (USA) Astana
25 Jurgen Vandewalle (Bel) Quick Step
26 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Quick Step
27 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Gerolsteiner
28 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank
29 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner
30 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC
31 Sergey Ivanov (Rus) Astana
32 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30
33 Gustav
Larsson (Swe) Team CSC
34 Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
35 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC
36 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Team CSC
37 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC
38 Thomas Peterson (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30
39 Benjamin Day (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team
40 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Credit Agricole
41 Hendricus Vogels (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team
42 David Canada Gracia (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott
43 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step
44 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC
45 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step
46 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval-Scott
47 David Zabriskie (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30
48 Jason Mccartney (USA) Team CSC
49 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank
5.05
50 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
51 Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano (Col) Rabobank
52 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Credit Agricole
53 Garrett Peltonen (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
54 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Credit Agricole
55 Kim Kirchen (Lux) High Road
56 Darren Lill (RSA) BMC Racing Team
57 Aaron Olson (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
6.32
58 Scott Zwizanski (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
59 Andrey Mizurov (Kaz) Astana
60 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Health Net presented by Maxxis
61 Pipp K Frank (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis
62 Justin Spinelli (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies / Medifast
63 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick Step
64 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Astana
65 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
66 Nicholas Sanderson (Aus) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
67 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astana
68 Taylor Tolleson (USA) BMC Racing Team
69 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step
70 Andrea Tonti (Ita) Quick Step
71 Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat) Saunier Duval-Scott
72 Heath Blackgrove (NZl) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team
73 Steven Cozza (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30
74 Nicholas Reistad (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
75 Bernard Van Ulden (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
76 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) High Road
77 Paul Martens (Ger) Rabobank
78 Dan Bowman (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies / Medifast
79 Nicholas Waite (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies / Medifast
80 Markus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner
81 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana
82 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana
83 Antonio Cruz (USA) BMC Racing Team
84 Michael Lange (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
85 Philip Zajicek (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis
86 Tom Zirbel (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
87 Vincent Jerome (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
88 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
89 Michael Creed (USA) Rock Racing
90 Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
91 Angel Gomez Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott
92 Caleb Manion (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team
93 Ermanno Capelli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Scott
94 Danny Pate (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30
95 Scott Tietzel (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
11.41
96 Scott Nydam (USA) BMC Racing Team
97 Aaron Barry Tuckerman (NZl) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
98 Andrew Bajadali (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies / Medifast
99 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
100 Bryce Mead (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
101 Edward King (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
102 Richard England (Aus) Bissell Pro Cycling
103 Jonathan Mumford (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies / Medifast
104 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank
11.59
105 Roman Kilun (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis
14.51
DNF Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Credit Agricole
DNF Karl Menzies (Aus) Health Net presented by Maxxis
General Classification after stage 4
1 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana
20.44.06
2 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC
0.13
3 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank
0.15
4 David Millar (GBr) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30
0.20
5 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Team CSC
0.21
6 David Zabriskie (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30
7 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30 0.23
8 Christopher Horner
(USA) Astana
0.25
9 Alexandre Moos (Swi) BMC Racing Team
0.29
10 Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col) Rock Racing
0.31
11 Jurgen Vandewalle (Bel) Quick Step
0.33
12 Thomas Peterson (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30
13 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner
0.41
14 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Quick Step
0.43
15 Iker Camano Ortuzar (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott
2.37
16 Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano (Col) Rabobank
3.13
17 Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
4.23
18 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step
4.28
19 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
4.39
20 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Gerolsteiner
4.48
21 George Hincapie (USA) High Road
5.17
22 Kim Kirchen (Lux) High Road
7.05
23 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Credit Agricole
7.06
24 Darren Lill (RSA) BMC Racing Team
7.08
25 Jeff Louder (USA) BMC Racing Team
7.31
26 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC
7.32
27 David Canada Gracia (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott
7.36
28 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana
8.39
29 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC
9.31
30 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval-Scott
10.19
31 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Credit Agricole
10.24
32 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) High Road
12.04
33 Benjamin Day (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team
12.09
34 Jason Mccartney (USA) Team CSC
12.12
35 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC
12.14
36 Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Rock Racing
12.22
37 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Credit Agricole
12.26
38 Philip Zajicek (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis
14.27
39 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana
14.32
40 Michael Lange (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
14.36
41 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Health Net presented by Maxxis
16.16
42 Heath Blackgrove (NZl) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team
16.18
43 Aaron Olson (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
16.19
44 Vincent Jerome (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
16.24
45 Angel Gomez Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott
16.34
46 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step
20.06
47 Tom Zirbel (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
21.15
48 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank
21.48
49 Dominique Rollin (Can) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team
22.01
50 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Astana
23.25
51 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) High Road
24.21
52 Juan Jose Haedo (Arg) Team CSC
24.27
53 Freddie Rodriguez (USA) Rock Racing
24.33
54 Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Spa) Rabobank
24.40
55 Andrey Mizurov (Kaz) Astana
26.05
56 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank
27.12
57 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
27.13
58 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step
28.22
59 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) High Road
28.23
60 Danny Pate (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30
28.35
61 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astana
28.36
62 Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
28.40
63 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
28.43
64 Justin Spinelli (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies / Medifast 28.45
65
Markus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner
28.52
66 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick Step
29.02
67 Mark Cavendish (GBr) High Road
29.36
68 Mario Cipollini (Ita) Rock Racing
29.44
69 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Team CSC
29.45
70 Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
29.53
71 Timothy Johnson (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis
29.54
72 Julien Simon (Fra) Credit Agricole
29.58
73 Alexander Candelario (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies / Medifast 30.03
74 Luciano André Pagliarini
Mendonca (Bra) Saunier Duval-Scott
75 Paul Martens (Ger)
Rabobank
30.26
76 Garrett Peltonen (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
32.24
77 Edward King (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
33.44
78 Steven Cozza (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30
33.45
79 Scott Zwizanski (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
33.52
80 Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat) Saunier Duval-Scott
33.54
81 Bernard Van Ulden (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
33.56
82 Antonio Cruz (USA) BMC Racing Team
33.57
83 Nicholas Sanderson (Aus) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
33.59
84 Ermanno Capelli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Scott
34.01
85 Dan Bowman (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies / Medifast
86 Taylor Tolleson (USA) BMC Racing Team
87 Pipp K Frank (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis
34.05
88 John Murphy (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis
34.20
89 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
34.23
90 Andrea Tonti (Ita) Quick Step
34.24
91 Sergey Ivanov (Rus) Astana
34.25
92 Nicholas Reistad (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
34.35
93 Hendricus Vogels (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team
35.45
94 Jonathan Mumford (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies / Medifast 38.25
95
Aaron Barry Tuckerman (NZl) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
39.08
96 Richard England (Aus) Bissell Pro Cycling
39.09
97 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
39.12
98 Andrew Bajadali (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies / Medifast 39.18
99
Nicholas Waite (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies / Medifast 39.21
100
Caleb Manion (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team
40.28
101 Michael Creed (USA) Rock Racing
41.28
102 Scott Nydam (USA) BMC Racing Team
41.42
103 Scott Tietzel (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
45.27
104 Bryce Mead (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team
45.34
105 Roman Kilun (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis
49.12
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