Peter Sagan of Liquigas continued his Tour of California success with a win in Stage Two Tuesday. The 22-year-old Liquigas rider again showed poise beyond his years as he waited calmly to get a slow puncture attended to, then raced back to the head of the peloton in time to win the final sprint.
This is the second stage where the Slovakian champion successfully ascended the big climbs, stayed up front on the descents, recovered from mechanical problems, and still managed to get back to outsprint the rest of the field.
At the finish, Sagan swept around the outside of Orica-GreenEdge sprinter Leigh Howard, seeming to catch him off guard, and exploded toward the finish line. Garmin-Barracuda’s Heinrich Haussler was right behind but couldn’t match the Slovakian’s speed.
Sagan retains the leader’s yellow jersey, and will probably keep it for the next two stages. The time trial might be his downfall though; his size and power might work against him—or he might ride the stage of his life and win that too.
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