The third day in the Tour of California was a tough mountain stage that included six categorized climbs. Lawson Craddock raced to 9th as Roy Curvers was part of the day.

At the fourth ascent of the day, Mt. Hamilton, Roy loosed contact with the leading group as Toms Skujins (Hincapie Racing) decided to try it on his own. With an impressive solo that followed, Skujins won the stage and will be the new leader in the General Classification.

Both Lawson Craddock and Carter Jones finished in the chasing group of approximately 25 riders into a 9th and 27th respectively.

"It was a fast and hard stage from the start. After some attempts Roy got in the break. Our plan was that Roy would survive the Mt. Hamilton climb to be able to support Lawson in the finale and to establish a good GC position for him. It almost worked out as Roy had a strong ride today.

"In the finale, Lawson and Carter were in the front group of 25 riders and worked together very well. Carter positioned Lawson in the front on the uphill finish and Lawson did a good job in finishing 9th," said coach Aike Visbeek.