This photo by maxima25 at flickr.com shows stage winner Paolo Bettini (in white at extreme left) and other cyclists sweeping around a corner approaching the finish in San Luis Obispo.
Italian sprinter and world road race champion Paolo Bettini helped school the peloton at the Amgen Tour of California on Thursday when he took the Stage 4 sprint by a tire tread in San Luis Obispo.
Discovery Channel's Levi Leipheimer held onto his slim three-second overall lead ahead of Team CSC's Jens Voigt, setting the stage for a major contest in Friday's 14.5-mile individual time trial around Solvang.
The Tour of California ends Sunday, and whoever is wearing the leader's golden jersey after Stage 5 could have a good chance holding it through the finish in Long Beach. Last year the time trial was timed for an earlier stage in the Tour, but Floyd Landis was able to hold the gold all the way to the finish.
Rainy weather
Rain pelted the riders through parts of Thursday's race, which begin in Seaside. A series of breaks developed as the racers headed south on Highway 1 along the Pacific coast.
Except for the last breakaway, Discovery didn't let any get too far out in front before reeling them back in. That breakaway had scored a 4 1/2 minute lead on the peloton when Discovery, Rabobank and Liquigas surged ahead to catch up.
Most were brought back by the 3-mile line in San Luis Obispo to set up for a classic sprint finish after the peloton spent five hours in the saddle.
The man in white
Bettini should be a marked man in the peloton, dressed in white shorts and top with a rainbow across his jersey, signifying the world champion colors, earned at the World Road Race Championship won in Salzburg, Austria, last year. Still he was able to lurk in the peloton all day until the bunch finish, sending one of Quick-Step teammates ahead to catapult him first across the line.
Meanwhile, Bicycle.net notes it was the first time — ever — that a reigning Olympic and World Champion won a race held on US soil.
Bettini told VeloNews that he was feeling strong, and that Wednesday “was a good test for my legs.” I'll say it was. I was surprised to see Bettini desparately trying to catch the stage leaders at the finish after climbing the Sierra Road hill.
Provisional results show Germany's Gerald Ciolek of T-Mobile in 2nd and the well-known Tour of California racer J.J. Haedo of Team CSC finishing a close third.
See CyclingNews or VeloNews for standings.
1. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
2. Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC — 3 seconds
3. Rory Sutherland (Aus) Health Net Presented By Maxxis — 15 seconds
4. Christopher Horner (USA) Predictor-Lotto — 16 seconds
5. Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano (Col) Rabobank — 17 seconds
6. Ben Day (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team — 18 seconds
7. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Health Net Presented By Maxxis — 19 seconds
8. Michael Rogers (Aus) T-mobile
9. Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team — 20 seconds
10. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC
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