Stage 2: Tom Boonen Claims His First AToC Victory

Stage 2 Results | Video | Press Release Tom Boonen has now won stages of major races on three continents. The big Belgian blew past High Road’s Mark Cavendish to grab the stage 2 win of the Amgen Tour of California in downtown Sacramento on Tuesday. Gerolsteiner’s Heinrich Haussler came second with the recently out-of-retirement Mario Cipollini showing he still can turn the pedals with a third-place performance.

“The last kilometer I got in front with Paolo [Bettini],” Boonen said. “It was a little bit of a mess. It was Cipo' who let the High Road guy go. With 200 meters I saw Cavendish with 20 meters in front of me. I opened it up and was able to pass him before the finish.”

It truly was a day for the sprinters, with Slipstream-Chipotle’s Tyler Farrar moving into the yellow jersey after scoring bonus seconds in both intermediate sprints.

Coming into the final 400 meters, Cavendish exploded off the front of the field, opening a huge gap. There was just one problem: he thought he was leading out teammate Gerald Ciolek, who was no longer on his wheel.

Cavendish had lost his earpiece and couldn’t hear High Road management yelling. At around 150m, Cavendish sat back in the saddle, obviously expecting his teammate to come flying by. When no one came, Cavendish glanced back, saw what had happened, and made a last-ditch effort to keep the sprint alive himself.

The veteran Boonen calmly kept himself in the draft until his scheduled departure. His flight came in right on time.

Almost as stunning as Boonen’s patience was the roar of the old Lion King, Cipollini.

“It’s incredible for me,” Cipollini said at the finish. “After three years of no racing, I am very, very old, 41 years. I think it’s incredible.” Excerpted from