Tour of California: Stage 2 highlights - Video
Majka takes stage win as Skujins dramatically crashes out
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.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1