The second stage of the Tour of California was marked by the outstanding performance of the Olympic time trial champion Bradley Wiggins (Sky). After twenty kilometers the Brit was clearly ahead of Australian Rohan Dennis (Garmin Sharp) and local hero Taylor Phinney (BMC).
Dennis initially held the fastest time. The Australian started early and was able to keep all of his rivals at bay – until Wiggins came along. When the time was taken after ten kilometers, the 2012 Tour de France winner was 19 seconds ahead of Dennis. In the end it was supposed to be 44. The only driver who could have come within range of the two after that was Phinney. And although the American from Boulder drove a good race, he had to settle for third place.
From a German point of view, Jens Voigt (Trek) rode a strong time trial. The Berliner lost just under a minute and a half to Wiggins. Most of the climbers were farther behind, with the NetApp Endura duo David de la Cruz and Leopold König coming off best. The Spaniard lost 1:34, the Czech 1:42 to Wiggins.
Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), who won the opening stage, finished in 27th place and lost the lead to Wiggins. This should defend it on the coming stages, as long as he doesn't lose too much time on the climbers on the mountain.
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