Peter Sagan wearing the leader jersey as Amgen TOC heads to South Lake Tahoe

Submitted by paula on Sun, 05/12/2019 - 9:36pm

Day One of the 17th annual Amgen Tour of California got underway in Sacramento Sunday with 132 riders on 19 teams representing 33 countries covering the 88.9-mile ride. In the group are three World Champions, Olympians, Tour de France stage winners and six current National Road Race Champions from around the world.

BORA-hansgrohe’s three-time World Champion, Peter Sagan of Slovakia, claimed his 17th California stage win by a wheel over USA Cycling National Team’s Travis McCabe from Tucson, Ariz. Continuing to grow his Amgen Tour of California stage win record, Sagan also took the early lead in the Sprint competition.

The final meters of the race’s 10th visit to Sacramento were neck and neck with Sagan and McCabe, who was celebrating his 30th birthday Sunday.

“We will see here day by day how it’s going….,” said Sagan. “I had stopped [winning] for one year, last year I didn’t win, but I am very happy that I could catch another one. If I can continue like this, it’s gonna be nice to hold some record here in the [Amgen] Tour of California.”

“I felt great, I thought I was closing in on him [Sagan]; I had to come from four or five wheels back … I can’t be more happy with second place; losing to a World Champion is not a bad thing,” said McCabe.

The race ends Monday at Heavenly's California Lodge, with racers coming in from Meyers. There will be a festival at Heavenly's California Base Lodge from 12:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and the race is expected to over around 3:35 p.m. (See Route Here)

Results, Day One:

Podium: STAGE 1 presented by Amgen

1. Peter Sagan (SVK), BORA-hansgrohe (GER) 3h14’10”

2. Travis McCabe (USA), USA Cycling National Team (USA) +00”

3. Maximilian Richard Walscheid (GER), Team Sunweb (GER) +00”

Jersey Winners after Stage 1:

Amgen Race Leader Jersey – Peter Sagan (SVK), BORA-hansgrohe (BOH)

Breakaway from Cancer® Most Courageous Rider Jersey – Charles Planet (FRA), Team Novo Nordisk (USA)

Lexus King of the Mountain (KOM) Jersey – N/A

Visit California Sprint Jersey – Peter Sagan (SVK), BORA-hansgrohe (BOH)

TAG Heuer Best Young Rider Jersey – Tyler Stites (USA), USA Cycling National Team (USA)