Tour of California Stage 1, HTC Holds it Together!

I was eagerly watching the last few laps of Stage 1 of the Amgen Tour of California. The riders were screaming around a criterium style course which included short fast turns for the crowd to see the big guns drilling the pace all the way to the finish. There were some wild game changing crashes that plagued the last few laps.

I was thoroughly impressed by the Columbia HTC riders as they lead super star Mark Cavendish to the finish line. Some individual riders tried to launch attacks to thwart the HTC train. Other teams, such as the Saxo Bank briefly grouped at the front of the peloton to take over the front of the race. The impressive part of that short effort by Saxo Bank is that the HTC riders did not lose their focus. They continued in team formation, stayed focused, then kicked into another gear to re-take the front of the race. It is so very difficult for riders to keep focused and stay in formation, trusting each other all the way to the finish line, even though it looks like a faster team may have just taken control. You just don’t get to see that kind of focus, precision and determination by teams very often.

Good teamwork work HTC! Looks like the decision to skip the Giro and bring the A team to California was a good decision. You guys sure know how to Win a Bike Race!

I've included a small clip (above) of the race which shows a small glimpse where Saxo Bank took over the front of the race.

Cameron Hoffman