BORA-hansgrohe Team (USA) - Press Release: Both setting off from and finishing in the state capital of Sacramento, the first stage of the Amgen Tour of California would take the riders on an out and back route, ending with three laps of the Capital Circuit, totalling 143km. The roads being almost completely flat the entire distance would ordinarily be a gentle introduction to the coming week of racing, but with some of the world’s best sprinters on the start line, this opener would see high speeds throughout, ahead of what would undoubtedly see a bunch sprint finale. Aiming to make an impact from the start of the day, a group of four attacked immediately and managed to build a slim lead of a little less than two minutes. The warm weather meant the entire peloton was feeling positive, and on the front the BORA - hansgrohe riders were keeping a high pace, not allowing the break to build more of an advantage. As the kilometres passed by, the break shrank in number until with 25km to go, there was just one rider left on the front. Flanked by Juraj Sagan and Daniel Oss, and with Maximilian Schachmann and Felix Großschartner close by, the Slovak National Champion, Peter Sagan, was sitting comfortably in the bunch, the peloton clearly confident they would be able to reel in the solo rider, and just a few kilometres later, with 13km to go, it was all back together – perfect timing for the sprinters and their teams to really start to fight for position as they hit the Capital Circuit and started pushing for the finale, the peloton hitting speeds of almost 60km/h. Positioned well in the final kilometre, Peter stuck to his rivals’ wheels on the final straight, timing his kick to perfection and throwing his bike across the line to take a commanding victory – his seventeenth in the race and confirming his position as the ‘winningest’ rider in Tour of California history. Peter claimed the race leader’s jersey with his win and would start stage two in the coveted yellow jersey.

Results:

01. P. Sagan: 3:14:10

02. T. McCabe: +0:00

03. M. Walscheid: +0:00

09. E. Baška: +0:04