Women's Tour of California: Wild wins fast and furious Sacramento stage

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Kirsten Wild (Hitec Products) sprinted past Lisa Brennauer (Canyon-SRAM) and Marianne Vos (Rabo-Liv) to win the final stage of the Amgen Breakaway from Heart Disease Women's Race. Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans) finished safely in the field winning the yellow Amgen Race Leader jersey, and the Visit California Sprint Leader jersey.

"It was a bit of chaos but my teammates were so great," WiId said. "They helped me in the front and pulled me into the train, into the train of Rabobank. It was so strange but I could finish it off."

Sunday's race was tightly controlled by several teams including Boels-Dolmans, UnitedHealthCare and Hitec who were looking to set up a sprint finish. Large crowds and sunny skies greeted the women's peloton at the 70 km downtown Sacramento circuit.

Evelyn Stevens (Boels Dolmans) came through at the head of the field on the first lap, pushing the pace as if to say Boels-Dolmans would be a constant presence for any rider thinking of trying to slip away. Early attacks were quickly neutralized by Boels-Dolmans and Guarnier who kept close tabs on the field.

Several laps into the race a small group of seven riders separated from the field gaining a handful of seconds. The move was doomed after Rabo-Liv and Boels Dolmans jumped into the group forcing a reaction from the peloton.

With the small group reabsorbed Cylance and BePink took up the role of agitators the front of the race. Amber Neben (BePink) made a significant, but short lived, attack with 10 laps to go. After Neben's attack Hitec crossed the line with two riders at the front of the field as if to send a message that the race was destined for a field sprint.

With six to go the bell rang for the only intermediate sprint of the day. Guarnier won the field sprint, gaining the three second time bonus, followed by Emma Johansson (Wiggle High5) and Kristin Armstrong (Twenty16-Ridebiker.)

In the closing laps a handful of attacks were brought back and the field remained intact. With one lap to go the entire UnitedHealthcare squad crossed the line at the front of the field attempting to set up their famed 'Blue Train' in support of Coryn Rivera. As the field rounded the circuit a final time the big European teams including Canyon-SRAM and Rabo-Liv began to position their sprinters.

In the final straight Vos and Wild jumped at the same time but Wild was too powerful. Wild blasted down the long stretch to the finish for the win followed by Brennauer in second, and Vos in third.

"It was clear that it was going to be so fast in the final that it would probably end up in a bunch sprint," Vos said. "Of course then Kirsten Wild and Brennauer are such powerful sprinters, and this is such a fast roll in, that it would be hard to beat them but I was in a really good position.

"I came off and I saw Kirsten coming by, and then Brennauer and I couldn't match the speed. So third was my place today."

Former Time Trial World Champion Lisa Brennauer's Canyon-SRAM squad suffered throughout the week due to the combination of travel and altitude. Despite a rough several days Brennauer felt the team was leaving on a good note after her second place finish.

"It's a finish line that suits me," Brennauer said. "It's pretty long, and it's a powerful sprint. Something that suits me. I'm happy that we go out of this week with good energy. It hasn't been the team's best week here in California."

Megan Guarnier finished safely in the field winning the GC by 17 seconds over Kristin Armstrong. The day had not gone exactly to plan for Boels-Dolmans but Guarnier was pleased nonetheless.

"The primary goals was to keep the jersey coming into today," Guarnier said. "We really wanted to lead Chantal [Blaak] out for a stage but we kind of got disorganized in the finish. It would have been nice, but we kept first and third in the GC and we are happy with that."

Kristin Armstrong finished second in the GC, while Evelyn Stevens finished third. Mara Abbott (Wiggle High5) won the Lexus Queen of the Mountain jersey and 19 year old Chloe Dygert won the SRAM Best Young Rider jersey.

The US peloton moves to Winston-Salem, NC next week for the US Pro Road Race and Time Trial Nationals.

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