Juan Jose Haedo of Argentina, a former soccer player who began
cycling 11 years ago, capitalized on a powerful sprint Monday to
win the first stage of the Tour of California.
Santa Rosa – Juan Jose Haedo of Argentina, a former soccer player who began cycling 11 years ago, capitalized on a powerful sprint Monday to win the first stage of the Tour of California.
Haedo, 25, who rides for Toyota-United, a new team competing in its first race, was victorious by an estimated three bike lengths and finished the 80.2-mile Sausalito-to-Santa Rosa stage in 3 hours, 14 minutes, 13 seconds.
Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) of Santa Rosa, the winner of Sunday’s prologue, finished 22nd in the main pack and retained his five-second overall race lead over Bobby Julich (CSC) of Reno, Nev.
George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) of Greenville, S.C., remained third overall, trailing Leipheimer by six seconds.
The top 111 riders in the field of 127 were credited with the same time. The top three finishes were awarded 10-, 6- and 4-second bonus times, with Haedo improving from 98th to 69th place overall.
“It was a huge battle; it was technical,” said Leipheimer, the reigning Tour of Germany winner of the three 3.1-mile finishing circuits in his hometown. “You wanted to stay up front and out of the crashes. Everybody wanted to be there, so it was full gas and no holding back.”
Olaf Pollack (T-Mobile) of Germany finished second in the stage, with Australia’s Stuart O’Grady (CSC) third.
“From the start of all of the climbs my team was around me trying to keep me out of trouble,” said Haedo, a four-time Argentinian national titlist who won 12 races last year. “It was very chaotic in the final half-mile; I almost crashed. But I’m here and I won the race.”
Haedo, who has several family members who cycled competitively, came to the United States in 2000 to train. He had success for several years with another domestic-based squad before joining Toyota-United.
Jackson Stewart (Kodakgallery.com-Sierra Nevada) of Los Gatos, and Jean Marc Marino (Credit Agricole) of France built nearly a 3 1/2-minute lead late in stage. But the field came together as it approached the finishing circuits.
The seven-stage, eight-day event continues Tuesday with a 94.9-mile road race from Martinez to San Jose. It will include the first of the event’s two substantial climbs about 22 miles from the finish.
The Tour of California is sponsored by Amgen.
