SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Mark Cavendish has more than 100 wins around the world, including 25 stages in the Tour de France, but he never had a victory like the one he had Sunday.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Mark Cavendish has more than 100 wins around the world, including 25 stages in the Tour de France, but he never had a victory like the one he had Sunday.
Cavendish surged ahead of John Degenkolb in a thrilling sprint to win the first stage of the Tour of California in the closest finish in the event’s nine-year history.
“It’s the first time in my career I really didn’t know the result until it was confirmed to me,” he said.
Degenkolb broke away from the most decorated Tour de France sprinter ever in the final stretch before the British “Manx Missile” burnished his legacy again. The two raced shoulder-to-shoulder as Cavendish came up along the right side and threw the rim of his bicycle’s tire ahead at the line.
Neither rider celebrated until learning the results, which were confirmed by photos, though Degenkolb looked dejected waiting for the final word. After the results were announced, he congratulated Cavendish with a heartbreaking hug.
“I knew that I lost,” Degenkolb said. “Sometimes it’s really just 1 or 2 centimeters, but normally you feel it straight away.”
Cavendish completed the 120-mile stage in 4 hours, 44 minutes, 7 seconds for the Omega Pharma-Quick Step Cycling Team. Moreno Hofland of the Netherlands and Belkin Pro Cycling was third. Slovak sprinter Peter Sagan, who has won an event-record 10 stages, got buried in the pack and finished fifth.
The longest stage of the eight-day, 720-mile journey through California’s eclectic climates came down to a drama-filled finishing stretch just steps away from the state Capitol — and even then it took a minute to know who actually won.
As the bell rang for one lap to go around the tree-lined downtown circuit, the teams of the big sprinters pulled to the front. Cavendish appeared to wait too long to attack — and had to work harder after teammate Mark Renshaw recovered from a punctured tire — before finally getting free and churning his legs for a powerful closing burst.
He rode along the right of Degenkolb, the German riding for Team Giant-Shimano, and lowered his helmet to the line. Cavendish, who announced in April he would skip the Giro d’Italia — where he won five stages last year — for the Tour of California and Tour de Suisse after an illness, also won the Sacramento stage in 2010.
“This fits in perfectly for what I want to do this year,” he said. “I should be fresh enough.”
Carmen Small of the Specialized-lululemon team won the women’s circuit race. The Tour of California resumes with a time trial in Folsom on Monday.
GIRO D’ITALIA
BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Marcel Kittel sprinted to victory in a wet second stage of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday as Michael Matthews took the overall leader’s pink jersey from Orica-GreenEdge teammate Svein Tuft.
Kittel timed his move to perfection to edge out Nacer Bouhanni and Giacomo Nizzolo in a bunch sprint at the end of the 218-kilometer (135-mile) leg, which started and ended in Belfast.
The German cyclist clocked a time of 5 hours, 13 minutes, 12 seconds to claim his first stage win on the day before his 26th birthday.
Despite the heavy rain, thousands of people lined the route which took in picturesque rock formation, the Giant’s Causeway, as it wound down the coast.
Sunday’s third stage is a 187-kilometer (116.2-mile) cross-border leg from Armagh to Dublin.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.