An unlikely victor - Great Britain's Ben Swift won the opening stage of the Amgen Tour of California.
The 23-year-old cyclist emerged from a neck-and-neck final sprint with Peter Sagan of Slovakia to win stage two, which concluded in Downtown Sacramento at the state capitol. A member of Team Sky, Swift completed the portion of today's race, 76.3 miles, in 2 hours, 47 minutes and 12 seconds.
The race was scheduled to start yesterday in Lake Tahoe. However stage one was cancelled due to snow showers and freezing temperatures in the Sierra that caused poor riding conditions. Weather delayed the tour again today, prompting tour officials to move the race's start from Squaw Valley to Nevada City.
The Tour of California continues tomorrow with stage three beginning in Auburn and finishing in Modesto.
Top 10 Standings and Results
| Pos. | No. | UCI Code | Rider | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||
| 1. | 38 | GBR19871105 | SWIFT, Ben* | SKY | 02:47:02 | 00:00:00 |
| 2. | 61 | SVK19900126 | SAGAN, Peter* | LIQ | 02:47:06 | 00:00:04 |
| 3. | 23 | AUS19861105 | GOSS, Matthew Harley* | THR | 02:47:08 | 00:00:06 |
| 4. | 126 | CAN19850712 | LACOMBE, Kevin* | CSM | 02:47:12 | 00:00:10 |
| 5. | 73 | ARG19810126 | HAEDO, Juan Jose | SBS | 02:47:12 | 00:00:10 |
| 6. | 142 | ARG19800425 | BORRAJO, Alejandro Alberto | JSH | 02:47:12 | 00:00:10 |
| 7. | 14 | NOR19780118 | HUSHOVD, Thor | GRM | 02:47:12 | 00:00:10 |
| 8. | 47 | USA19900627 | PHINNEY, Taylor* | BMC | 02:47:12 | 00:00:10 |
| 9. | 81 | ESP19760215 | FREIRE GOMEZ, Oscar | RAB | 02:47:12 | 00:00:10 |
| 10. | 176 | USA19810911 | MILNE, Shawn | KPC | 02:47:12 |
00:00:10 |
Standings via Amgen Tour of California's official website.