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Tour of California 2018: Stage 2

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Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 2 of the Tour of California, a 157km race from Ventura to the summit of Gibraltar Road.

Tour of California - Race Hub

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of stage 2 of the Tour of California.

Stage 2 marks the first day for the climbers.

There are some 7,700 feet of elevation gain along today's route, and four category 3 ascents before the Hors Categorie climb on Gibraltar Road.

The climb up Gibraltar Road was used in the 2016 edition of the Tour of California, where Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step) won the stage ahead of Peter Stetina (Trek-Segafredo).

Stetina told Cyclingnews that he is hoping to win the stage this year.

Quick-Step Floors' sprinter Fernando Gaviria is currently wearing the leader's jersey after winning stage 1 on Sunday in Long Beach.

Gaviria won the bunch sprint ahead of Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) and world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe).

Gaviria picked up 10 seconds in bonuses for the stage win. He leads the overall classification by four seconds ahead of Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott), who secured a six-second bonus.

You can review the top 10 overall below.

The peloton are riding a 6km neutral start.

It's a beautiful day today. A few clouds but mostly sunny. Slight breeze and 67F currently. 

As the race left the pier in Ventura, there were even a few surfers out enjoying the day.

The kids from Lincoln Elementary School are out front of their school to send off the peloton.

There are a lot of people lining the route through Ventura, too. It's nice to see so much support from this community for the start of stage 2.

Cavendish has worked out his mechanical problem and is riding his way back up to the peloton.

And they're off! The neutral start is complete and the peloton is now officially racing.

There are already three riders off the front: Adam De Vos (Rally), Ruben Companioni (Holowesko) and Jonny Clarke (UnitedHealthcare).

152km remaining from 157km

The gap is now 1:20

The race is headed through a flat agricultural area, but the stage is not entirely flat on route to Gibraltar Road. 

149km remaining from 157km

Quick-Step Floors are leading the bunch

Gap has gone up again - 1:55

Over two minutes for the breakaway of three riders.

Clarke, Companioni and De Vos are off to a good start, 2 minutes head of the Quick-Step-led field as they leave Ventura.

The gap is stretching out to 2:55

The three riders will hit the top of the first KOM in about 35km, located on Balcom Canyon Road. 

This is a good breakaway with all three riders having respectable seasons so far. 

After finishing 3rd in two stages, Jonny Clarke (UnitedHealthcare) was leading the overall classification at the UCI 2.1 five-day Tour of Taiwan in March. He lost the lead on the final mountain stage by two seconds to Japan's Yukiya Arashiro, and finished second overall.

134km remaining from 157km

Adam De Vos, a Canadian racing for the American team Rally Cycling, won stage 3 at the UCI 2.HC Tour de Langkawi in March, where he led the overall classification for two stages.

131km remaining from 157km

Here are a list of the KOMs for the stage today:

Today's stage will no doubt separate the climbers from the rest of the peloton. 

Adam's twin brother, Simon, is currently leading the Giro d'Italia after nine stages. Adam will no doubt want to share some glory by bringing home the leader's jersey from California.

This year's Tour of California is sprint-heavy with the likes of world champion Peter Sagan (Bora Hansgrohe), Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step), Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) and Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin), but there are a number of strong contenders ready to fight for the overall classification on the climbs and time trial this week.

Defending champion George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) is not here, as he is currently racing at the Giro d'Italia, but there are his teammates Sepp Kuss and Neilson Powless ready to pick up where he left off last year.

Powless was also an early animator on Gibraltar in 2016. He spoke with Pat Malach at the start of the stage.

Runner-up last year Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) is back and will look to make his mark on the final climb today.

2013 winner Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) is back to try and win a second title this year.

117km remaining from 157km

Team Sky is back at the race with a strong team led by Tour de Romandie runner-up and Colombia Oro Y Paz winner Egan Bernal, an exciting up-and-coming GC rider to watch.

110km remaining from 157km

109km remaining from 157km

109km remaining from 157km

The climb up Balcom Canyon Rd is just shy of 2km with an average grade of 4.7 per cent.

But there are sections that kick up to 11 per cent, which will give the legs a sting.

The results of KOM on Balcom Canyon Rd

The breakaway crests the top of the climb and they are surrounded by lemon and orange trees, along the road side, so common in this California area.

102km remaining from 157km

We've just received notice that Rhim has made his way back up to the main field.

97km remaining from 157km

1km to the intermediate sprint where there are 3, 2, and 1 second time bonuses up for grabs.

De Vos jumps and takes the sprint. Companioni and Clarke did not respond, and seemed to have just let him have it.

Mupu Elementary kids are out to cheer the race. 

86km remaining from 157km

Quick-Step is still leading the main field.

84km remaining from 157km

The climb on Ojai Road is category 3 and four kilometres (4%).

500 metres to the top of the climb, the three riders are still together.

80km remaining from 157km

De Vos' director at the Rally Cycling team, Pat McCarty, spoke with James Raia at the start of the stage about his time competing in the stage race.

Rally Cycling's have a couple of overall contenders here with Evan Huffman, a double stage winner last year, and Rob Britton, who recently won the Tour of the Gila and won the Tour of Utah last year.

At the front of this race: Companioni, De Vos and Clarke are coming off the descent from Ojai Rd.

67km remaining from 157km

The main field won't want to give these three riders too much time, as all three have had good moments in the mountains during their careers.

Bora-Hansgrohe have one rider on the front of the field, setting pace, while Quick-Step Floors lines out the majority of the team behind.

Michal Kolar is the Bora-hansgohe rider at the front of the field at the moment, setting the pace. The team will be working for Rafal Majka today, who finished second overall last year behind George Bennet (LottoNL-Jumbo)

Fernando Gaviria, the current overall leader after winning stage 1 yesterday, is sitting comfortably in the field.

The gap has dropped to 3:15

Companioni, De Vos and Clarke are starting the third category 3 climb of the day, at the bottom of Casitas Pass.

The gap is dropping, largely because of the work of Michal Kolar (Bora-Hansgrohe), but now Ian Stannard (Team Sky) has moved forward to help Kolar reduce the gap further.

BMC is also moving forward to help with the chase.

Those three teams are working for Tejay van Garderen (BMC), Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Egan Bernal (Team Sky).

Companioni wins the third KOM ahead of De Vos and then Clarke. The Holowesko rider has won all three KOMs so far. 

48km remaining from 157km

The main field is descending in a long line, off of the Casitas Pass.

The breakaway will soon hit the second intermediate sprint at Carpinteria, 123km. 

De Vos is taking his turn on the front, followed by Companioni and then Clarke, but the gap is down to 40 seconds, and they might not make it to the start of the fourth climb at Greenwell Ave, 141km.

It was the rest day at the Giro d'Italia today. Defending champion Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) said that he has to climb well if he wants to defend his title.

Ian Stannard (Team Sky) is putting in a huge amount of work to close the gap to the breakaway, working to put Egan Bernal in a good position to race for the stage victory on Gibraltar Road.

Behind Stannard, and then BMC, are LottoNL-Jumbo, who are working for Neilson Powless today.

31km remaining from 157km

De Vos picked up the full bonuses at the intermediate sprint, winning both sprints today.

De Vos is taking his turn on the front, followed by Clarke and then Companioni. The three are still working together but the gap is down to 45 seconds.

Hagens Berman Axeon is now at the front of the main field, but the peloton spans wide across the road.

Team Sky, BMC, Bora-Hansgrohe, Mitchelton-Scott and Rally Cycling are lining out their teams, setting up their climbers for any potential attacks over the final category 3 ascent, that leads into the base of Gibraltar Road.

Adam Yates is sitting comfortably behind his Mitchelton-Scott teammates, and will be one to watch on the final climb today.

24km remaining from 157km

The roads are very choppy, as they start the climb, with a lot of debris on the sides of the roads from recent mud slides.

The peloton is now on the narrow roads, too, the riders have squeezed their way onto the climb, but they seem to have slowed down.

Clarke tried to attack but De Vos responded quickly and Companioni caught up to the pair.

The three riders are only holding 35 seconds ahead of the field.

Companioni took the KOM points on Greenwall Ave, ahead of De Vos and Clarke.

Team Sky are back on the front of the peloton, pulling the field down a brief descent before they reach the base of Gibraltar.

The Hors Category climb on Gibraltar Road is 12km with an average 8 per cent grade, but sections much steeper midway up, before it flattens out in the final 200 metres.

18km remaining from 157km

The main field is right behind the breakaway. De Vos makes one more attack but its futile as the field is about the make their catch.

Trek-Segafredo is lined out at the front for their GC rider Peter Stetina. 

BMC is setting a pace so fast that the field is in single file.

12km remaining from 157km

The road starts to steepen and BMC and Team Sky are dominant at the front. 

Egan Bernal (Team Sky) is sitting on the back of his teammates, but so are Tejay van Garderen and Brent Bookwalter (BMC). 

There has been a crash on the climb, as riders are touching wheels.

Gaviria and Peter Sagan (Bora) have pulled out the back of the race, and are letting the pure climbers have at it today.

Mitchelton-Scott has Jack Bauer on the front of the field, setting the pace for Adam Yates.

He is followed by teams BMC, Sky, LottoNL-Jumbo

Tao Geoghegan Hart is taking the lead with Sky teammate Sebastian Henao, as Bernal sits and waits patiently for the steeper sections.

The main field is sweeping around a righthand bend on the climb. The tarmac is brand new, after the wildfires in the area, and the riders are exposed to the hot sun.

There are sections as steep as 14% coming up, and that is where the strongest climbers in the field will want to make their moves.

Geoghegan Hart is still on the front. He's been training with Bernal ahead of this race and he said his teammate is in prime form to win today.

The field is down to roughly 40 riders.

The pope is running along side Tao Geoghegan Hart!

The tempo is so fast that the 30 riders are in single file.

Bernal is in fifth wheel, behind his own teammate Henao, and two BMC riders.

Lachlan Morton (Dimension Data) has also fallen off the fast pace on the climb.

Geoghegan Hart and Henao are still setting the tempo on the front, while Bernal sits five riders back.

Rafal Majka (Bora) is keeping an eye on Bernal, just two riders behind and watching Team Sky

The riders are passing Cookie Corner, and there's Phil Gaimon, running along side the riders!

Rally's Rob Britton is losing contact with the back of the front group.

Brent Bookwalter (BMC) and Eisenhart (Holowesko) have also been dropped.

Geoghegan Hart is almost single-handedly tearing the group apart on Gibraltar Road.

There are 4km to go, but the steepest part of the climb happens at 2km to the finish line.

A gap is opening on the back of the group and Stetina has been dropped.

Sean BEnnett (Hagens Berman Axeon) is still there. Adam Yates (Mithcelton-Scott), Antwan Tolhoek (LottoNL), Brandon McNulty (Rally), Rafal Majka (Bora), Bernal, Henao and Geoghegan Hart (Sky).

Majka sitting behind Geoghegan Hart and looks like he is ready to pounce.

Geoghegan Hart is riding so hard at the front of the field that he has split off the front and has several metres of a gap.

Tejay van Garderen (BMC) is also still in the front group

2.5km to go and the riders will hit the steepest section soon.

McNulty is having the ride of his life today, and looks very strong in third wheel on the climb behind Geoghegan Hart and Majka

Bernal attacks!

The Colombian has a 10 metre gap.

LottoNL's Tolhoek is chasing Bernal

Fans are running alongside Bernal as he builds a big lead on the rest of the climbers.

Bernal is looking very strong. He has twice looked over his shoulder to see if anyone is following, but there is no one there.

He is seated and pushing steadily on his pedals around the switchbacks near the top of the climb. He needs to build as much time as possible before the road flattens out.

Bernal has 1km to go

Tolhoek has a solid gap for second place, but he will not likely catch Bernal today.

Rafal Majka has attacked the chase group and Adam Yates has responded.

Bernal is on his way to the finish line, passing the road barriers, within the final 200 metres.

Egan Bernal (Team Sky) wins stage 2 on Gibraltar Road at the Tour of California.

Rafal Majka (Bora) second, Adam Yates (MItchelton) third and Tolhoek (LottoNL) fourth.

Stage winner and overall leader - Egan Bernal (Team Sky)

General classification after stage 2

The peloton will assemble Tuesday for stage 3 at the Amgen Tour of California. The race is 197km starting in King City and finishing in Monterey County at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Thank you for following along with our live coverage of the Tour of California. Join us again tomorrow, and for the remainder of the week, as we bring you commentary from each stage.

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