Stage 5 of the Tour of California, rolling into Santa Barbara on Friday, proved almost a carbon copy of the other stage with a Cat. 1 climb, with Discovery Channel’s George Hincapie out-sprinting a small group to take the victory.

With the win, 32-year-old Hincapie rode himself into the sprint leader’s jersey. However, with no time bonuses on the stage, he couldn’t move up in the overall standings as the other race favorites also finished in the 34-strong lead pack.

Hincapie remains in fourth place, about 45 seconds off the pace, as the current podium also stayed unchanged: Phonak’s Floyd Landis continues to lead, 29 seconds ahead of CSC’s Dave Zabriskie and 34 seconds ahead of CSC’s Bobby Julich

Although CSC has two of the three best-placed overall riders, former race leader Levi Leipheimer, of Gerolsteiner, said he’s “unimpressed” with the Danish team. “They haven’t won a stage and they haven’t attacked the race at all,” said Leipheimer, who recorded the fastest time in the prologue.

A three-man break hit the race’s final climb – the Cat. 1 ascent of San Marco Pass Road – with a two-minute advantage, but the gap was dropping quickly under the pressure of a Phonak-led chase. About midway up the climb, Leipheimer jumped ahead to the lead group, followed by Saunier Duval’s Ricardo Ricco. (more…)

By: Brenon Daly

Argentinean speedster JJ Haedo scalped another set of sprinters Thursday, taking the fourth stage of the Tour of California and slipping on the sprint leader’s jersey.

Haedo’s victory, in a time of 4:41, gives his recently formed Toyota-UnitedPro Team its second win at the inaugural Tour of California. After easily putting three bike lengths on the field at stage 1 in Santa Rosa, Haedo outkicked three-time US National Champion “Fast” Freddie Rodriguez, who rolled across second and T-Mobile’s Andre Korff in San Luis Obispo.

“I thought whoever won the corner would win the race,” said Davitamon-Lotto’s Rodriguez, who’s targeting Milan-San Remo and other spring Classics. Instead, Haedo stayed in the inside of the final corner and the former track rider blazed up the slight rise to the finish about 300 meters away. (more…)