In the last few years, Jack Bobridge has been unable to live up to the lofty expectations that have been placed upon his shoulders but over the last few months his condition has been on the rise. Yesterday he delivered an incredible performance in the final stage of the Tour of California when he was first part of the early break before joining the break that escaped on the final circuits in Thousand Oaks.

The Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM's Jack Bobridge enlivened the 122km eighth final stage of the 2014 Amgen Tour of California on Sunday, duking it out in a breakaway to earn day's Most Aggressive Rider title. Team captain Laurens ten Dam secured eighth place overall, 3 minutes and 1 second behind the race's overall winner, Team Sky's Sir Bradley Wiggins, with his overall time of 28 hours, 22 minutes and 5 seconds. 

Bobridge, a 24-year-old Aussie from Adelaide who earned his stripes on the track in 2012 as an Olympic silver medallist in the team pursuit, spent most of the day in a six-man breakaway with some heavy hitters, including Paris-Roubaix champion Niki Terpstra (OPQS) of Holland and veteran breakaway specialist Jens Voigt (TFR) of Germany. Attacks within the group ensued in the third and final lap of the 34km course through the Santa Monica Mountains before the sextet was absorbed by a sprint-minded peloton heading for the finishing circuits in Thousand Oaks. 

"At the start, I didn't feel so great. I wanted to try it only one time and that was a direct hit. We went away with eight riders," said Bobridge, who finished 23rd overall, at 10:59. "Terpstra was really strong. I kept on attacking but didn't succeed. I did everything I could for the team to get a victory. We race bikes to win. I'm very pleased with my form and the race performance here. I just need that little bit extra uphill. But I feel great." 

Britain's former world champion Mark Cavendish won the final dash to the finish line in Thousand Oaks, ahead of German John Degenkolb and Peter Sagan of Slovakia. Belkin's Lars Boom placed 7th. 

Belkin Sports Director Nico Verhoeven explained some of his tactic for the Tour of California:

"We had the same tactic as other days, lining the team up to be in the breakaway of the day. And six of the seven occasions we managed to be in the front, we could control the race and score publicity for the sponsor." 

Verhoeven said he was proud of his team's accomplishments:

"Laurens managed to be in the top 10 overall with 8th; Lars sprinted to 7th today; and Jack was the most aggressive rider today. In the end, a pretty good day for us. I'm pleased how we conducted ourselves in this race. We were aggressive and raced attractive. Overall I'm very happy with the outcome."