Voigt launches late attack into Avila Beach

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Jens Voigt took out Stage 5 at the Tour of California after a tenacious attack inside the final 5km that netted a solo victory into Avila Beach. Voigt was among the elite group that formed with approximately 55km still to go when crosswinds battered the peloton, as was BMC's Tejay van Garderen, who assumed the race lead after Janier Acevedo (Jamis-Hagens Berman) missed the split.

With 5km to go, Voigt decided that the only way he could win was to go solo, and that's what he did on the fast, twisty run-in to the seaside town. "If you look at the group I was in, there were quality riders in there. To win there, I had to go alone. I can't beat Thor Hushovd, Tyler Farrar or Peter Sagan," said Voigt.

Racing in the United States appears to be happy hunting ground for Voigt who took his most recent victory on Stage 4 at last year's USA Pro Cycling Challenge. The father of six said he was surprised the group allowed him to get away, given his track record of converting late attacks into race wins.

"We had our most important guy, Matthew Busche in the move, with myself and Irizar to push the break," said Voigt.

"Busche said to me 'you look pretty good, why don't you go for the stage'. I just did the same move I've been doing since the ice age, and I couldn't believe they let me go.

"Once I get 20 seconds, I'm gone. I looked back and said, 'I can't believe they're giving me 20 seconds, don't they know?'," added the 41-year-old German who is showing few signs of slowing down. "I actually had time to slow down and it was good, because I was, well not close to passing out, but it was hard. I had to dig really deep, but now all the pain is behind me."

Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) and Thor Hushovd (BMC) took out the remaining podium spots from the breakaway, six seconds behind.

RadioShack Leopard were the big aggressors in the final part of the race, forcing a selection in the crosswinds that caught race leader Javier Acevedo napping too far down the bunch with the Jamis-Hagens Berman unable to react. Also losing time was third placed overall Philip Deignan (UnitedHealthcare).

Among the winners on the day was van Garderen, who took over the race lead from Acevedo by 50 seconds heading into tomorrow's time trial. Stuck in the middle and still a serious threat for the overall classification is Michael Rogers who moved into second-place, 42 seconds behind the BMC rider.

"It wasn't BMC's plan to split the bunch," said van Garderen moments after pulling on his new yellow jersey. "It seemed like a headwind all day, but then all of a sudden it changed, and you could feel it getting nervous in the bunch. You knew something was going to happen.

"I think it was RadioShack who started it. It was a split second decision to go with it, and I was lucky to have two strong guys in Thor Hushovd and Michael Schar to help. It definitely took a little effort, but (Michael) Rogers wasn't skipping a pull, and I wasn't skipping pulls, so it's pretty even," he added.

How it unfolded

With the time trial on the horizon, stage 5 from Santa Barbara to Avila Beach was not expected to be one for the general classification contenders, it was tipped to be a sprinter's delight. However, even though the beginning of the stage went largely to formula the final 50km were anything but.

Early in the stage, Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM), Kai Chun Feng (Champion System) and mountains classification leader Carter Jones (Bissell) formed the day's breakaway, and Jones padded his lead on the only classified climb on the day on San Marcos Pass.

The trio gained 8:30 before the sprinters teams got to work whittling it down for the expected bunch sprint. However, the plan went all awry as the race turned into a section of fierce crosswinds and the break's lead fell below two minutes.

As the wind picked up, the WorldTour riders decided to put the hammer down and split the peloton into several different echelons. Race leader Janier Acevedo was caught too far back and ended up in a chasing group that was quickly losing time. Third placed Philip Deignan (UnitedHealthcare) was also caught out, as was Francisco Mancebo (5 Hour Energy) and Chad Haga (Optum).

Though Jones went quickly out of the quality move, Feng and De Gendt tacked on to the break. Up front were RadioShack's Jens Voigt and Markel Irizar with their GC man Matthew Busche. BMC pulled to bring Tejay van Garderen away under the powerful impetus of Thor Hushovd and Michael Schär. Orica-GreenEdge had two reasons to cooperate: In there was sprinter Michael Matthews and GC man Cameron Meyer, with Baden Cooke and Mitchell Docker to pull for the stage win. The only wrench was the presence of Peter Sagan (Cannondale).

Saxo Bank had Michael Rogers with teammates Jonas Aaen Jørgensen and Jay McCarthy, and the cheeky Australian tried to go for the bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint in Guadeloupe, but Hushovd denied him the five seconds. Also up in the move were solo sprinters Alex Candelario (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp), who had a flat and screeched to a halt like a cyclo-cross star, leapt off his bike and jumped on a new one and bridged back up to the leaders.

The front group continued to drive the pace ahead with even the GC contenders van Garderen and Meyer pulling through through in the line. Rogers had a number of teammates attentive at the front and were doing their best to contribute as much to the pace setting as RadioShack Leopard, who were looking after the interests of Busche who started the day 1:15 behind Acevedo.

The group continued to work together, with GC and sprinters alike pulling through in the line which assisted in creating a near impossible gap for riders to bridge up to. Riders from Omega Pharma - Quick-Step and Bontrager tried to break clear of the flailing groups but were unable to get clear.

Meanwhile at the back of the front group was the ominous Sagan who, while appearing to be hanging on would be the greatest threat for the technical and uphill sprint into Avila Beach, but Voigt had other ideas and went clear with 5km to go.

Coming into the final corners at Avila Beach, Voigt had maintained his slim advantage and had plenty of time to celebrate the stage victory, just six-seconds ahead of the sprint won by Farrar, with Hushovd in third and sprint leader Sagan in fourth.