Leopold König (NetApp-Endura) emerged as the strongest in the queen stage of the Tour of California to the top of the long, steady Mount Diablo climb as he put in an attack near the top to distance stage 2 winner Janier Acevedo (Jamis). Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) finished safely in 3rd 12 seconds behind the lone Czech and is all but secured his first big stage race victory with just a flat stage to Santa Rosa remaining.

For a couple of years much has been expected from the young Czech talent Leopold König but despite a win in the queen stage in last year's Tour of Britain he still lacked the big breakthrough win in the mountains. He finally got that one out of the way when he powered clear to take a solo win at the top of the Mount Diablo in the queen stage of the Tour of California.

The win came at the end of a very fast day in the saddle. The Morgan Territory climb was located just 15,9km from the start and the ascent was the perfect springboard for a strong attack to go off the front.

Vacansoleil has been aggressive all race and the Dutch team was on a mission once again. Juan Antonio Flecha launched teammate Lieuwe Westra off the front and after a number of reshuffles a 7-rider group emerged over the top of the climb.

Westra, Andy Schleck (Radioshack), Laurent Didier (Radioshack), David De La Cruz (NetApp-Endura), Carlos Verona (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), KOM leader Carter Jones (Bissell) and Kristijan Koren (Cannondale) set off and a few kilometres further down the road they were joined by Nathaniel English (5 Hour Energy), Chris Butler (Champion System) and Nathan Brown (Bontrager) to form a very dangerous 10-man move.

For most of the stage the BMC team of race leader Tejay Van Garderen controlled the gap which hovered around the 3 minute mark and Michael Schär and Thor Hushovd both took some huge turns on the front. However, Janier Acevedo had won the first summit finish in the race and was the fastest on the final climb of Friday's time trial and the Colombian wanted another win today. Hence, he asked his Jamis team to up the pace and the gap started to come down rapidly.

At the bottom of the final climb of the Mount Diablo, the gap was only around 30 seconds, and the break seemed to be doomed. Westra was still ambitious though and he upped the pace. After some reshuffling only De La Cruz was able to follow the fast Dutchman and the duo set off while the gap started to once again come up.

In the peloton the initial pace was set by the Champion System team but after a few kilometres the mighty BMC team took over with Schär, Marco Pinotti and Brent Bookwalter all doing a huge amount of work. They easily kept attacks from Lachlan Morton (Garmin) and Chad Beyer (Champion System) in check and an offensive from stage 5 winner Jens Voigt (Radioshack) did also not pose any real threat.

The stage started to get more serious with 5,2km to go when Francisco Mancebo (5 Hour Energy) accelerated off the front. He quickly bridged the gap to Westra and De La Cruz who were both able to hang on for a little while.

Behind, it was now time for Amael Moinard to take over at the front and the Frenchman's hard tempo saw the group splinter with very few riders left with 3km to go. That was the signal for Acevedo to finally launch off the front and the Colombian quickly passed Westra, De La Cruz and also the now lone Mancebo.

400m later up the road, König put in his attack and he quickly bridged to Acevedo. He even tried to drop the Colombian but being unable to do that, the duo started to collaborate.

Behind the main group now only consisted of Moinard, Van Garderen, Matthias Frank (BMC), Michael Rogers (Saxo-Tinkoff), Philip Deignan (UnitedHealthCare), Marc De Maar (UnitedHealthCare), Matthew Busche (Radioshack9), Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge), Mancebo, Jose Mendes (NetApp-Endura) and best young rider Lawson Craddock (Bontrager). Meyer, Deignan and Mendes were dropped with less than 2km to go and later De Maar and Mancebo also had to give up.

Inside the final kilometer Busche attacked and that spelled the end for Moinard. The American was quickly brought back and instead it was Craddock who tried a bold but ultimately unsuccessful move.

Up ahead König finally launched his attack with 400m to go, and this time Acevedo was unable to follow his fellow escapee. The Czech soloed off the front to take a huge win 7 seconds ahead of the Colombian.

Behind Van Garderen decided to prove who is the strongest rider in the Tour of California and he accelerated on the steep pitches towards the finish. Only second-placed Rogers was able to clinch to his wheel, and the American finished safely in 3rd place to defend his leader's jersey.

The Tour of California comes to an end today with a short, flat stage into Santa Rosa. Van Garderen is all but secured his overall win while the sprinters look forward to a final battle on the Californian streets.

Result:

1 Leopold König - Team NetApp-Endura 03.54.17
2 Janier Alexis Acevedo Colle - Jamis-Hagens Berman 0.07
3 Tejay van Garderen - BMC Racing Team 0.12
4 Michael Rogers - Team Saxo-Tinkoff
5 Mathias Frank - BMC Racing Team 0.23
6 Matthew Busche - RadioShack Leopard 0.29
7 Lawson Craddock - Bontrager Cycling Team 0.32
8 Francisco Mancebo Perez - 5-hour Energy p/b Kenda 0.38
9 José Joao Pimenta Costa Mendes - Team NetApp-Endura 0.44
10 Marc De Maar - UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team

General classification:

1 Tejay van Garderen - BMC Racing Team 01-01-1900 02.38.53
2 Michael Rogers - Team Saxo-Tinkoff 1.47
3 Janier Alexis Acevedo Colle - Jamis-Hagens Berman 3.26
4 Mathias Frank - BMC Racing Team 3.32
5 Cameron Meyer - Orica-GreenEdge 3.33
6 Matthew Busche - RadioShack Leopard 3.50
7 Francisco Mancebo Perez - 5-hour Energy p/b Kenda 4.52
8 Lawson Craddock - Bontrager Cycling Team 5.24
9 Philip Deignan - UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 5.33
10 Chad Haga - Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies 5.52