The Sports Informant

The Sacramento Sports Commission, after consulting with the Sacramento Police Department, estimated Sunday’s crowd for the first stage finish of the Amgen Tour of California was 100,000. That number is based on aerial shots in comparison to last year (estimated 75,000-80,000) and the fact that it includes the Folsom Blvd. stretch from Jackson Road into downtown.

With the numbers up by local fans, the action by the professional cyclists didn’t disappoint, as Great Britain’s Mark Cavendish won the first stage from Nevada City to Sacramento in a sprint finish in the time of 4 hours, 4 minutes and 45 seconds.

Under sunny skies, the 2010 Amgen Tour of California kicked off to the roaring cheers of cycling fans from around the world in the picturesque town Nevada City. In an exciting sprint to the finish, Cavendish (GBR) of HTC-Columbia took his third stage win in the history of the race after three high-speed circuits around the State’s Capitol building in Sacramento. Cavendish was followed by Juan Jose (“J.J.”) Haedo (ARG) of Team Saxo Bank in second and Alexander Kristoff (NOR) of the BMC Racing Team in third.

Mark Cavendish edges out his competition in a sprint to the finish of Stage 1 of the Amgen Tour of California. (Photo courtesy Tom Paniagua)

Cavendish beat out top cyclists, including nine past world champions, 11 current national champions and six Olympic medalists to take the win. The enthusiastic crowd, comprised of shoulder-to-shoulder fans, cheered on the cyclists as they made their way through downtown Sacramento.

The 104.3-mile/167.8 km stage, which also will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Nevada City Classic, to Sacramento took the riders through Grass Valley and across the Auburn-Foresthill Bridge, the tallest bridge in California and the third highest in the U.S. A mostly downhill stage, which certainly favored the sprinters, the route also included a grueling climb from the American River to the town of Cool. The point-to-point race from Nevada City to Sacramento was a change from the previous edition’s opening prologue.

In the first big move of the day Maarten Tjallingii (NED) of Rabobank, Chad Beyer (USA) of the BMC Racing Team, Mark De Maar (NED) of UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis and Paul Mach (USA) of BISSELL broke away from the pack and quickly gained a one minute gap on the field. In a short-lived attempt to catch the breakaway, three riders formed a chase, but were quickly swallowed up by the peloton. After only 20 minutes, the breakaway’s lead grew to more than two and a half minutes and eventually expanded to more than five minutes, giving the group a considerable lead over the pack, which was led for the majority of the race by HTC-Columbia.

“Our strategy was to ride aggressively and try to get in the breakaway. That was goal number one and it worked out,” said Mach.

The first sprint at Meadow Vista was won by Tjallingii, ahead of Mach with DeMaar in third. At 1 km from the KOM climb on Highway 49, De Maar and Mach attacked the other two riders in the break and then Mach soloed away to take the KOM, followed by De Maar. After a descent of four miles at an average speed of 38 mph and a mostly downhill finish into Sacramento, the break of four riders came back together, but was swallowed up as they head for the three finishing circuits around the State Capitol building.

Two crashes during the finishing circuits took some of the race favorites out of contention for this stage, including Tom Boonen (BEL) of QuickStep, leaving Cavendish in the perfect position to take the stage and the overall lead heading into day two of the race.

“The Amgen Tour of California is a hard race,” said Cavendish. “This is a big thing for us. It’s always an important race. Hopefully we can win more stages.”

After an amazing performance, Cavendish claimed not only the Amgen Race Leader Jersey, but also the Herbalife Sprint Jersey. California native Mach claimed the California Travel & Tourism King of the Mountains (KOM) Jersey. Amgen’s Breakaway from Cancer® Most Courageous Rider Jersey went to Tjallingii and the Rabobank Best Young Rider Jersey was awarded to Kristoff.

California native Paul Mach won the King of the Mountains jersey. (Photo courtesy Tom Paniagua)

“In only one day, the 2010 Amgen Tour of California has already exceeded our expectations with regards to fans, host cities and overall enthusiasm,” said Andrew Messick, president of AEG Sports, presenter of the race. “We’ve already seen an amazing degree of competition from these world-class cyclists and we’re looking forward to seeing how the race unfolds.”