Stage 4 Play by Play
15:56:54 Tomorrow's individual time trial in Solvang will begin at 11:00 am. Race coverage starts at 15 minutes before the hour. Post your comments and suggestions to Robbie and Joe by emailing amgentoc2007@yahoo.com.
15:55:15 Official Results will be posted as soon as they are in. Check our standings page at http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/race-live/standings.html for jersey holders and overall standings as soon as they are official tonight.
15:49:22 It's confirmed - Bettini nudged past Gerald Ciolek (T-Mobile) at the line.
15:41:09 Bettini sure thinks he won it. He's holding up his thumb and index finger to show how close it was.
15:40:37 Not official, but it looks like Bettini takes the Sprint in a photo finish. We'll really have to wait for an official ruling it was that close.
15:38:20 And Pauolo Bettini appears to take it at the end.
15:37:28 Voigt is an animal! He's done, but what a pull.
15:36:28 Here they come. With about 1.5km to go, it's still Voigt at the front.
15:36:13 Nope. Now it's a big CSC/Lotto train....
15:35:34 Bettini is in a good spot, but Voigt takes a flyer! Is he gonna pull it off, with 2km to go?
15:34:09 Charging into town Freddie Rodriguez's Lotto squad and JJ Haedo's CSC team are moving up, keeping the pace high.
15:32:26 Now T-Mobile up front with only about 7km remaining, the peloton is driving hard, with T-Mobile up front, but now Discovery is moving up, mostly to protect Leipheimer's position.
15:31:36 It didn't work. The catch is official.
15:30:21 It's almost done. Is someone going to take a final dig when the catch comes? Yup. Acton goes for it
15:29:43 Less than 25 seconds. The catch is about to happen folks... and long-time VeloNews update viewers know what that means.
15:27:51 Attacks - The men up front are trying to pick up the pace and there are several attacks as the peloton comes closing in on the escapees. The gap is now 45 seconds with 10km to go.
15:24:26 With 14km to go the leaders are powering toward the finish. We're still looking an update on the time gap. Alejandro Acton (Colavita) and Hilton Clarke (Navigators) try a dig, but the peloton is coming up fast.
15:24:11 The men in front are picking up the pace and the gap is holding
15:17:07 With 20km to go, the leaders are now just about 1:05 ahead of the field.
15:16:54 The peloton is really driving hard under the leadership of Rabobank and Liquigas. The pace back in the field is considerably higher than up front in the break.
15:15:53 The gap - is now down to 1:20, with 23km remaining.
15:14:51 Liquigas and Rabobank have each placed two riders at the front of the peloton. The full Discovery squad is behind them. The odds are pretty good that the men up front will be reeled in before the finish.
15:11:55 Get 20% off AMGEN Tour of California ladies merchandise today with code CYCLIST at www.amgentourofcaliforniastore.com
15:07:01 The gap - The seven leaders are losing time with 27.5km to go. The latest time check gives them only 1:44 ahead of the field.
15:04:09 With 30km to go - The leaders are cruising along nicely, but there is a serious chase underway behind them down by 1:45. The Liquigas and Rabobank teams are now doing the bulk of the work, but Discovery is up there lending a hand.
14:57:03 Gap is down to 2:25.
14:47:40 Back in the peloton - The Discovery team is still leading the field. We would expect to see other teams starting to lend a hand as the finish line nears.
14:45:37 Coming down - The gap is coming down. With our leaders about 42km from the finish, the gap is now just 2:35.
14:44:55 3:05 - The moto with marker board just came up to the break, displaying "3:05," suggesting that the gap is beginning to shrink.
14:39:26 The leaders are now some 49km from the finish, and our recent - corrected - time check puts them at 3:30 ahead of the peloton.
14:34:55 52km to go - The men in the lead are now 52km from the finish.
14:32:24 The gap is growing. Our last time check gives the men in the lead an advantage of 4:30.
14:29:04 Up front, the leaders are still ambling along, with the Discovery team leading the peloton. We'd bet that the chase will begin in earnest within the next 30k or so, with the sprinters' teams leading the charge.
As a reminder, the men in the break are
Aaron Olsen (T-Mobile)
Alejandro Acton (Colavita)
Lucas Euser (Slipstream)
Sean Sullivan (Toyota)
Kirk O'Bee (HealthNet)
Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole)
Hilton Clarke (Navigators)
14:22:41 With 58km to go - The gap is staying fairly steady
14:09:32 The peloton - Are rolling through the sprint at Hearst Castle road... ahead the seven men in the lead, cruised through here about three minutes ago. As a reminder, the leaders on the road are: Aaron Olsen (T-Mobile)
Alejandro Acton (Colavita)
Lucas Euser (Slipstream)
Sean Sullivan (Toyota)
Kirk O'Bee (HealthNet)
Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole)
Hilton Clarke (Navigators)
14:08:55 Heading to the sprint - The next highlight on the road will be the sprint mark at km 142.9. That will be right at the Hearst Castle road, at San Simeon.
14:08:31 The gap is holding steady at 3:00. One thing to keep in mind is that one of the men in the break - Slipstream's Lucas Euser - is a recent graduate of Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo. Maybe he's hoping to get a win in front of his old home town, eh? It's something to keep in mind.
14:08:13 Very stable - The weather is holding and so is the gap. Our leaders are at km 121 and the chase is about three minutes back.
13:34:43 The peloton is now at the top of the second KOM and still about three minutes behind the leaders.
13:30:07 Euser and Laurent again. Laurent takes it. He'll get 6 points and Euser gets 5.
13:28:45 And 200 meters to the final KOM of the day.
13:28:23 The leaders are now at 110km - and they are heading to the climb at 115.2km
13:20:23 Euser and Laurent - Charge to the line. Euser wins and gets four KOM points while Laurent gets three.
13:17:59 200 meters to the 2nd KOM.
13:15:11 It's been on-and-off for the past few kilometers, but right now both the leaders and the peloton are riding under a clear and beautiful sky as they work their way down the Pacific Coast Highway at the 106km mark. The gap is now 3:33.
13:12:01 Five kilometers to the KOM at 109.2km
13:04:23 The leaders - are working their way up to the Cat. 4 climb, which peaks out at 109.2km. There are 4, 3, 2 and 1 points available for the first four spots. Then at 115.2km, there is a Cat. 3, where there are 6, 5, 4, 3 and 1 points available for the top five.
13:01:48 The peloton is now in the feedzone (95km) and the sun is out again.
12:57:00 The wind is picking up and the peloton is now riding in the rain... and the gap is just around 3:15.
12:50:21 The break riders are going back into a rain zone now.
12:46:48 At 85km - The gap is 3:05 and the peloton is being led by a fairly relaxed Discovery team. As the race comes toward the finish, it's likely that the work will be picked up the sprinters' teams, who have plans on winning a stage. Discovery will simply work to maintain the gap, but it's not a big deal for the race leader's team if they don't catch the break.
12:41:49 A beautiful day. The seven men up front are ticking along nicely under a sunny sky. The riders in the break are Aaron Olsen (T-Mobile) Alejandro Acton (Colavita) Lucas Euser (Slipstream) Sean Sullivan (Toyota) Kirk O'Bee (HealthNet) Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole)
12:32:27 In the main field and the break is crusing about 3:30 ahead of the field. The weather is still holding. Here at the finish, the rain has started again.
12:20:40 Rain? While the men on the road are riding under sunny skies, there is a chance that they may be riding into rain up the road again.
12:15:49 The time gap - The peloton is now being led by the Discovery team, but the boys from Disco are not ripping it up like they did yesterday. The gap is now 3:20. The odds are good that they will be letting the break stay out there within a reasonable time, since there is no GC threat and it keeps things calm if there is a small group off the front.
12:09:01 Crossing Bixby Bridge - The peloton is crossing Bixby Bridge and it seems the gap is actually at 3:00.
12:08:54 At 62km - The seven leaders are now 2:15 ahead of the field.
11:53:32 Our latest time check gives the leaders an advantage of 2:05. With no serious GC threats in the group, Discovery will not have to chase as frantically as they did yesterday.
11:50:07 Live video coverage is breaking through the clouds. Its spotty, but we are happy to get through the weather to bring you stage 4 as it approaches San Luis Obispo. Send comments or questions to our announcers Robbie Ventura and Joe Silva at amgentoc2007@yahoo.com.
11:43:51 Laurent goes - and Euser is on his wheel. Laurent holds him off, giving the Frenchman the lead in the climber's competition, bumping Euser's teammate Thomas Peterson There is another Cat. 4 KOM coming up at 109.2km, followed by a Cat. 3 at 115.2. If the break stays away, the Credit Ag' rider will have a good chance to get a solid hold on the jersey
11:41:01 1km to go before the KOM - The seven men up front are heading to the KOM. Laurent is the rider to whom these points matter most, but Euser, the man from Slipstream, may go for it, too.
11:40:46 The men in the break - Up front, we have seven riders now 1:50 ahead of the peloton, as they near the KOM at 43km. The riders in the break are Aaron Olsen (T-Mobile) Alejandro Acton (Colavita) Lucas Euser (Slipstream) Sean Sullivan (Toyota) Kirk O'Bee (HealthNet) Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole)
11:33:45 There is a patch of blue sky out there. The rain has paused a bit. Will the weather clear today? The riders sure hope so. Up front, the leaders have come through the Big Sur sprint and now working their way up to the Cat.4 climb at 43.5km. We've ID-ed the two riders we only mentioned by team. They are Lucas Euser (Slipstream) and Sean Sullivan (Toyota).
11:30:25 Now joining the leaders - Hilton Clarke (Navigators) and two other riders - a Slipstream and a Toyota - have joined up with the leaders.
11:29:11 The leaders are coming up on the day's first sprint mark and it looks like the four men up front have some company. The sprint is at 38.5kmat Big Sur.
11:28:21 We're still hoping get a time check, but our most recent report gave the leaders at 35 seconds.
11:22:05 Rain, rain - The rain continues to dog the coast today. Today's route covers what is arguably one of the most beautiful roads in the world. We covered the course today and were treated to spectactular views and our arrival was delayed when the two of us in the car opted to stop and check out the elephant seals enjoying the beach at San Simeon.
11:15:30 Bettini hopeful - Mr. Rogers also chatted up Paolo Bettini (Quick Step-Innergetic), who said he's enjoying his visit to the United States. "I'm happy to be here, racing in the U.S." said Bettini. "Yesterday was a good test for my legs. There are two stages left for me, and I hope to win one of them."
11:04:56 20km - There have been a healthy number of early forays off the front today, folks, but the field is all together as the peloton courses down the wet and slippery Pacific Coast Highway. We were chatting with Michael Rogers this morning. He said he's looking forward to the TT in Solvang, but is not going to make any predicitions. "I’m pretty happy with my legs on Sierra Road. I couldn’t quite go with Levi and Horner, but it’s still early season." "Those guys are Americans, and they’re obviously motivated for this race. I haven’t spent too much time on the time trial bike in the last few months, but I’m feeling pretty good about Friday. We’ll see.
10:56:48 The weather is rough. We're not getting a video feed from the road and the news is spotty. The rain is so heavy that we may be losing our Internet connection at the footage may be going in and out all day. We will do our best to keep you apprised as things unfold.
10:40:46 And there off. Stage 4 is officially under way.
10:36:09 By the way if you're wondering why Tom Danielson had an especially strained look on his face in that Graham Watson photo from yesterday's stage report, it wasn't just the rigors of the Sierra Road climb. "I picked up some kind of food poisoning yesterday," Danielson told senior writer Neal Rogers this morning. I just couldn't go. But I feel better today, and I hope to ride for Levi and show I'm a good teammate."
10:35:03 Taylor Tolleson (Slipstream-Chipotle), who's wearing the best-young-rider jersey, got himself a nice little writeup in The San Francisco Chronicle today. Says Taylor: "I want to do what I love, and I love riding my bike." Wonder how much he's loving it today?
10:34:37 Rolling through the neutral. We're getting close to showtime.
10:34:17 The peloton is looking at 213.4km (132.6 miles) of damp slogging between Seaside and San Luis Obispo, with three KOMs thrown in just to keep their minds off the squishing sounds coming from their shoes. The views are outstanding, but somehow we suspect these guys will be giving the scenery little attention today.
10:33:59 There's a lot of rockfall along the PCH, including some head-sized jumbos, according to our intrepid editor, and the state is busy scraping them off the road — using snowplows.
10:33:45 In nearby Monterey, says the National Weather Service, we're talking mostly cloudy and 50, with wind out of the southeast at 9 mph. It's even chillier in Big Sur, which the peloton will visit en route to San Luis Obispo, which is enjoying light rain and fog.
10:33:19 The word on the road... is "wet." VeloNews.com editor Charles Pelkey reports that it's been raining all morning long, and the Pacific Coast Highway is slick and rockstrewn in spots as the field prepares for a 14km neutral rollout from Seaside to Carmel. Charles, renowned as a master of understatement, notes, "It's gonna be an uncomfortable day on the bike."
09:57:26 We expect technical difficulties during today's stage due to heavy rainfall. We may not have video coverage for much of the day. We do expect to have replay coverage after the first hour as the riders reach race markers. Please bear with us as we will do our best to get you the best coverage possible.
09:13:56 Stage 4 from Seaside to San Luis Obispo starts at 10:00 am with heavy rainfall expected.
