LottoNL-Jumbo’s Mike Teunissen finished 13th in the heavy second stage of the Tour of California on Monday. Ben King (Cannondale Cycling Team) won the 148.5-kilometre stage to Santa Clarita by beating his escape companion in a sprint à deux. The two rode free for most of the day after starting with a group of four. King also took over the race lead.

The riders tried hard to join the escape from the start, when it was raining attacks on the first category mountain. The pace uphill was too much for many riders.

Hard racing
"It was a real tough stage today," Sports Director Frans Maassen said. "On the first category climb, Dylan Groenewegen was dropped with Van Winden and Robert Wagner, as was Kristoff, Cavendish and 60 other riders. Alexey Vermeulen rode with a leading group of 22 riders. After the summit, all riders came back together and the four-man group formed. "

The foursome gleaned over seven minutes until Tinkoff, Trek-Segafredo and BMC came into action. However, they could not catch the two ahead.

Teunissen
"In the final, the peloton had to climb two more mountains of second category. That was too much for Dylan, Robert and Dennis. Mike Teunissen climbed over the mountains well and sprinted to 13th place. "

Mountain finish
On Wednesday, the peloton faces another tough ride uphill. "It’s an important day for the classification,” Maassen said. “The finish is up a 12-kilometre climb. Bennett is our man. We are unsure because he has not raced in a while due to illness, but he trained at altitude in Colorado. We'll lead him to the foot of the last mountain and then we will see."