Tour of California: Skujins takes his third ToCA stage win

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Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) surprised the field and rode to a three-second solo victory on Tuesday during stage 3 of the Amgen Tour of California. Sean Bennett (Hagens Berman Axeon) was second, with Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) third on the track finish at Laguna Seca Raceway.

Egan Bernal (Team Sky) retained his 25-second overall race lead, finishing fifth on the windy stage, one place behind stage favourite Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe). Sagan's teammate Rafal Majka remains second overall behind Bernal, with Mitchelton-Scott's Adam Yates in third, 31 seconds back.

Skujins' victory – his third career stage win at the Tour of California – came one day shy of a year after he crashed on stage 2 of the 2017 event and eventually abandoned the race with a concussion.

"The only time I dreamed about [the stage win] was in the last 300 metres," said Skujins, who also won stage 3 in the 2015 Tour of California and stage 5 two years ago. "I expected someone to come from the back, full throttle, but it had been a hard day for everyone with the wind and the high pace."

Skujins and Bennett entered the track together, with Skujins pulling ahead just before the descent and remaining there. As he appeared on the final straightaway, Skujins seemed surprised no one was there. He momentarily looked back to Bennett before beginning an extended upper-body victory dance on his bike.

"The breakaway was really strong that went at the beginning, and that all played to my advantage," Skujins said after his nearly five-hour ride. "It's definitely not the easiest run into the final. I've raced on Laguna Seca before and that definitely helped me. I've done this stage – well, a similar stage – and I knew how to play it."

How it unfolded

It was the third straight day the first move occurred nearly from the start. This time it was Rally Cycling's Evan Huffman and Robin Carpenter, joined by Hagens Berman Axeon's Ian Garrison. The trio eventually built a gap of more than than 5:30.

Carpenter was dropped on the East Carmel Valley Road KOM, while Garrison and Huffman continued on. Carpenter was caught by EF Education First-Drapac's Lawson Craddock, who had attacked out of the bunch, but Carpenter eventually lost the wheel.

Huffman's fortune was determined by a mechanical, a bike change and the loss of about 45 seconds. Garrison continued on alone, but the chase in the pack was on in earnest, and the catch looked imminent as both Craddock and Carpenter were absorbed back into the pack.

Skujins and Logan Owen (EF Education First-Drapac) jumped away from the bunch on the climb up Cachuga Road Summit and swept up, then dropped, Huffman, and then Garrison. Skujins soon went solo up the road, and Bennett was able to bridge, and the two riders powered toward the racetrack.

"It's definitely not the easiest run-in to the final, but luckily I knew it," said Skujins, who downplayed his success one year after his accident. "I was never feeling really good, but once I saw my breakaway companion crack a little bit, I knew it was possible."

Bennett, frustrated by his runner-up finish, slammed a hand on his bars.

"I knew when we hit it that it was really downhill to the finish, and that it would take a really big effort to bring us back," he said. "I gave it everything, but I was never fully confident until we got over the corkscrew section and onto the descent. Toms had a bigger gap, but I still had a gap, and I knew we were going to stay away."

Sagan and Bernal finished eight seconds behind in the 31-rider main group. Sagan briefly moved to the front of the pursuers, but the group's effort was scattered.

"Today was hard with the wind," said Bernal. "It was difficult; the last part of the race was hard and fast. I did the sprint and retained the jersey, and that was the most important thing"

Bernal's day had in fact been more difficult than he'd described. He stumbled briefly on a category 2 climb, and then punctured with less than 10km remaining and temporarily lost contact with the field.

But he stays in yellow heading into Wednesday's stage 4 individual time trial: 35km around Morgan Hill, just south of San Jose.

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