Tour of California 2019: Stage 6

Welcome back to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the 2019 Tour of California stage 6 from Ontario to Mount Baldy. This will be the decisive stage of the race!

• Bouhanni on long list for Cofidis Tour de France team
• Meintjes out of Tour of California with fractured wrist
• Van Garderen decision remains controversial with Tour of California peloton
• Stage 5 results, report and photos
• How to watch the Tour of California: free live streams from anywhere

Welcome back to Cyclingnews' enduring live coverage of the Tour of California. It's been a long week, but we're feeling recovered after a good night's rest and ready to tackle Mt. Baldy - twice!
 

We have the women making their way up the to the climb now, and the men are in Ontario about to start their stage.

The climb up Glendora Mountain Road has shattered the women's field, and there's a select group up ahead.
 

Coryn Rivera attacked with Kathrin Hammes (WNT) and Omer Shapira (Canyon-SRAM).

Looks like the men won't be starting for another few minutes.

The stage information is, of course, hampered by the lack of cellular signal and internet coverage in the hills above Ontario, please be patient as we try to get a handle on the situation for the women's race. It seems Rivera's group has 30 seconds on the race leader Anna van der Breggen.

The men's field has been held up by a mechanical, no start yet.

Rigoberto Uran had an issue so the race waited for the EF Education First team to help him out.

Mt Baldy has played a decisive factor in the Tour of California in four previous editions: 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017.

In 2011, it was Levi Leipheimer who took the win with Chris Horner by his side 43 seconds ahead of Laurens ten Dam.
 

In 2012, Robert Gesink sealed the overall win with a win there ahead of Darwin Atapuma.
 

The most memorable year was in 2015 when Peter Sagan held on for dear life as Julian Alaphilippe won the stage. Although he gave up the yellow jersey, he got it back on time bonuses on the final stage and won the GC.
 

In 2017, Andrew Talansky won ahead of Rafal Majka and George Bennett, who won the overall.

About 5km left in the women's race, as Hammes and Shapira are distancing Rivera a bit.

Hammes is solo now, as Shapira loses contact. 3.5km to go for her.

A flurry of attacks shoot off the front of the men's field as they speed out of Ontario. Nine riders have a gap and there are a few chasers.

The leaders are:
Owain Doull (Team Ineos)
Lennard Hofstede (Team Jumbo-Visma)
Matteo Fabbro (Katusha-Alpecin)
Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep)
Juraj Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe)
Bernhard Eisel (Dimension Data)
Michael Storer (Team Sunweb)
Mikkel Bjerg (Hagens Berman Axeon)

Niewiadoma, van der Breggen and Moolman Pasio have attacked with 3km to go on Baldy.

Shapira is still leading though.

She hits the final kilometre.

115km remaining from 127km

The break in the men's race are 1:35 up on the leaders.

115km remaining from 127km

The break in the men's race are 1:35 up on the leaders.

Deignan, Niewiadoma, Moolman Pasio and Katie Hall are chasing Shapira near the top of Baldy.

There are four chasers in the men's race, some 35 seconds down on the break.

Hall is closing in with van der Breggen on her tail.

Van der Breggen and Hall are now leading, with Shapira chasing behind.

111km remaining from 127km

Herman Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida) and Hugo Houle (Astana Pro Team) have made it across to the break in the men's race.

Van Der Breggen is still up front with Moolman Pasio chasing.

And the leaders hit the final few switchbacks at the top of Baldy.

Hall is passing Van der Breggen now. Moolman Pasio still behind.

Hall and van der Breggen cross the line together!

Hall takes the win on stage 2. Van der Breggen will stay in the race lead, though her teammate, who won the race last year, will jump up the GC after this ride.

It's a Boels-Dolmans one-two atop Mount Baldy.

We'll get the rest of the results in the women's race as they come in.

Here's a video clip of the Boels-Dolmans duo crossing the line for the one-two.

Moolman Pasio took third on the stage.

It sounds like there's been a rejig up front in the men's race.

Doull, Hofstede, Fabbro, Houle, Juraj Sagan, Storer, Bjerg and Paweł Bernas (CCC Team) are up front. Eisel, Jakobsen and Pernsteiner have dropped back.

The breakaway now stands with eight riders, Bjerg is out and Guy Sagiv (Israel Cycling Academy) is in with Houle, Sagan Sr., Fabbro, Doull, Bernas, Hofstede and Storer.
 

There are some familiar names in there - Bernas, Hofstede and Storer have been in the attacks earlier this week.

Hofstede was in the breakaway all day yesterday, while Storer and Bernas were off the front on stage 2.

The first sprint in San Antonio Heights came before this breakaway was established and was missed in all the excitement of the women's finish.

Sprint 1, km.13.5
1. Zdenek Stybar
2. Sondre Holst Enger
3. Owain Doull

101km remaining from 127km

Our man Pat Malach has eyes on the breakaway, and we are confident it is Mikkel Bjerg (Hagens Berman Axeon) in this move and not Guy Sagiv.

And the juraj's out on this breakaway. Juraj Sagan, that is. He's been dropped on this nasty climb.

If Juraj has the descending skills of his more famous brother, he should be able to get back on, they're nearly to the top. It's a hairy as heck descent on the other side...

Chasing behind the leaders is Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida) and further back Holst Enger. The peloton is keeping this in check at 2:20.

Of the riders up front, Houle is best-placed at 11:15, but Pernsteiner is a big threat, only 1:12 down on Van Garderen.
 

The Austrian is a strong climber, and was 2nd in his home Tour last season.

After the KOM, the road undulates along a plateau, and Israel Cycling Academy's Matteo Badilatti makes another surprise appearance in the breakaway!
 

The Italian seems to be invisible to the race trackers until he gets to the front.
 

Sad news, Brandon McNulty has abandoned.

95km remaining from 127km

Eight is enough for this breakaway:

Lennard Hofstede (Team Jumbo-Visma)
Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida)
Matteo Fabbro (Katusha-Alpecin)
Hugo Houle (Astana Pro Team)
Pawel Bernas (CCC Team)
Michael Storer (Team Sunweb)
Mikkel Bjerg (Hagens Berman Axeon)
Matteo Badilatti (Israel Cycling Academy)

Pernsteiner and Holst Enger have gone back to the bunch, which has closed the gap to 2:05.
 

Glendora Mtn KOM:

1. Hugo Houle (Astana Pro Team)
2. Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida)
3. Michael Storer (Team Sunweb)
4. Pawel Bernas (CCC Team)
5. Lennard Hofstede (Team Jumbo-Visma)

Well heck, it looks like Pernsteiner made it to that breakaway after all! This is why Cyclingnews blimp keeps the eyes on the race at all times!
 

EF Education First have to control the race today without the help of Taylor Phinney, who has been instrumental in the pace-setting. He was distanced on the last climbs on stage 5 and missed the time cut.

Charly Wegelius, the team's DS here, said they will miss him.

"It’s one less person. It’s one person less for the flat road at the beginning before the sprint, and it’s one less person for tomorrow.
We’ll manage, but it’s not optimal.
There are a lot of people in the race who are tired, so we’ll just do what we can with what we’ve got. I’m confident we can do well."

Would you like to learn a little about our breakaway riders?
 

Let's start with Mikkel Bjerg, who won Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux U23 stage race this year. He's an immensely talented young rider who fended off WorldTour team offers to stick with Hagens Berman another year. He's the U23 time trial world champion.

We've introduced Pernsteiner already, but didn't mention he's a former MTB specialist who joined Bahrain-Merida last year.

In case you missed the finish of the women's race - and who didn't? Here are the results:
 

Stage
1 Katharine Hall (USA) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 02:36:39
2 Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team
3 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA) CCC-Liv 0:00:33
4 Clara Koppenburg (Ger) WNT-Rotor Pro Cycling 0:00:46
5 Omer Shapira (Isr) Canyon-SRAM 0:00:57
6 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM
7 Brodie Chapman (Aus) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank 0:01:08
8 Emma Grant (GBr) Sho-Air Twenty20 0:01:15
9 Krista Doebel-Hickok (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:01:19
10 Amber Leone Neben (USA) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team 0:01:37

GC:
1 Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 05:12:37
2 Katharine Hall (USA) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 0:00:29
3 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA) CCC-Liv 0:01:06
4 Clara Koppenburg (Ger) WNT-Rotor Pro Cycling 0:01:25
5 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM 0:01:34
6 Brodie Chapman (Aus) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank 0:01:47
7 Krista Doebel-Hickok (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:01:58
8 Omer Shapira (Isr) Canyon-SRAM 0:02:12
9 Emma Grant (GBr) Sho-Air Twenty20 0:02:15
10 Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) CCC-Liv 0:02:30

You can find the full results of the women's race here, we'll be adding the report and photos soon!

Inexplicably, sprinter Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-Quickstep) has decided to try to bridge across to the leaders on the descent. Presumably he's having a lot of fun on the twisty road down.

We're hearing that Jakobsen was the actual winner of the first sprint not Stybar, sorry about that. He was in the first breakaway but has been caught by the peloton now.

79km remaining from 127km

Pernsteiner and Badilatti have been distanced on the descent. Badilatti wasn't showing superb descending skills in yesterday's stage.

Back to our current breakaway, we've got Hugo Houle in the move. The Canadian workhorse has been in the WorldTour since 2013 first with AG2R La Mondiale before moving to Astana last year. He won the PanAmerican Games TT in 2015.

71km remaining from 127km

The lead is beginning to stretch out a bit for the remaining breakaway victims... I mean, heroes. They're going to come down off this mountain, loop back through the foothills where they'll have another sprint, and then go back up the same way.
 

The crowds were pretty good at the Glendora KOM - not quite as huge as when Lance Armstrong raced here before his doping confession and ban, but still solid.

The GC situation is still pretty tight in the Tour of California, and van Garderen and his team will have to be on high alert.

George Bennett, the 2017 winner of this race, stood to gain if the race jury had not given Van Garderen same time on stage 4. He says the race jury got it wrong and they know it.

67km remaining from 127km

The gap is holding around 3:00 now, and the race situation is a bit confusing since the road is so hairy we can't get eyes on the riders. Bernas had a mechanical and was dropped for a time but made it back in.

Part of the reason that information is hard to come by is the cars can't get very close to the riders because of the fast descent. Once we get back into flat ground we should know more. A non-English speaking radio tour also makes it difficult on the 'mericans.

Pawel Bernas (CCC) is an interesting rider. He's 28 and finally made it to the WorldTour after kicking around various Conti and Pro Conti teams. But when the Polish sponsor of his 2018 team stepped in to save BMC, Bernas was taken along for the ride. It seems to be suiting him well, as he's had some good results - 8th in Drenthe, and 7th in yesterday's stage.

Owain Doull (Ineos) is a pretty exciting rider - at 26 he's coming into his own on the road and took second in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. He got a win in the Herald Sun Tour.
 

He also happens to be the first Welsh rider to win Olympic gold, helping GB to the team pursuit win in Rio.

It seems Juraj Sagan has completely ruined my previous joke, as the juraj is not out of the breakaway. There are eight riders confirmed: Houle, Fabbro, Doull, Bernas, Hofstede, Bjerg, Storer and Sagan Sr.

In case you missed the Giro d'Italia stage today, you can check out the highlights from a wicked fast day of racing here.

Shout out to former Tour of California race director Andrew Messick, now runs Ironman. Messick ran the first six or seven editions before leaving AEG, but still follows the race on Cyclingnews!

To wrap up with our breakaway riders, Fabbro won a stage in the U23 Giro Ciclistico della Valle d'Aosta Mont Blanc that caught the eye of Katusha. He's just turned 24 and is still learning the WorldTour ropes.
 

So too, is Storer, 22, who was called up to Sunweb last season after a top 10 in Tour de l'Avenir. Expect big things from the Australian. 

Hofstede is also 24 but has been in the WorldTour since 2017, first with Sunweb and now Jumbo-Visma.
 

They're enjoying some sunshine as they head toward the second intermediate sprint in the foothills.
 

48km remaining from 127km

We have video now, and can see EF Education First having to work pretty hard at the front, keeping the gap at 3:15 now. The peloton is intact but expect things to get a lot hairier when they head up Glendora again.
 

5km to go to the sprint.

Also shout out to Bobke Roll who is also following the Tour of California on Cyclingnews.

Alex Howes is leading the peloton in the foothills, he takes a moment to pop his bar end back in.
 

Van Garderen is back in the team cars, and Craddock has dropped back for him.

Van Garderen had a puncture, but he's not too far back, and after stage 4 he is well acquainted with chasing back on... Luckily it happened on the flatter section between the mountains.

Van Garderen might not be EF Education First's guy today - he has teammates Sergio Higuita and Rigoberto Uran just behind in the GC, 28 and 36 seconds back, respectively.
 

The gap has gone out a bit to four minutes because of the race leader's flat.

Sprint 2:
1. Michael Storer (Team Sunweb)
2. Matteo Fabbro (Katusha-Alpecin)
3. Hugo Houle (Astana Pro Team)
 

The breakaway just rolled through the sprint, they have no chance of gaining from it and benefit more from the TV time.
 

Right after the sprint it's time for some refreshments, and Juraj Sagan fishes through his musette for some energy gel.

Stage 5 winner Ivan Garcia is enjoying his time in the California sun. He's back in the back of the bunch chit chatting with a Novo Nordisk rider. Meanwhile, we have a move from Dimension Data.

Di Data appear to be trying to launch Ben King up the road.

Alex Hoehn tacked smartly onto this move, as has Nathan Haas. João Almeida (Hagens Berman) is also trying to get across.

40km remaining from 127km

Bernie Eisel launched King and then sat up, but the peloton isn't too worried. King is 5:26 down on the race lead.

Almeida is about to make contact, and they'll soon be on the climb proper.

This is a motivated group, and Almeida showed great strength dancing across to the chasers. Of course, it's always better to get on the train before it leaves the station.


4:45 from the leaders to the peloton, the chase group only has a dozen seconds on them.

The leaders are making their way to the Glendora KOM, it's a steady climb, not as steep as Baldy but still hard. Back when it was part of the San Dimas Stage Race as a time trial, the guys would big ring it.

Hofstede attacks.

Storer is trying to go across and then four more riders are chasing.

Storer and Hofstede have left the rest behind, opening up a solid gap while the peloton pick up the pace bringing the gap down to 4:30.
 

King's group has 40 seconds on the peloton.

The peloton snakes its way up the first switchbacks, with a clear view of the exurbs below. Storer and Hofstede have four riders chasing - Houle, Fabbro, Bernas and Doull - with the others at 25 seconds.

A gruppetto has formed on this climb already, with Cavendish and Sagan involved.

The chasers are making it back up to Storer and Hofstede, with Fabbro shutting down the gap.

Ben King is showing good form in the race, having taken second behind Remi Cavagna on stage 2 to Morgan Hill. When he wants to go, King sure can go, as he showed in the Vuelta last year with two solo stage wins.

Trek-Segafredo have come to the front for Richie Porte. We nearly forgot he was in the race, but it seems he's ready to make an impression on Mt. Baldy.

King's group is stuck in no-man's land, not gaining time on the peloton or closing in on the leaders. Just steadily at 45 seconds form the peloton.

33km remaining from 127km

Bjerg has made it back to the leaders but now. For real. The Juraj is out.

The peloton is single file behind Mads Pedersen of Trek-Segafredo, with spectacular views of the mountains and no time to stop and get a selfie.

33km remaining from 127km

Pedersen has reeled the King group back to only 25 seconds, with Sagan up the road still.
 

The situation is lead 7 --> Sagan (1:15) --> King group (2:55) -- > Peloton at 3:20

The King group knows they're getting caught as the motorbikes come past. Meanwhile, up ahead, Houle takes a big pull as they get within 5km of the KOM and start seeing some spectators.

The peloton is bearing down on King's group like a Danish diesel train.

Ballerini won't get any KOM points today as he's dropped from the peloton. But he's not under threat of losing the polka dot jersey.

29km remaining from 127km

The leaders still haven't gotten to the descent, and the chasers are all caught. The peloton is closing in, now 2:35 behind.

Hoehn is back in the boomerang position, after his attack he's struggling to keep in contact with the peloton.

5km to go to the KOM and we're starting to see pockets of spectators, many having ridden their bikes up.

That was the 1km mark by the way, and now Fabbro gets the points over Hofstede, and Doull.

27km remaining from 127km

Pedersen is still killing it for Porte, allowing Craddock and Morton to get a good draft as they wait to protect van Garderen on the final climb.

It's nice to see how green the hills are on Glendora, this area was heavily burned in years past, but has recovered well.

As they traverse the flatter top of the hill, the peloton slashes the leaders' gap to 1:30.

25km remaining from 127km

The leaders pass the 25km to go mark and are on a bit of a descent before it flattens again.

23-year-old Mads Pedersen, second in last year's Tour of Flanders, is putting in an impressive turn at the front. He came to Trek-Segafredo in 2017 having won the U23 Gent-Wevelgem the previous year. He decimated the Tour of Denmark in his first year with the team.

22km remaining from 127km

Just 35 seconds for the leaders now.

It's just a matter of time for the breakaway. I'm going to hand off live to Daniel Ostanek now - enjoy the rest of the stage!

20km remaining from 127km

Daniel Ostanek here to guide you through the remainder of the stage. With 20km to race, the peloton lurks just 30 seconds down on the break.

The gap has edged out again slightly. It's up to 40 seconds now. The peloton has things under control though, with EF on the front.

The break is splintering here as the speed edges up on the front. Bernas, Houle and Hofstede are leading, with Fabbro making it across too.

18km remaining from 127km

Yep, there's some distance between that quartet and the rest of the break. 

Trek-Segafredo take to the front of the peloton.

The remains of the break are scattered 15 and 30 seconds down. The peloton lies a minute back from the lead quartet.

Here's a reminder of the GC state of play as we get closer and closer to the climb to the finish.

Van Garderen will be on the defensive against the likes of Pogačar, Schachmann, Großschartner and Bennett. Richie Porte and Rohan Dennis lie further back, at 37 and 42 seconds, respectively.

1 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First 26:13:01
2 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:04
3 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos 0:00:06
4 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:16
5 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:22
6 Sergio Higuita (Col) EF Education First 0:00:28
7 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:33
8 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:34
9 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:35
10 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First 0:00:36

15km remaining from 127km

Bjerg is the first man to drop back to the peloton from the break.

The four men at the head of the race are still working well together, each taking their turn on the front.

There's a rolling 'false flat' section for around 6km now, before the leaders hit Mount Baldy and it's 8km, 8.8% slopes.

13km remaining from 127km

Owain Doull drops back to the peloton, and Max Schachmann goes on the attack. Bora-Hansgrohe playing their first card before they even reach Mount Baldy.

The peloton is strung out under the pace of Trek-Segafredo. Lawson Craddock (EF Education First) is at the back at an inopportune time.

Schachmann is already up to the break. The peloton is now only 20 seconds back.

10km remaining from 127km

It doesn't mean much at this stage, but Schachmann is almost in the virtual lead here. Still, with 11km to race and a 20-second gap, it can – and likely will – be easily shut down.

Now Schachmann takes to the front of the group, driving them along.

EF Education First move a few riders to the front of the peloton, mixed among the Trek-Segafredo train.

Schachmann's pace had pushed the gap up to 30 seconds.

9km remaining from 127km

It looks like the Bora man is just going to stay on the front of the lead group and keep ploughing on.

They're just over a kilometre away from the start of the climb to the finish.

Schachmann has had a great spring, winning the GP Industria e Artigianato, three stages at the Tour of the Basque Country and one at the Volta a Catalunya. He also finished fifth, fith and third at the three Ardennes Classics.

He's also a Giro stage winner, taking the summit finish at Prato Nervoso from the break last year.

The German is no slouch when the road turns up then, and it might take some effort to catch him.

7km remaining from 127km

Schachmann is alone now, having left the four breakaway riders behind on the early slopes of Mt. Baldy.

It's still EF and Trek up front in the peloton. Pogacar's team, UAE, are also represented.

Porte is the only Trek rider at the front of the peloton now. Van Garderen has morton and two others with him. Pogacar is also isolated.

6km remaining from 127km

Schachmann is 45 seconds up on the peloton now.

Hofstede, Bernas, Houle and Fabbro are absorbed back into the peloton. It's just Schachmann vs the main group now.

There's around 20 riders in the peloton now, maybe less.

EF and Astana have the most men in the chasing group, though it's just EF on the front.

Pogacar and Porte are sat right behind Van Garderen. Spilak and a few Astana riders follow, with Bennett further back.

5km remaining from 127km

Schachmann is still holding the gap. Meanwhile, Moscon is dropped from the peloton.

Morton, Urán and Higuita remain in service of Van Garderen.

The chase group is gradually thinning out.

Schachmann riding through a raucous crowd now. A bit too raucous – the men in fancy dress are really getting too close to him.

Kasper Asgreen is at the head of the peloton now.

4km remaining from 127km

Van Garderen cracks under the pace of Asgreen. Straight out the back of the peloton.

4km remaining from 127km

That's... early to see him drop. Urán drops back to help out. I think he's done though.

Bennett pushes the pace on the front now. Higuita and Pogacar are right behind him.

Porte is right there too.

It's over for Van Garderen.

Porte, Pogacar, Higuita and Bennett catch Schachmann.

Pogacar and Higuita attack!

Spilak and a Rally UHC rider are chasing the lead group.

3km remaining from 127km

Higuita, Bennett and Pogacar are up front now! Porte tries to get across.

Porte makes it across, but it took effort. Bennett, Pogacar, and especially Higuita look the strongest men.

Spilak and the Rally rider get there too. But Higuita goes again!

Higuita a few seconds ahead of Pogacar, Bennett and Porte now.

Porte has a gear problem, maybe stuck in the little ring. Not ideal as the riders traverse a flatter section.

Porte is making his way back to the chasing duo now, as the road rears up again.

Van Garderen is long gone, by the way. 

Higuita lies 12 seconds down on Pogacar on GC. Bennett is a further six seconds back, while Porte is another four seconds down.

1km remaining from 127km

Pogacar is solo now, chasing down Higuita. It looks like he'll catch the Colombian.

It's mano vs mano vs mano vs mano now. Four men on their own, seconds apart.

1km remaining from 127km

Pogacar catches Higuita.

They're grinding up the steepest part of the climb, cruel given it's at the highest altitude at almost 2000 metres.

Pogacar and Higuita are still together.

0km remaining from 127km

It'll be between the two youngsters for the win, though Pogacar will take the race lead.

Higuita leads it out! The camera shows blank road for a few important seconds....

But Higuita overcooks it heading into the final corner! Pogacar takes advantage and takes the victory!

That's Pogacar's third win of his neo-pro season. He won on the Alto da Fóia at the Volta ao Algarve, going on to win the race overall. He also won the youth classification at the Tour of the Basque Country, finishing sixth overall.

Now he's all set to win the Tour of California.

Pogacar leads Higuita by 16 seconds on the GC now. Asgreen moves to third, at 19 seconds after finishing sixth today.

Here are the top tens for the stage and GC.

Stage result

1 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 03:48:49
2 Sergio Higuita (Col) EF Education First
3 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 00:00:05
4 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 00:00:10
5 Riccardo Zoidl (CCC Team) 00:00:20
6 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:00:22
7 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 00:00:25
8 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 00:00:47
9 Rob Britton (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
10 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits

General classification

1 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 01/01/1900 06:01
2 Sergio Higuita (Col) EF Education First 00:00:16
3 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:00:20
4 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 00:00:29
5 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 00:00:41
6 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 00:01:03
7 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 00:01:18
8 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
9 Tejay van Garderen (USA) EF Education First 00:01:22
10 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 00:01:23

Here's Pogacar speaking after the finish.

"It was a team effort, for sure. My teammates did a good job of protecting me all day. I just did my best in the last 5km, and was climbing really well today.

"When I got to Higuita, I knew that Bennett was coming, but I waited to start my sprint. Higuita made a mistake on the last corner, and I could take the win."

Our full report on stage two of the women's race is up now, along with full results to pore over. Read that here.

A full report on the men's stage will follow shortly.

You can now read our full report on stage 6 of the Tour of California here. Full results will follow shortly, as will the news items our reporters on the ground have got.

That's all from us today. See you tomorrow for more live coverage from the Giro d'Italia and both races in California!