Tinkoff-Saxo got up to speed in Amgen Tour of California as team leader Peter Sagan sprinted to second place showing fresh legs after a period without racing. The team took responsibility throughout stage 1 in an effort to ensure a sprint decision, which was ultimately won by Mark Cavendish.

Upon crossing the line of the opening fast, flat stage to Sacramento, Tinkoff-Saxo sports director Tristan Hoffman notes that he is pleased with the outcome of the stage.

“In the finale we put all the cards on Peter Sagan. He took second place in the sprint and I think that to finish behind Cavendish is a good job. Tomorrow we will try again. Cavendish is fast but if we do everything right we have a good chance. The race started with an early break and although it wasn’t too windy, there was enough wind to make the peloton a little bit nervous. Etixx Quick-Step took the responsibility to pull behind the four guys of the breakaway. They kept the distance and we helped a bit to get the breakaway back”, says Tristan Hoffman.

Stage 1, spanning 203.1km from and to Sacramento, presented the riders of the anniversary 10th edition of Amgen Tour of California with wide roads and a finishing course suited for the fast men of the bunch. Tinkoff-Saxo’s Jay McCarthy tells that Tinkoff-Saxo put in an effort to ensure that the breakaway of the day was reeled in before the finish.

“It was a good day and the team rode well together. We had Jesús Hernández and Matti Breschel at the front from the 60 to 80 km mark, making sure that the breakaway would come back so we had a chance to take the stage with Peter. Coming in to the final three laps in Sacramento, we had decided that it was important to have the team in the front so we could make sure Peter was in a good position. Otherwise it would have been too technical to come far from behind”, explains Jay McCarthy, who adds:

“In the end, we had Peter finishing second, which is a good result. We could, potentially, have had one extra person with Peter towards the end but I think Bennati put him into a good position. Peter was on Cavendish’s wheel and gave his best but I think Cavendish is really fast at the moment and we couldn’t have asked Peter to do much more”.

Tour of California continues on stage 2 with a 194km stage from Nevada City to Lodi, where the sprinters could have another go after a more hilly start to the stage.