MORRO BAY, Calif. (May 15, 2019)
Stage 4 ended with the sprinter run up to the line– UAE Emirates’ Jasper Philipsen (BEL) launched the final attack to the finish line, trailed by BORA-hansgrohe’s three-time World Champion Peter Sagan (SVK). With just meters to go, Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s Fabio Jakobsen (NED) rocketed past both to claim the team’s third stage in three days. Cofidis, Solutions Credits Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) followed the trio across the line in fourth place.
Sagan, who won the 2017 Morro Bay stage on this same finish route, took third place today and moves into the green jersey, which he has worn regularly during his years at this race.
Meanwhile, the peloton encountered the unexpected. When race leader Tejay van Garderen (Tacoma, Wash.) came off his bike and suffered a mechanical issue with about 5 miles left to ride, EF Education First Pro Cycling teammate Lachlan Morton (AUS) offered up his bike and the team worked to pace their leader back up to the main group. A crash at the back of the peloton that affected multiple GC riders neutralized the time gap that resulted, with the leader board ending up unchanged after today’s stage.
A rain-dotted ride from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to Morro Bay featured the views of Central California’s Highway 1, which has reopened after a massive effort by Caltrans to repair damage from a 2017 landslide.
The breakaway that held for most of the 133.3-mile stage included two current National Champions – Hagens Berman Axeon’s Jonny Brown (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Israel Cycling Academy’s Roy Goldstein (ISR) – as well as Brown’s teammate Ian Garrison (Decatur, Georgia), Team Novo Nordisk’s Joonas Henttala (FIN), and USA Cycling National Team’s Michael Hernandez (Claremont, Fla.).
Hernandez was the last to be caught with just over 5 miles to go and earned the Breakaway from Cancer® Most Courageous Rider Jersey. TheUSA Cycling National Team will have two riders in jerseys tomorrow with teammate and reigning U.S. U23 National Champion Alex Hoehn (Lenexa, Kansas) retaining the polka dot jersey.
