Frenchman Sylvain George won his first big stage win and then nearly collapsed at the finish.
The attacks came fast and furious at the start of Stage 6 in Palmdale. A break formed early with Gregory Rast (SUI) of RadioShack-Nissan-Trek; Mikael Cherel (FRA) and Georges of AG2R La Mondiale; Yukihiro Doi (JPN) of Team Argos-Shimano; David Boily (CAN) of Spidertech Powered by C10; Jeremy Vennell (NZL) of Bissell Pro Cycling; and Andrew Bajadali (USA) of Optum Powered by Kelly Benefit Strategies.
As the break reached the first climb of the day at Mt. Emma they had a three minute advantage on the peloton. Boily picked up maximum KOM Points after crossing the line first, followed by Sebastian Salas (USA) of Optum Powered by Kelly Benefit Strategies, Bajadali and Rast. After the decent from Mt. Emma, the break increased their lead over the peloton, stabilizing around seven minutes, 15 seconds about 13 kilometers from the second climb.
At the top of the second KOM, Salas attacked and Boily couldn’t keep up. Bajadali countered, edging out Boily, forcing him to cross the line third, then Rast. The riders picked up speed on the descent and the gap narrowed to six minutes, 33 seconds. As the race rolled along Highway 15, there were a few attempted attacks, but none that stuck. The gap stabilized at six minutes, 20 seconds.
Boily couldn’t keep up the rapid pace, leaving Salas to go forward with Georges and Doi.
As the peloton crested the last climb, Sylvain Georges rode off solo, with Rast, Salas, Vennell and Doi working together to reel him back. However, Georges worked up a two minute, 10 second lead on Rast and Vennell, and a three minute, 10 second lead over Salas and Doi. The break stayed at five minutes, five seconds ahead of the peloton. Showing incredible resolve, Georges continued to go it alone at the front, working four minutes, 50 seconds ahead of the peloton. Salas and Doi were pulled back as Pieter Weening (NED) of Orica-GreenEDGE went out on the attack.
He managed to stay away on his own for the last 48k. He was asked at the press conference if it was lonely all by himself. His response was that his family was watching him on the international feed and his team manager was constantly in contact with him as well.
Peloton heading down the climb from Wilsonville towards Big Bear.
“The gap Sylvain was holding was pretty impressive,” said Zabriskie. “A lot of other teams came up to help, and my team was amazing all day. We got the gap down enough in the end. Hats off to this guy [Sylvain Georges].”
“This is the fifth win of my career – but the biggest win of my life,” said Georges at a post-race press conference. “This is also my biggest win with the biggest team I’ve been a part of. I thought I’d tempt fate on the second KOM because I knew I had the legs, and from that point on, it was all or nothing. I held it in my head and was able to hold it until the end.”
When asked if he was going to take the yellow jersey from Dave Zabriski on Mt Baldy tomorrow, George said he didn’t think he is as strong a rider as Dave.
