Take it to the Bank: Rabo’ Cashes In, Levi Takes Yellow

Gesink takes the stage ahead of Leipheimer

Stage three of the Tour of California took the field from Modesto to San Jose on the day before the event’s queen stage. By far the most difficult stage of the 2008 Tour, stage three would take the riders over the fearsome Mount Hamilton and Sierra Road climbs, before leading them into downtown San Jose after a twenty mile descent. Weather for the stage was pleasant, with patchy clouds and bright sunshine throughout the race.

Gesink was ecstatic to have won the stage

The first news of the day came early as Tyler Farrar, the yellow jersey holder after stage 2, abandoned the race due to sickness. A tough blow for Slipstream, the absence of the young sprinter will mean that Slipstream will no longer be able to hope for any more sprint victories in the Tour.

After Farrar's abandon, the action for the stage heated up, as an early breakaway, comprised of Slipstream’s Steven Cozza, BMC’s Scott Nydam, Rabobank’s Paul Martens and Credit Agricole’s Cyril Lemoine, went off the front. Riding well as a group, the four were able to stay away until the Mount Hamilton climb. Martens, feeling good, powered away from the remaining three riders as the climb began, as none of the three could stay with the orange-clad youngster.

The stage three podium: Leipheimer, Gesink, Van De Walle

It wasn’t long before Martens too was caught by the hard-charging pack, as Astana drove hard at the front of the group and eventually overtook Martens. Next to go off the front was George Hincapie, and the High Road rider built a small lead as the Sierra Road climb started.

It wasn’t long, however, before Astana reeled Hincapie in, behind hard efforts from “Che Chu” Rubiera and American Chris Horner. The two Astana riders continued to drive the pace up the steep climb, until the group was down to only five riders. Astana’s Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner, Rabobank’s Robert Gesink and Ardilla Cano, and Slipstream’s David Zabriskie rode together up the climb, all marking each other.

Levi-athon: Leading the GC, a familiar position for Leipheimer

Finally, Gesink had enough and put in a slight acceleration, which unhinged Horner, Cano and Zabriskie. Only Leipheimer could stay with the lanky Dutch rider, and the two began to put time into the trailing riders by working together.

Once over the summit, the duo worked together on the descent to increase their lead to a minute and fifteen seconds, before the gap finally started to decrease, as the re-formed group of riders behind worked to close the gap. Steadily the gap decreased, and with 2 kilometers to go, it was down to only twenty seconds.

But those twenty seconds would prove to be just enough, as Gesink and Leipheimer approached the line a scant twelve seconds in front of the hard-charging field. Levi, as a gesture of appreciation for all of Gesink’s hard work, sat up and chose not to contest the stage, conceding the day’s glory to the young Dutchman. Gesink, thrusting his fist in the air, took the day’s honors, as Levi rode himself into the leader’s yellow jersey.

The jerseys: Leipheimer (Leader), Nydam (KOM), Hincapie (Most Aggressive), Haussler (Sprint), Gesink (Young Rider)

Looking ahead, the queen stage of the race to San Luis Obisbo will give the contenders time to recover ahead of the crucial Solvang time trial on Friday. Levi will have his work cut out for him, as time trial world champ Fabian Cancellera is within striking distance of the overall lead. Zabriskie too is close enough to be a threat, as is his teammate David Millar. For now Levi and Astana will enjoy the yellow jersey, before getting serious again in Solvang on Friday.