Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 5 of the Amgen Tour of California, a 210km trek from Lodi to Lake Tahoe.
Analysing the GC contenders | Start list | Stage 5 maps and profile
Hello and welcome back to Cyclingnews continued live coverage of the Tour of California. We're in Lodi for the start of the men's stage 5, and will also be giving some updates from the first Women's WorldTour stage.
The men are starting early again, as their race is 212km long, actually - they are off on their neutral laps in Lodi.
The women's stage circles Lake Tahoe, and is 117km long. They'll push off for a neutral lap at 10:50 am local time.
The men will be looking forward to a strong SSW wind today, pushing them all the way up into the mountains. The cross-tailwind should help ease the pain of the uphill profile for the day.
GC standings after stage 5
1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx - Quick-Step 18:06:17
2 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:22
3 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:37
4 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:40
5 Neilson Powless (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:00:43
6 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:00:49
7 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:01:01
8 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
9 Rob Britton (Can) Rally Cycling 0:01:12
10 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:15
We were deeply saddened to learn of the death yesterday of one of the motorcycle drivers who are on the race this week. We expect to have more information later today on the tragedy.
The riders are enjoying another beautiful California day - it's 70, sunny, and not windy...yet. It's expected to get quite breezy as they head up into the Sierra Nevada mountains. They're passing through some massive vineyards - of course, because cycling and wine country go hand in hand.
Cannondale are on the front keeping the pace high. Though they led the race for a day with Ben King, their GC hopes have taken a beating over the past two stages. It's another chance today to shake things up before the time trial, but race leader Alaphilippe is looking strong this week.
Yesterday Mark Cavendish went in the breakaway for over 100km, and got both the blue jersey for most courageous and Cyclingnews' Rider of the Day award.
202km remaining from 213km
There have been tons of surges but so far the pace is too high for any breakaway to stick. It's flat for the first 40km so we expect them to cover that distance pretty quickly.
Cavendish must have been inspired by that Rider of the Day award as he's gone on the attack again! He's off the front with green jersey and stage 4 winner Peter Sagan and a few other riders.
196km remaining from 213km
Cavendish's teammate Tyler Farrar spoke to Cyclingnews this morning about those attacks:
"He's trying his hand at a new aspect of cycling I guess," Farrar said of Cavendish.
"He's already won a classic in Milan San Remo and he's been up in the mix in some of the Belgian Classics, so you never know, but I think he's got plenty of sprints on his plate in the upcoming races."
Unfortunately, that breakaway was quickly nullfied by the peloton. Back together.
193km remaining from 213km
The first 20k have gone by in a flash, and still no breakaway. It's similar to yesterday's stage where it took 60k.
The first sprint is at kilometer 66, will Alaphilippe try to go for time bonuses again?
The peloton is mixed on whether or not today's stage will be decisive for the overall classification.
Farrar said: "It's not going to be fun, that's for sure. It's a nasty stage. I don't think it will be decisive for the GC guys, but it's just going to wear on everyone all day."
190km remaining from 213km
We have a split in the peloton - a group of about 18 riders has 40 seconds. That's fairly big for a breakaway - normally we see a reduction in the numbers before a move like this sticks.
However, the winds are coming from the riders' right side, and the cross-tailwind is a good way to split up the peloton with echelons.
We're seeing echelons forming at the moment. When they turn into the tailwind it will make for a difficult chase to close any splits.
The group ahead is:
Adam Blythe (Tinkoff)
Maxime Bouet (Etixx - Quick-Step)
Nikolas Maes (Etixx - Quick-Step)
Xabier Zandio (Team Sky)
Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data)
Jacopo Guarnieri (Katusha)
Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing)
Mark Christian (TEAM WIGGINS)
Owain Doull (TEAM WIGGINS)
Toms Skujins (Cannondale)
Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo)
Angelo Tulik (Direct Energie)
Caleb Fairly (Giant-Alpecin)
Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNl-Jumbo)
Christopher Jones (UnitedHealthcare)
Logan Owen (Axeon Hagens Berman)
Jacob Rathe (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis)
Adam De Vos (Rally Cycling)
184km remaining from 213km
The 18 riders up front have some strong men in their midst: Nikolas Maes and Maxime Bouet will be keeping the move in check for their teammate, race leader Alaphilippe. But Jacopo Guarnieri (Katusha) is a fast sprinter. Wyss has a huge engine. Skujins won a stage and led this race last year, so expect to see him and former teammate Logan Owen (Axeon) lighting it up later on.
Bouet is the highest placed rider on GC at 4:15
181km remaining from 213km
4:19 on GC for Bouet, correction. The gap to the peloton is 4:15, so he's almost virtual leader on the road.
Jones and Wyss are next best on GC, over 7 minutes down on Alaphilippe.
Nobody in the peloton is going to panic. Cannondale, Trek, Etixx, Tinkoff, Sky, Katusha, BMC, Jumbo and Dimension Data are all represented. In fact, only Novo Nordisk and Holowesko have missed the move, and they have little incentive to chase. This could be interesting as the gap goes over 5 minutes.
Trek-Segafredo have been forced to take charge of the peloton as Etixx-Quickstep are happy to let the race leadership change hands.
Up in Lake Tahoe, the women are getting warmed up for their stage and are nervously eyeing the flags blowing in the 25mph winds. It's going to be a tough one for both fields today.
Not to be too girly, but in order to separate the information for the Women's WorldTour race from the men, I'll put the pink jersey icon in each women's entry - just for better visual reference.
The WorldTour status has attracted some of the best riders in the world, including Emma Johansson (Wiggle-High5), who our reporter Ted Burns spoke to this morning:
"It's quite windy out there, it beautiful scenery and I for me it's a bit of a different peloton. I don't know the American teams and I'm sure I'm going to know a bit more about all riders after this stage today. I'm sure it's going to be some different racing than what we are used to at home."
(Not to be too girly, but in order to separate the information for the Women's WorldTour race from the men, I'll put the pink jersey icon in each women's entry - just for better visual reference. )
The WorldTour status has attracted some of the best riders in the world, including Emma Johansson (Wiggle-High5), who our reporter Ted Burns spoke to this morning:
"It's quite windy out there, it beautiful scenery and I for me it's a bit of a different peloton. I don't know the American teams and I'm sure I'm going to know a bit more about all riders after this stage today. I'm sure it's going to be some different racing than what we are used to at home."
171km remaining from 213km
Sorry for that duplicate entry! Technology failure.
The men are once again surpassing the quickest schedule, covering 42km in less than an hour thanks to a strong tailwind.
It's going to be hard for the peloton and breakaway to go any faster than they are now - which is 31mph. Zoom! The gap is hovering at or below six minutes now.
There is nothing stopping the tailwind from helping the men sail up the road toward the first sprint at Sutter Hill, which comes 66km into the stage. It's wide open with only a few sturdy oak trees dotted on the rolling hills.
It seems LottoNl-Jumbo and Trek are taking responsibility for keeping the breakaway in check. Groenewegen and Stuyven will take a back seat in the lead group, as they seek to protect their leaders George Bennett and Peter Stetina's position on GC.
The women have set off for their 4k neutral start.
Women lining up a few minutes before the start #amgentoc #UCIWWT https://t.co/GdKZJzpDX5
@podiuminsight Thu, 19th May 2016 17:50:46
We have a statement from AEG on the fatality in the race yesterday:
"Today the sport of cycling, NBC and TV Motos International and Amgen Tour of California lost a friend when television moto pilot Rob Llewelyn suffered a fatal heart attack while standing on the side of the road waiting for cyclists to approach his position. Rob was a 20-year veteran driver who was passionate about the sport. A moment of silence was observed at the start of both the men's and women's races in memorium."
Cyclingnews would like to send our deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Rob Llewelyn.
Lindsay Bayer (Hagens Berman-Supermint) is the first attacker in the women's race. Brave soul, she hit out into the raging headwind.
Lachlan Morton (Jelly Belly) has abandoned the race. That's a huge blow for the Australian, who won the Tour of the Gila and was riding very strong here. He crashed yesterday before the second to last climb and finished 10 minutes off the back.
154km remaining from 213km
George Bennett (LottoNl-Jumbo) has been racing aggressively this week. Find out what the Kiwi had to say about the race in our interview.
His team is helping to bring the gap down to a much more reasonable 4:40.
153km remaining from 213km
The good times are over for the leaders - they've hit the first of the long, long, ascent to Tahoe. Aside from a few small dips, it's pretty much uphill to the finish from here. 5k to the sprint for the leaders.
In the women's race, Bayer's attack was reeled back in after 10km of racing, but four riders have counter-attacked.
The women are all together 15km into the race, and facing the first KOM of the day just ahead.
We spoke to Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM) about the stage:
"I think it's going to be a tough stage out there particularly with this wind. I think obviously it will come down to the final climb to select the final little group. It's going to to be a hard day out there no matter what with the altitude and rolling climbs. I expect some tough racing."
147km remaining from 213km
The breakway is rolling to the first sprint of the day, and that nice tailwind? It's vanished.
Sprint 1:
1. Maxime Bouet (Etixx - Quick-Step)
2. Nikolas Maes (Etixx - Quick-Step)
3. Logan Owen (Axeon Hagens Berman)
So Bouet is padding his 'virtual' lead over his teammate Alaphilippe at the moment thanks to the three seconds of time bonuses in Sutter Hill.
They have a moment of fun downhill before they resume their gradual climb.
Women QOM 1:
1. Sara Poidevin (Can) Rally Cycling
2. Mara Abbott (USA) Wiggle High5
3. Tayler Wiles (USA) USA National Team
The climb spat a bunch of women out the back, leaving about 50 riders in the front group.
Dame Sarah Storey has attacked following the climb, 21km in to the stage.
141km remaining from 213km
The men's breakaway is starting to fade a little, and are 4:15 in front of the peloton. They're helped by a twisty little descent on a narrow road.
In case you missed yesterday's Tour of California stage, we have video highlights of a day that had a slow burn, but a big explosion of action in the finale.
The gap to the breakaway is 4:15 as the leaders traverse a deceptively undulating part of the course with few flat sections.