Welcome back to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the 2019 Tour of California stage 6 from Ontario to Mount Baldy. This will be the decisive stage of the race!
Welcome back to Cyclingnews' enduring live coverage of the Tour of California. It's been a long week, but we're feeling recovered after a good night's rest and ready to tackle Mt. Baldy - twice!
The climb up Glendora Mountain Road has shattered the women's field, and there's a select group up ahead.
Looks like the men won't be starting for another few minutes.
The stage information is, of course, hampered by the lack of cellular signal and internet coverage in the hills above Ontario, please be patient as we try to get a handle on the situation for the women's race. It seems Rivera's group has 30 seconds on the race leader Anna van der Breggen.
The men's field has been held up by a mechanical, no start yet.
Rigoberto Uran had an issue so the race waited for the EF Education First team to help him out.
Mt Baldy has played a decisive factor in the Tour of California in four previous editions: 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017.
About 5km left in the women's race, as Hammes and Shapira are distancing Rivera a bit.
Hammes is solo now, as Shapira loses contact. 3.5km to go for her.
A flurry of attacks shoot off the front of the men's field as they speed out of Ontario. Nine riders have a gap and there are a few chasers.
The leaders are:
Owain Doull (Team Ineos)
Lennard Hofstede (Team Jumbo-Visma)
Matteo Fabbro (Katusha-Alpecin)
Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep)
Juraj Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe)
Bernhard Eisel (Dimension Data)
Michael Storer (Team Sunweb)
Mikkel Bjerg (Hagens Berman Axeon)
Niewiadoma, van der Breggen and Moolman Pasio have attacked with 3km to go on Baldy.
Shapira is still leading though.
She hits the final kilometre.
115km remaining from 127km
115km remaining from 127km
Deignan, Niewiadoma, Moolman Pasio and Katie Hall are chasing Shapira near the top of Baldy.
There are four chasers in the men's race, some 35 seconds down on the break.
Hall is closing in with van der Breggen on her tail.
Van der Breggen and Hall are now leading, with Shapira chasing behind.
111km remaining from 127km
Van Der Breggen is still up front with Moolman Pasio chasing.
And the leaders hit the final few switchbacks at the top of Baldy.
Hall is passing Van der Breggen now. Moolman Pasio still behind.
Hall and van der Breggen cross the line together!
Hall takes the win on stage 2. Van der Breggen will stay in the race lead, though her teammate, who won the race last year, will jump up the GC after this ride.
It's a Boels-Dolmans one-two atop Mount Baldy.
We'll get the rest of the results in the women's race as they come in.
Here's a video clip of the Boels-Dolmans duo crossing the line for the one-two.
Moolman Pasio took third on the stage.
It sounds like there's been a rejig up front in the men's race.
The breakaway now stands with eight riders, Bjerg is out and Guy Sagiv (Israel Cycling Academy) is in with Houle, Sagan Sr., Fabbro, Doull, Bernas, Hofstede and Storer.
Hofstede was in the breakaway all day yesterday, while Storer and Bernas were off the front on stage 2.
The first sprint in San Antonio Heights came before this breakaway was established and was missed in all the excitement of the women's finish.
101km remaining from 127km
And the juraj's out on this breakaway. Juraj Sagan, that is. He's been dropped on this nasty climb.
If Juraj has the descending skills of his more famous brother, he should be able to get back on, they're nearly to the top. It's a hairy as heck descent on the other side...
Chasing behind the leaders is Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida) and further back Holst Enger. The peloton is keeping this in check at 2:20.
Of the riders up front, Houle is best-placed at 11:15, but Pernsteiner is a big threat, only 1:12 down on Van Garderen.
After the KOM, the road undulates along a plateau, and Israel Cycling Academy's Matteo Badilatti makes another surprise appearance in the breakaway!
95km remaining from 127km
Glendora Mtn KOM:
Well heck, it looks like Pernsteiner made it to that breakaway after all! This is why Cyclingnews blimp keeps the eyes on the race at all times!
EF Education First have to control the race today without the help of Taylor Phinney, who has been instrumental in the pace-setting. He was distanced on the last climbs on stage 5 and missed the time cut.
Would you like to learn a little about our breakaway riders?
We've introduced Pernsteiner already, but didn't mention he's a former MTB specialist who joined Bahrain-Merida last year.
In case you missed the finish of the women's race - and who didn't? Here are the results:
You can find the full results of the women's race here, we'll be adding the report and photos soon!
Inexplicably, sprinter Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-Quickstep) has decided to try to bridge across to the leaders on the descent. Presumably he's having a lot of fun on the twisty road down.
We're hearing that Jakobsen was the actual winner of the first sprint not Stybar, sorry about that. He was in the first breakaway but has been caught by the peloton now.
79km remaining from 127km
Back to our current breakaway, we've got Hugo Houle in the move. The Canadian workhorse has been in the WorldTour since 2013 first with AG2R La Mondiale before moving to Astana last year. He won the PanAmerican Games TT in 2015.
71km remaining from 127km
The GC situation is still pretty tight in the Tour of California, and van Garderen and his team will have to be on high alert.
67km remaining from 127km
Part of the reason that information is hard to come by is the cars can't get very close to the riders because of the fast descent. Once we get back into flat ground we should know more. A non-English speaking radio tour also makes it difficult on the 'mericans.
Pawel Bernas (CCC) is an interesting rider. He's 28 and finally made it to the WorldTour after kicking around various Conti and Pro Conti teams. But when the Polish sponsor of his 2018 team stepped in to save BMC, Bernas was taken along for the ride. It seems to be suiting him well, as he's had some good results - 8th in Drenthe, and 7th in yesterday's stage.
Owain Doull (Ineos) is a pretty exciting rider - at 26 he's coming into his own on the road and took second in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. He got a win in the Herald Sun Tour.
It seems Juraj Sagan has completely ruined my previous joke, as the juraj is not out of the breakaway. There are eight riders confirmed: Houle, Fabbro, Doull, Bernas, Hofstede, Bjerg, Storer and Sagan Sr.
In case you missed the Giro d'Italia stage today, you can check out the highlights from a wicked fast day of racing here.
Shout out to former Tour of California race director Andrew Messick, now runs Ironman. Messick ran the first six or seven editions before leaving AEG, but still follows the race on Cyclingnews!
To wrap up with our breakaway riders, Fabbro won a stage in the U23 Giro Ciclistico della Valle d'Aosta Mont Blanc that caught the eye of Katusha. He's just turned 24 and is still learning the WorldTour ropes.
48km remaining from 127km
Also shout out to Bobke Roll who is also following the Tour of California on Cyclingnews.
Alex Howes is leading the peloton in the foothills, he takes a moment to pop his bar end back in.
Van Garderen had a puncture, but he's not too far back, and after stage 4 he is well acquainted with chasing back on... Luckily it happened on the flatter section between the mountains.
Van Garderen might not be EF Education First's guy today - he has teammates Sergio Higuita and Rigoberto Uran just behind in the GC, 28 and 36 seconds back, respectively.
Sprint 2:
1. Michael Storer (Team Sunweb)
2. Matteo Fabbro (Katusha-Alpecin)
3. Hugo Houle (Astana Pro Team)
Right after the sprint it's time for some refreshments, and Juraj Sagan fishes through his musette for some energy gel.
Stage 5 winner Ivan Garcia is enjoying his time in the California sun. He's back in the back of the bunch chit chatting with a Novo Nordisk rider. Meanwhile, we have a move from Dimension Data.
Di Data appear to be trying to launch Ben King up the road.
Alex Hoehn tacked smartly onto this move, as has Nathan Haas. João Almeida (Hagens Berman) is also trying to get across.
40km remaining from 127km
Almeida is about to make contact, and they'll soon be on the climb proper.
This is a motivated group, and Almeida showed great strength dancing across to the chasers. Of course, it's always better to get on the train before it leaves the station.
4:45 from the leaders to the peloton, the chase group only has a dozen seconds on them.
The leaders are making their way to the Glendora KOM, it's a steady climb, not as steep as Baldy but still hard. Back when it was part of the San Dimas Stage Race as a time trial, the guys would big ring it.
Hofstede attacks.
Storer is trying to go across and then four more riders are chasing.
Storer and Hofstede have left the rest behind, opening up a solid gap while the peloton pick up the pace bringing the gap down to 4:30.
The peloton snakes its way up the first switchbacks, with a clear view of the exurbs below. Storer and Hofstede have four riders chasing - Houle, Fabbro, Bernas and Doull - with the others at 25 seconds.
A gruppetto has formed on this climb already, with Cavendish and Sagan involved.
The chasers are making it back up to Storer and Hofstede, with Fabbro shutting down the gap.
Ben King is showing good form in the race, having taken second behind Remi Cavagna on stage 2 to Morgan Hill. When he wants to go, King sure can go, as he showed in the Vuelta last year with two solo stage wins.
King's group is stuck in no-man's land, not gaining time on the peloton or closing in on the leaders. Just steadily at 45 seconds form the peloton.
33km remaining from 127km
The peloton is single file behind Mads Pedersen of Trek-Segafredo, with spectacular views of the mountains and no time to stop and get a selfie.
33km remaining from 127km
The King group knows they're getting caught as the motorbikes come past. Meanwhile, up ahead, Houle takes a big pull as they get within 5km of the KOM and start seeing some spectators.
The peloton is bearing down on King's group like a Danish diesel train.
Ballerini won't get any KOM points today as he's dropped from the peloton. But he's not under threat of losing the polka dot jersey.
29km remaining from 127km
Hoehn is back in the boomerang position, after his attack he's struggling to keep in contact with the peloton.
5km to go to the KOM and we're starting to see pockets of spectators, many having ridden their bikes up.
That was the 1km mark by the way, and now Fabbro gets the points over Hofstede, and Doull.
27km remaining from 127km
It's nice to see how green the hills are on Glendora, this area was heavily burned in years past, but has recovered well.
As they traverse the flatter top of the hill, the peloton slashes the leaders' gap to 1:30.
25km remaining from 127km
23-year-old Mads Pedersen, second in last year's Tour of Flanders, is putting in an impressive turn at the front. He came to Trek-Segafredo in 2017 having won the U23 Gent-Wevelgem the previous year. He decimated the Tour of Denmark in his first year with the team.
22km remaining from 127km
It's just a matter of time for the breakaway. I'm going to hand off live to Daniel Ostanek now - enjoy the rest of the stage!
20km remaining from 127km
The gap has edged out again slightly. It's up to 40 seconds now. The peloton has things under control though, with EF on the front.
The break is splintering here as the speed edges up on the front. Bernas, Houle and Hofstede are leading, with Fabbro making it across too.
18km remaining from 127km
The remains of the break are scattered 15 and 30 seconds down. The peloton lies a minute back from the lead quartet.
Here's a reminder of the GC state of play as we get closer and closer to the climb to the finish.
15km remaining from 127km
The four men at the head of the race are still working well together, each taking their turn on the front.
There's a rolling 'false flat' section for around 6km now, before the leaders hit Mount Baldy and it's 8km, 8.8% slopes.
13km remaining from 127km
The peloton is strung out under the pace of Trek-Segafredo. Lawson Craddock (EF Education First) is at the back at an inopportune time.
Schachmann is already up to the break. The peloton is now only 20 seconds back.
10km remaining from 127km
Now Schachmann takes to the front of the group, driving them along.
EF Education First move a few riders to the front of the peloton, mixed among the Trek-Segafredo train.
Schachmann's pace had pushed the gap up to 30 seconds.
9km remaining from 127km
Schachmann has had a great spring, winning the GP Industria e Artigianato, three stages at the Tour of the Basque Country and one at the Volta a Catalunya. He also finished fifth, fith and third at the three Ardennes Classics.
7km remaining from 127km
It's still EF and Trek up front in the peloton. Pogacar's team, UAE, are also represented.
Porte is the only Trek rider at the front of the peloton now. Van Garderen has morton and two others with him. Pogacar is also isolated.
6km remaining from 127km
Hofstede, Bernas, Houle and Fabbro are absorbed back into the peloton. It's just Schachmann vs the main group now.
There's around 20 riders in the peloton now, maybe less.
EF and Astana have the most men in the chasing group, though it's just EF on the front.
Pogacar and Porte are sat right behind Van Garderen. Spilak and a few Astana riders follow, with Bennett further back.
5km remaining from 127km
Morton, Urán and Higuita remain in service of Van Garderen.
The chase group is gradually thinning out.
Schachmann riding through a raucous crowd now. A bit too raucous – the men in fancy dress are really getting too close to him.
Kasper Asgreen is at the head of the peloton now.
4km remaining from 127km
4km remaining from 127km
Bennett pushes the pace on the front now. Higuita and Pogacar are right behind him.
Porte is right there too.
It's over for Van Garderen.
Porte, Pogacar, Higuita and Bennett catch Schachmann.
Pogacar and Higuita attack!
Spilak and a Rally UHC rider are chasing the lead group.
3km remaining from 127km
Porte makes it across, but it took effort. Bennett, Pogacar, and especially Higuita look the strongest men.
Spilak and the Rally rider get there too. But Higuita goes again!
Higuita a few seconds ahead of Pogacar, Bennett and Porte now.
Porte has a gear problem, maybe stuck in the little ring. Not ideal as the riders traverse a flatter section.
Porte is making his way back to the chasing duo now, as the road rears up again.
Higuita lies 12 seconds down on Pogacar on GC. Bennett is a further six seconds back, while Porte is another four seconds down.
1km remaining from 127km
It's mano vs mano vs mano vs mano now. Four men on their own, seconds apart.
1km remaining from 127km
They're grinding up the steepest part of the climb, cruel given it's at the highest altitude at almost 2000 metres.
Pogacar and Higuita are still together.
0km remaining from 127km
Higuita leads it out! The camera shows blank road for a few important seconds....
But Higuita overcooks it heading into the final corner! Pogacar takes advantage and takes the victory!
That's Pogacar's third win of his neo-pro season. He won on the Alto da Fóia at the Volta ao Algarve, going on to win the race overall. He also won the youth classification at the Tour of the Basque Country, finishing sixth overall.
Pogacar leads Higuita by 16 seconds on the GC now. Asgreen moves to third, at 19 seconds after finishing sixth today.
Here are the top tens for the stage and GC.
Here's Pogacar speaking after the finish.
Our full report on stage two of the women's race is up now, along with full results to pore over. Read that here.
You can now read our full report on stage 6 of the Tour of California here. Full results will follow shortly, as will the news items our reporters on the ground have got.
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