Zabriskie surfs to narrow win in Santa Cruz; leads Tour of California

The Garmin Transitions cyclist narrowly beat Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) and Levi Leipheimer (Team RadioShack) after the three formed a breakaway at the base of the Bonny Doon climb, about 20 miles from the finish of the 110-mile race that started in San Francisco.

While Leipheimer set the pace on the steep climb, all three worked together on the final 15-mile run after the summit to hold off a fast-charging chase group. The three topped Bonny Doon with a 90 second lead, which dwindled to 17 seconds as they neared the finish line.

Fist pump

The three leaders shared the work load as they passed through Santa Cruz and along the Pacific Ocean, but Zabriskie grabbed the lead and held onto it for the final kilometer.

He nearly lost it, however, as he started to pump his fist at the finish line and Rogers came within a thickness of a tire of beating him (left).

Although he looked fine on the podium, Leipheimer wasn't satisfied with the results:

“Today didn't work out like I hoped, pretty disappointed. @Zabriskie judged the finish perfectly, congrats DZ.”

The win made a good day for Garmin-Transitions, whose Tyler Farrar won Stage 10 at the Giro d'Italia on Tuesday.

Bonny Doon

The three top finishers were also the top three on the podium; previous yellow-jersey wearer Brett Lancaster finished 9 minutes later, one of the victims of four steep climbs that culminated in the struggle up Bonny Doon.

It was the second year in a row that Bonny Doon was a factor in the race. Last year, Leipheimer attacked on that grade and gave himself enough of a gap over Francisco Mancebo to earn the yellow jersey, which he held for the rest of the race.

On Tuesday, a five-man breakaway comprised of Davide Frattini (Team Type 1), Ryan Anderson (Kelly Benefit Strategies), Andy Jacques-Maynes (Bissell), Eric Boily (SpiderTech) and Will Routley (Jelly Belly) led over the first three climbs of the race.

RadioShack controls

Team RadioShack put pressure on the break along scenic Highway 1 as they neared the final climb into the Santa Cruz mountains.

RadioShack teammates Chris Horner and Lance Armstrong helped set up Leipheimer after they passed the breakaway riders, but Zabriskie and Rogers probably expected the move and stayed with Leipheimer. A favorite who didn't make the move was Andy Schleck of Team Saxo Bank.

While Leipheimer is trying to win his fourth straight Tour of California, Zabriskie has finished in second place the past two years and has stated his desire to win. Zabriskie, the US time trial champion, won the Tour of Missouri last September. 

Top 10 after Stage 3

1. David Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions)

2. Michael Rogers (HTC Columbia) 4 seconds behind

3. Levi Leiphiemer (RadioShack) 6 seconds

4. Peter Sagan (Liquigas) 21seconds

5. Marc  DeMaar (UnitedHealthCare) 24 seconds

6. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin) 27 seconds

7. Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack) 27 seconds

8. Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthCare) 27 seconds

9. Peter Stetina (Garmin) 27 seconds

10. Tom Danielson (Garmin) 27 seconds

Versus coverage

The Versus network has been touting its Tour of California coverage for months, but oddly cut away to hockey pre-game coverage just 1 mile from the finish of the race. At the speeds they were riding, that's a little more than a minute.

I didn't personally witness this outrage, as I was following the race on Tour Tracker so the coverage was seamless. One of the best quotes is from Lance Armstrong, who single-handedly built ratings at the outdoor sports network over his 7 Tour de France championships:

“Who's the dumbass @versustv that cut off @AmgenTourofCali coverage w/ a mile to go for pregame hockey?? #pathetic“

At the risk of something happening with Tour Tracker, I'd recommend that platform for watching the Tour of California.

According to the Versus schedule, it will show a one-hour recap of the day's bike race at 9:30 p.m. (ET).

The Yahoo sports blog reports that Versus had a contractural obligation to air the hockey right at 7 p.m. ET