The 2013 Amgen Tour of California was the eighth running of the Tour of California cycling stage race. It was held from May 12–19, and was rated as a 2.HC event on the UCI America Tour. It began in Escondido and finished in Santa Rosa.
It was won by the American Tejay van Garderen (), the first success in the general classification of a stage race in the career of the then 24-year-old rider. The sprints jersey was handed to Slovak Peter Sagan (), who won it for the fourth time in four consecutive presences at the Tour. Carter Jones () prevailed in the mountains classification thanks to his participation in numerous breakaways, and Lawson Craddock of earned the youth classification jersey at 21 years of age.
Prior to the race The winner of the 2012 race, Robert Gesink, did not participate in this edition as he was riding the Giro d'Italia. For this edition, the UCI elected to reintroduce blood testing based on the biological passport, as USADA would also take care of pre-race testing, but no cooperation was established between the two agencies. The favorites for the overall classification have been deemed to be Tejay van Garderen, Haimar Zubeldia, Cameron Meyer, Michael Rogers (who won the 2010 edition and was making a comeback to the race), Thomas De Gendt and Francisco Mancebo, among others. Another rider to watch was David Zabriskie, who finished second in the general classification of the race on four occasions including the latest edition, without ever winning the top honors.
Riders looking for stage wins in sprints included Slovak Peter Sagan (who held the record for stage wins in the Tour at eight going into the event), Belgian Gianni Meersman and Dutch Boy Van Poppel. Also in contention for stage honors were Aussie Michael Matthews, American Tyler Farrar and Belgian Philippe Gilbert. 2010 Tour de France winner Andy Schleck was also present.
Participating teams Sixteen teams participated in the 2013 Tour of California, including eight UCI World Tour teams, three UCI Professional Continental teams, and five UCI Continental teams. They were: UCI ProTeams
UCI Professional Continental Teams
UCI Continental Teams
Schedule
+List of stagesStageDateCourseDistanceTypeWinner1 May 12 Escondido to Escondido Hilly stage 2 May 13 Murrieta to Greater Palm Springs Hilly stage 3 May 14 Palmdale to Santa Clarita Hilly stage 4 May 15 Santa Clarita to Santa Barbara Hilly stage 5 May 16 Santa Barbara to Avila Beach Hilly stage 6 May 17 San Jose Individual time trial 7 May 18 Livermore to Mount Diablo Mountain stage 8 May 19 San Francisco to Santa Rosa Flat stage Total
Stages
Stage 1
The course was mountainous and included as a major obstacle the Category 1 Palomar Mountain climb about halfway through the stage, which took the riders to an altitude of about . Other categorized difficulties were the Mesa Grande (cat. 4) situated before the latter climb and the Cole Grade (cat. 3), whose summit was situated from the finish. The only intermediate sprint was disputed in Ramona after of racing and before the difficulties of the day.
One rider missed the start of the first stage, Ben King () had to withdraw due to a hand injury suffered while training two days prior. The heat proved to be a factor in this stage, as it was reported temperatures reached over . Early in the race, a breakaway of four riders formed: Zak Dempster (), Marsh Cooper (), James Stemper (), and Carter Jones (). The quartet built a maximum lead of ten minutes, Jones grabbed the intermediate sprint points, and Dempster was first atop the Mesa Grande (cat. 4). The latter was dropped on the slopes of Palomar Mountain, a ten mile long challenge featuring a 4,5% average slope, which Jones crested first. The leading group, now reduced to a trio, cooperated on the twisting descent and on the flatter sections afterward, until they tackled the last categorized difficulty, the Cole Grade. The Canadian Marsh Cooper was unable to follow the pace on the short but steep climb, as Stemper and Jones powered away. The duet held a sizable lead, and it looked like they might hold the peloton at bay but , , and took matters into their own hands and started to reel the escape in gradually.
Peter Sagan () was dropped on the Cole Grade, but some teammates folded back to help him reintegrate the main group, which he did. In the run-in to Escondido, world champion Philippe Gilbert () was distanced, and Luis Amaran of took a nasty spill, but was able to remount and finish the stage. Jones and Stemper were finally caught with to go. As the two shook hands to congratulate each other for the big effort, Lieuwe Westra () jumped out of the peloton, and was joined by Francisco Mancebo (). Sagan then had problems with his rear derailleur and was soon relegated to the back of the peloton, where he sorted out the problem without leaving the saddle. The Mancebo-Westra duo cooperated well, taking advantage of the sprinters' teams confusion, and managed to resist. Westra outsprinted Mancebo to take 's second win of the year and the 10 seconds bonification. Sagan won the sprint of the bunch, coming in six seconds after the escapees. Thanks to their long escape, Jones earned the mountains classification jersey while his fellow escapee Stemper won the "Most Courageous" rider jersey.
Stage 1 result RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 0" 3 + 6" 4 + 6" 5 + 6" 6 + 6" 7 + 6" 8 + 6" 9 + 6" 10 + 6"General Classification after Stage 1 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 4" 3 + 12" 4 + 13" 5 + 14" 6 + 16" 7 + 16" 8 + 16" 9 + 16" 10 + 16"
Stage 2
Stage 2 was another very hilly affair with a sprint counting toward the points classification jersey in Hemet after a little more than , before the climbing began. Once again the highest point of the course was situated midway through the race atop the Category 1 Mountain Center climb, which translated to a gain in altitude. Another intermediate sprint was located at the foot of the descent, then the road went flat until the final ascent to the finish in the vicinity of Palm Springs, which was also a Category 1 affair.
The heat was once again a major factor in the race, as the temperatures reached and nearly 120 degrees on the pavement. Afterwards, riders tweeted pictures of blisters from burns on their bodies from lying on the black pavement after the stage. The riders kept themselves cool with ice packs taken from the team cars, tucking them in their jerseys as they were racing through the desert landscape. The day's early breakaway included 's Pat McCarty, Ben Jacques-Maynes (), Scott Zwizanski () and Sylvain Chavanel (). McCarty was the better placed rider in the overall classification at only 16 seconds, which hindered the break's chances greatly. Nevertheless, they held a maximum lead of twelve minutes over the bunch. McCarty took the first intermediate sprint points. The gap started melting when they crested Mountain Center as Jacques-Maynes took the maximum King of the Mountains points. They negotiated the twisting descent to Palm Springs, passing through the last intermediate sprint without contesting it (Zwizanski happened to be at the front). Back in the peloton, race leader Lieuwe Westra suffered a flat tire, but was able to negotiate his way back to the main field by weaving through the team cars.
With to cover and a gap of three minutes, disagreement started to appear in the lead group as Zwizanski placed an acceleration, followed by a dig from Jacques-Maynes, who spent two kilometers alone in front before the quartet got back together. At the foot of the final climb with to the finish, the escapees were finally caught. The ascent was officially long at an average gradient of 10%. The peloton started breaking rapidly thanks to the very steep gradient. Lieuwe Westra () was soon distanced, and lost more than 9 minutes and the yellow jersey, finishing near pre-race favorites, Andy Schleck () and David Zabriskie (). Up the road, Philip Deignan of attacked the leading group of five riders and hung in front for , but was swept back by Tejay van Garderen () and Janier Acevedo (), who went under the flamme rouge in the lead. Acevedo put a last acceleration in and distanced Van Garderen, earning the biggest victory of his career so far and taking the leader's jersey. For his efforts in the break, Chavanel earned the "Most Courageous" rider award.
Stage 2 result RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 12" 3 + 27" 4 + 45" 5 + 55" 6 + 1' 13" 7 + 1' 15" 8 + 1' 15" 9 + 1' 32" 10 + 1' 40"General Classification after Stage 2 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 12" 3 + 27" 4 + 45" 5 + 55" 6 + 1' 03" 7 + 1' 13" 8 + 1' 15" 9 + 1' 32" 10 + 1' 40"
Stage 3
Stage 3 was composed of numerous Category 4 climbs as opposed to the two prior stages which included one or two major difficulties. The first one was situated on Munz Ranch road, the following two occurred on Lake Hughes Road, after which two intermediate sprints were disputed; one near Lake Hughes and another one in the Leona Valley. The last categorized bump was on the Bouquet Canyon Road, from the finish line which was reached via mostly downhill roads in Santa Clarita.
The temperatures were a lot more favorable to the riders on Stage 3. 41-year-old Jens Voigt () attacked right as the flag was dropped and a 23 men breakaway formed. The large group stayed free for until the first categorized climb, as they were reeled back in by the leader's team, . Carter Jones () took the KOM points, securing the mountains classification jersey for another day. At the same moment, another attempt at forming an escape succeeded: Andy Schleck (), Gavin Mannion (), Chad Beyer () and points classification leader Lieuwe Westra () steered clear of the bunch. The gap maximized at 4:45, Beyer took the 2 following King Of the Mountains contests, and the quartet did not contest the intermediate sprints, leaving the points to Westra, who wanted to comfort his lead for the Green Jersey. Schleck took maximum points on the last climb of the day, and the peloton started chasing harder, led by , and . Mannion sat up during the descent to reintegrate the main field, and with to cover and a slight gap of 45 seconds, Schleck and Westra decided to call it quit and chat before the inevitable junction. Beyer had other ideas, soldiered onward and was caught shortly. This last effort netted him the "Most Courageous" rider jersey.
As the quasi-totality of the remaining peloton in the Tour came charging in Santa Clarita, the lead-out trains tried to sort themselves out. The only attack in the final came in the form of Markel Irizar (), who rolled the dice with to go, but the maneuver failed as he spent less than a minute at the front. In the final dash for the line, no lead-out trains stood out and Peter Sagan () seemed distanced until his lead-out man Guillaume Boivin found him and pulled, and at the same time Baden Cooke was leading out Michael Matthews for . As the sprint was unleashed, Sagan was still behind the first row, but managed to find an opening on the right side of the road to beat Matthews by half-a-wheel. This was the ninth victory at the Tour of California for Sagan, who improved his own record.
Stage 3 result RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 0" 3 + 0" 4 + 0" 5 + 0" 6 + 0" 7 + 0" 8 + 0" 9 + 0" 10 + 0"General Classification after Stage 3 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 12" 3 + 27" 4 + 45" 5 + 55" 6 + 1' 03" 7 + 1' 13" 8 + 1' 15" 9 + 1' 32" 10 + 1' 40"
Stage 4
The stage started with a very long downhill false-flat at the bottom of which an intermediate sprint was disputed in Santa Paula. Immediately after the sprint, the road kicked up to the Category 4 Dennison Grade. The latter climb was featured at the midway point of the stage once again. Another intermediate sprint was scheduled on the way down, followed by a Category 3 difficulty situated about from the line. Then the route was mainly flat or downhill.