May 21, 2010 - Big Bear Lake, CA – After 135 miles and nearly 14,000 feet of climbing, Rory Sutherland of the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis sprinted to 2nd place in what was the hardest ever stage in the history of the Amgen Tour of California.

Sutherland took advantage of an attack by teammate Marc de Maar with 25 km to go in the stage to conserve energy for the sprint, which was won by Peter Sagan (Liquigas), who took his second consecutive stage win.

“It was a hard day,” Sutherland said. “We were always on the pedals. I talked to some of the Euro guys and they said it was harder than stages in the European races. It took 100 km just to get to the first real descent.”

Sutherland and de Maar were part of an elite group that shrank to just 21 by the finish and included all the main protagonists in the race.

“It was definitely a day of attrition,” Sutherland said. “There were almost no attacks until late. You just tried to hold wheels for as long as possible.”

Sutherland and de Maar held them all day, as the lead group formed by 35 km into the stage. The duo took advantage of the fact that responsibility to chase the day’s main break rested with HTC-Columbia, the team of race leader Michael Rogers, as well as Garmin and Radio Shack.

The chase was a long one. The break took shape less than 30 km into the stage and wasn’t fully reeled in until about 30 km remained. When the catch was made, Janez Brajkovic (Radio Shack) put in an attack in an attempt to create turmoil for HTC-Columbia and Garmin. When he was caught 5 km later, de Maar countered and went away solo. 

“I was hoping one or two riders would come with me because I thought there would be a better chance to stay away to the end,” de Maar said. “(Peter) Stetina (Garmin) went with me at first but he couldn’t stay on my wheel. So I was solo for 10 km until the other Garmin rider came up to me. But I think he came a bit too late.”

That rider was Matt Wilson, who came across a gap that had extended to nearly a minute, putting de Maar in the virtual race lead.

“I was good all day,” de Maar added. “We were watching all the moves to make sure we didn’t miss anything. When I went, it was perfect because I was up front and Rory was in back and could sit in for the sprint if I got caught.”

“Marc picked a good spot to go,” Sutherland said. “The big teams were all watching each other and it allowed him to get a gap. And when you have a teammate up the road, you want to be ready to get a good result to reward all the work he is doing up front.

“When Marc was caught, I started positioning myself for the sprint,” he said. “I found Sagan’s wheel because he showed yesterday that he was probably the quickest guy there.”

“I was close, Rory was close,” de Maar added.

The 2nd place finish earned Sutherland a six-second time bonus and moved him up to 5th overall, 0:29 behind Rogers, while de Maar now sits in 6th overall at 0:32.

“Of course we would’ve liked the win, but it was a good result for the team,” Sutherland said. “Now we have two guys in the top 10 and close to the lead.”

The podium finish marked the sixth consecutive stage that UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis was in the hunt for the stage win.

“The guys showed again today that they are at the Pro Tour level in strength,” said Team Director Mike Tamayo. “Rory and Marc put themselves in position for the win. This result was a great achievement for the team.”

Notes

Today’s suffer fest took its toll on a lot of teams. Eighteen riders abandoned the race, including Karl Menzies of UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis. Another 11 missed the time cut, including Matt Crane. Only 86 of the 128 starters remain in the race, which continues with a critical 21-mile time trial in downtown Los Angeles Saturday.

Photo: Jonathan Devich, Epic Images

Print | posted on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 3:50 PM