Megias Climbs into Top 20 Following Tour of California Queen Stage

18 May 2016

Race: Amgen Tour of California, Stage 3

Start/Finish: Thousand Oaks/Santa Barbara, California, USA

Distance: 104.1 miles, 167.5 kilometers

Santa Barbara, California — Team Novo Nordisk’s Javier Megias laid down a solid performance on Tuesday’s Queen Stage of the Tour of California, moving up six places in the overall classification to 16^th position. The Spaniard stands 1:33 behind new race leader Julian Alaphilippe with five stages remaining.

Stage 3 of the Tour of California featured three categorized climbs before a beyond classification summit finish up Gibraltar Road in Santa Barbara. The 104.1-mile race began with a five-man breakaway that eventually gained two more riders to total seven. On an uncategorized climb, Tanner Putt (UnitedHealthcare) attacked the break, and only Gregory Daniel (Axeon Hagens Berman) was able to grab his wheel. When the race reached the bottom sloped of Gibraltar Road, a diminished front group caught the duo out front. Several attacks followed as riders tackled gradients reaching 10.3 percent. Peter Stetina (Trek-Segafredo) looked poised to solo to the win when Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quick Step) passed him with less than a kilometer remaining. Alaphilippe secured the win and moved into the overall race lead. Megias finished the stage in 16^th position.

“The stage went according to plan. My teammates were really, really fantastic. They kept me at the front all day and placed me up front for the final climb,” Megias said. “The final kilometer was good and I passed a few guys. The top 10 is less than 30 seconds away, so it could be possible. I’m still just taking it day-by-day.”

Team Novo Nordisk continues racing at the Amgen Tour of California on Wednesday with a 134.8-mile race beginning in Morro Bay. Stage 4 features five categorized climbs before a slightly uphill finish into the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Results: