Verschoor Scores 5th at Amgen Tour of California Opener

16 May 2016

Race: Tour of California, Stage 1

Start/Finish: San Diego/San Diego, California, USA

Distance: 108.7 miles, 175 kilometers

San Diego, California — Team Novo Nordisk’s Martijn Verschoor beat out many of the world’s top sprinters when he finished fifth on Stage 1 of the Amgen Tour of California on Sunday. Earlier in the race, teammate Joonas Henttala spent more than 85 miles in the breakaway. Henttala and Verschoor are now sitting sixth and eighth overall, respectively, while Team Novo Nordisk stands third in team classification.

“When you start the race strong and everyone rides well together, it sets the mood for the entire day,” Verschoor said. “Joonas was the first to attack and make the break. The rest of us worked together heading into the final kilometers and in the last moments I found a gap, jumped in and went for it. I’m happy with fifth.”

Henttala was the first rider to attack following the neutral start out of San Diego and six riders soon joined him. The seven-man breakaway built a gap of more than six minutes. With 20 miles to go, Jacob Rathe (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) attacked the breakaway and only Daniel Patten (Team WIGGINS) and Oscar Clark (Holowesko-Citadel) were able to follow. Inside the final three miles, all the escapees were caught and a bunch finish ensued. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff Team) took the win with Verschoor rounding out the top five.

Team Novo Nordisk continues racing at the Amgen Tour of California on Monday with a 92.3-mile race beginning in South Pasadena. Stage 2 features four categorized climbs and two intermediate sprints before ending in Santa Clarita.

Results: