Sutherland takes 4th in final AToC stage; Landis launches attacks on “home” turf

Escondido, CA - Rory Sutherland narrowly missed out on a podium spot in Stage 8 of the Amgen Tour of California in Escondido Sunday. The Australian came 4th on the stage, finishing the width of a wheel behind George Hincapie (Columbia-Highroad), his nemesis from the stage into Pasadena in the 2008 edition of the race.

“George and I seem to have gone against each other a bit lately,” Sutherland. “We talked a bit after the stage. We always keep an eye on each other in groups like this because it’s the type of group that we can win a sprint from. But I think he’s just a bit more of a pure sprinter than I am.”

The sprint for 3rd on the stage, 0:39 after stage winner Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank) and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) had crossed the line, was not part of the plan for today, noted team directeur sportif Mike Tamayo. Instead, the intent was to launch Floyd Landis on his home turf in the San Diego area.

“We set it up last night,”Tamayo said. “We wanted to be aggressive and go for the stage win, or blow up trying.”

So heading up the second climb going over the Category 3 Lake Wohlford Road, the team lined it up on the front and strung out, and then split the peloton

“Karl (Menzies) went first, then Brad (White), TJ (Tim Johnson) and Cam (Evans),” Tamayo said. “Floyd got a gap and we broke up the field, but Astana had too much horsepower. But we did get them to burn a match or two.”

Landis attacked again on Palomar Mountain, one of his favorite climbs for training, but he still was unable to get away. On the descent, a group of 30 riders came together, including the race leaders, as well as Landis and Sutherland.

“When we came into town, we played the card we had for the finish,” Tamayo said.

That card turned out to be the unlikely site of Landis leading out Sutherland into the final left-hand turn onto Grand Avenue for the run to the line. When Landis dropped off Sutherland going into the final turn, the Australian came out with Hincapie glued to his wheel. In the final 50 meters, the Hincapie was able to just come around and pip Sutherland on the line.

“It would’ve been great to get 3rd today, but I’m happy with the result,” Sutherland said. “It’s a bit frustrating to ride so aggressively all week, with all of us getting in breaks just about every day, and not get the result we were after.

“This race seems to get more difficult every year,” Sutherland continued. “It was certainly much harder than last year. The weather didn’t help the first part of the week, but if you look at the quality of the field, it’s just incredible. Even BMC, which is a Continental Pro team and brought a quality squad, couldn’t really get anything going. It just demonstrates how big this race has gotten in such a short amount of time.”

Race Results

Photo: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us