Tour of California: Bernal wins on steep slopes of Gibraltar Road

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Colombian Egan Bernal (Team Sky) claimed a solo victory on stage 2 of the Tour of California with a definitive attack in the final two kilometres, and with it assumed the race lead. Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) was second on the stage, with Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) third.

Bernal, 21, emerged from the final group of 13 and powered to a 21-second margin over Majka, who was second overall in the race last year, and a 25-second cushion over Yates. With his stage win – the second straight win by a Colombian rider following Fernando Gaviria's victory on Sunday's opening stage – Bernal leads the week-long event by 25 seconds over Majka and 31 seconds over Yates.

"In the final two kilometres I attacked and I arrived alone," said Bernal, who collected his fourth win this season and the seventh of his young career. "I'm so happy because the team did a really good job, and I'm so happy to be in this race."

Bernal, the current Colombian national time trial champion, whose early season wins include a stage of the Tour de Romandie, is in a unique position at the top of the field. In addition to the leader's jersey, Bernal holds the best climber, best young rider and points jerseys.

"Before the stage, we talked about it," said Bernal. "We wanted to make it a really hard stage. The last climb was the most important part of the race. Tao (Geoghegan Hart) did a really good job, so I knew I had to take control of the race."

Team Sky often controlled the race, particularly on the final 12km climb and on the eight per cent average gradient to the Gibraltar Road finish. Geoghegan Hart, jersey unzipped, controlled much of the closing kilometres at the front at a high cadence, and pulled his team leader into an ideal position.

With the 2km marker just up the road, Bernal bolted to the front and there was no response from the expected pursuers. Brent Bookwalter (BMC), fourth and third overall the past two years, and teammate Tejay van Garderen, who won the race in 2013, were among the final group of 13 Bernal authoritatively dropped. Neilson Powless (LottoNL-Jumbo), who finished fifth on the same stage two years ago to eventual race winner Julian Alaphilippe, dropped off the front group earlier on the final climb.

With the expected general classification shake-up, but with the unexpected stage results, seven riders remain within one minute of Bernal. Van Garderen, a favourite for the stage 4 time trial in San Jose, is eighth in the GC, trailing by a minute.

"I don't know about the time trial; we will have to wait and see," Bernal said. "It will be hard for me."

Despite being the reigning national time trial champion, Colombia's cycling stars are known for their climbing specialities but not so much for their time-trialling.

How it unfolded

Just like in the opening stage, a break developed early. Ruben Companioni (Holowesko-Citadel), Adam De Vos (Rally) and Australian Jonny Clarke (UnitedHealthcare) escaped from the field after around three kilometres. The threesome all began the stage 10 seconds behind Gaviria, the former race leader.

Knowing the final ascent to Gibraltar Road would determine the stage winner and new general classification leader, the field remained controlled while the leading trio expanded its cushion. The advantage moved to nearly six minutes entering Ojai, about 90km into the 157km stage.

The field soon realised the gap was big enough, and steadily sliced its deficit to less than a minute approaching Carpinteria, another 35km along the route, and with 34km left. Bora-Hansgrohe and Sky moved to the front, with three-time world champion Peter Sagan manoeuvering into position for the anticipated role of working for Majka as far as possible in the final 12km ascent.

Campanioni, a stage winner and overall winner in April at the Joe Martin stage race, claimed all of the four mid-race KOMs, followed by De Vos and Clarke each time. The leading trio was absorbed into the field with 16km left, just after the fourth and final category 3 climb. And then the scramble to the finish began. The breakaway lasted for 138km and about 3 hours and 40 minutes.

At the base of the climb, and with the field together, Michael Schär (BMC) moved to the front for an extended pull and brought along teammates van Garderen and Bookwalter. Within 1km, and with the gradient increasing, the field blew apart, and only two dozen riders of the field of 117 remained at the front. With 8km left, the race had eclipsed the four-hour mark for the day. After another kilometre, the lead group was reduced to 15, then to 13 with 3km remaining, with Bernal about to make his winning move. 

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