Cannondale's Latvian rider Toms Skujins has won the fifth stage of the Tour Of California.
This 213km stage from Lodi to South Lake Tahoe started with a moment's silence for Rob Llewelyn who worked for ITV Sport during the Tour De France, who suffered a fatal heart attack while standing on the side of the road waiting for cyclists to approach his position on stage four.
When the stage got under way, British rider Adam Blythe (Tinkoff), Maxime Bouet (Etixx - Quick-Step), Nikolas Maes (Etixx - Quick-Step), , Xabier Zandio (Team Sky), Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data), Jacopo Guarnieri (Katusha), Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing), Mark Christian (TEAM WIGGINS), Owain Doull (TEAM WIGGINS), Toms Skujins (Cannondale), Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), Angelo Tulik (Direct Energie), Caleb Fairly (Giant-Alpecin), Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNl-Jumbo), Christopher Jones (UnitedHealthcare), Logan Owen (Axeon Hagens Berman), Jacob Rathe (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) and Adam De Vos (Rally Cycling) formed a break, which with no-one outside Etixx Quick Step affecting the jersey of race leader Julian Alaphilippe was allowed to get five minutes clear.
Alaphillippe's team mate Maxime Bouet took the first sprint of the stage on Sutter Hill as the lead went out to ten minutes.
The peloton brought them back and the gap was down to 2:55 with less than one hundred kilometres to go.
Thirty kilometres later and with the race heading towards Nevada, the gap was at 3.05.
Adam De Vos took the first climb with 58kms left and he and Toms Skujins of Cannondale took a twenty second lead as they headed for the next climb at Carson Pass.
De Vos took the points yet again before Wyss, Stuyven, Jones, Bouet, Zandio and Rathe joined him and Skujins and a couple of kilometres later, the rest of those in the break joined them.
Toms Skujins again attacked and got 25 seconds clear with 29kms left before De Vos and Xabier Zandio of Team Sky joined the Cannondale rider and the trio had a fifty second lead to chasers and three minutes to the peloton.
They started on the climb to the finish with a lead of 1.45 over the peloton with Jesper Stuvyen of Trek trying to catch them.
De Vos led going into the final turn but it was Cannondale's Toms Skujins who won the race in 5.54.45 ahead of De Vos, Zandio and Stuvyen.
Julian Alaphilippe retains his leader's jersey for the time trial in Falsom
Megan Guarnier won the women's race with Emma Johansson (Wiggle-High5) second and Kristin Armstrong (Twenty16-RideBiker) in third after Dame Sara Storey had been brought back by the peloton.
Source: DSG
