Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) has every reason to smile, after moving one step closer to winning the Tour of California. (Image credit: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us)
HTC-Columbia and Garmin-Transitions came into the Amgen Tour of California with high hopes of success. Both teams carried overall aspirations with Michael Rogers and Dave Zabriskie, while HTC brought their talisman Mark Cavendish for the sprints.
It was Michael Rogers who prevailed in the overall classification, beating Zabriskie by nine seconds. Garmin didn’t come away empty-handed though, taking two stages through Zabriskie and Ryder Hesjadal, as well as the team classification. HTC also collected two stages through Cavendish and Tony Martin.
In these two videos HTC directeur sportif, Alan Peiper explains how the team came to California knowing they had to perform and that the pressure was on. The Australian also adds how important their pre-race training camp and strong teamwork helped set them up for the overall win.
Garmin’s Jonathan Vaughters, while accepting that the strongest rider won the race, explains that his men rode an aggressive race, with Zabriskie attacking Rogers on the very last climb of the race.
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