5/17/2010

ATOC 2 - Lancaster claims unplanned Santa Rosa stage win

Climbs break up field, Hincapie the loser

Australia's Brett Lancaster seized the overall lead of the Amgen Tour of California through a soggy victory on the line in Santa Rosa on stage two. The Cervelo TestTeam rider managed to hold off a surging Peter Sagan (Liquigas) at the finish line, while Rabobank's Lars Boom took third place from Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare-Maxxis).

Cervelo sport director Jean Paul van Poppel admitted the team hadn't planned on Lancaster racing for the stage win, but it worked out nicely for the team regardless. The strategy was to have Lancaster lead out teammate Heinrich Haussler instead. "[Haussler] was unlucky and had a mechanical problem, so he had to stop," said Van Poppel. "We put him back on his spare bike, it took a while to get him there. He finished in the group behind at 20 seconds [actually 1:17 - ed.], when he should have made it.

Full Story

Credit: CyclingNews.com