SANTA ROSA, Calif. — Mike Friedman jump-started a breakaway during Stage 2 at the Amgen Tour of California on Monday, sticking with the leaders until the final 30k of the cold, rainy stage.
Brett Lancaster of Cervelo Test Team won the stage and captured the overall lead with six stages to go.
The day overall was unlucky for Jelly Belly p/b Kenda, which is down to six riders after Sean Mazich had a flat at the base of a steep climb and rode to the finish alone, missing the time cut. Jonathan Chodroff suffered cramping in his legs during Stage 1 and had to drop out.
Friedman said he powered through a day of “bad legs” Monday while teammate Will Routley endured a crash but is unhurt.
“It was a good day for the team, but we had some bad luck,” Friedman said.
He said he still feels good about the team’s prospects for the rest of the week.
“We’ve got to stay positive and look at what we can still do. We still have the main climbers,” he said. “It’s not optimal but we’re sitting okay.”
Team director Danny Van Haute said the strategy doesn’t change despite the tough odds.
“We raced with the same odds in the Tour of Korea. We had four guys when everybody else had six, and we still won,’ he said.
“We’ll continue to race like the last three races — smart and aggressive,” he said.
Tuesday’s Stage 3 spans almost 120 miles from San Francisco to Santa Cruz.
