With 217 kilometres from Morro Bay to Laguna Seca stage 4 of the 2016 Amgen Tour of California was the longest of the race. It was a rollercoaster ride in partly misty conditions. The race started fast and it took nearly 70 kilometres until a breakaway was allowed up the road. Mark Cavendish (pictured above) managed to get into it and made sure to fly the flag of Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka. He was later called to the podium to receive the honours for being the Most Courageous rider of the day.
Cavendish had helped to establish the break as the gap grew to five minutes. It dropped down to three minutes later. However, it grew again when the break took on the final part of the stage. The break ignored the last sprint and opted to rather keep working together in an attempt to stay away.
In the end, though, the peloton had different plans and reeled the break back in over the final two climbs of the day.
When the bunch entered the Laguna Seca race course, our African team was in the mix again. Racing for Nathan Haas (pictured above), Team Dimension Data tried to set the Australian up inside the final kilometres. He first tried to get clear with around 3 kilometres to go and tried again inside the last few hundred meters. He came close but was denied the win, when Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) and Greg van Avermaet (BMC) just came past him on the line. Haas eventually finished third, securing another podium for Team Dimension Data on today’s stage.
Nathan Haas – Rider
