Majka takes stage win as Skujins dramatically crashes out
The classification leaders after stage 2
The Tour of California came alive on stage 2 as Rafa Majka won a thrilling stage into San Jose to move into the leader's jersey. The Bora-Hansgrohe Polish national champion bided his time in the final kilometre of the stage, allowing LottoNL-Jumbo's George Bennett, Ian Boswell (Team Sky) and Lachlan Morton (Dimension Data) to show their cards before stealing in for the win.
The quarter were part of a selection made over Mt Hamilton, linking up with the survivors of the early break. Of the breakaway, only Cannondale-Drapac's Toms Skujins could handle the pace set by the WorldTour quartet but the Latvian crashed out the race on the Quimby Road descent.
A group of GC men were lead over the line by Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo) 37 seconds later, with the likes of Americans Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing) and Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Drapac) limiting their losses. In the battle for the overall, Majka holds a narrow two second advantage over Bennett with Boswell at 14 seconds and Morton at 48 seconds. Stage 5's ascent to Mt. Baldy and the Big Bear time trial the following day are likely to be the next key stages for the GC men.
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