Jaramillo retains polka dot ahead of queen stage

Mannion top five on stage 4 from Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling finished another successful stage at the Amgen Tour of California with Gavin Mannion claiming fifth place after a long day in the breakaway.

“The goal today was to get Jaramillo in the day’s break, but he covered a few moves that didn’t go and was in the red,” Mannion said. “Ultimately, I came up to cover a move – going across (Evan) Huffman and (Rob) Britton – and it ended up sticking, which meant I was in the break. Huffman was really pinning it the whole time, pushing hard at first to make sure the break stayed out. We were driving hard over the first two KOM climbs, and then once we realized that the break might hold to the line, around when we had a nine minute gap, we just started to work steady for the rest of the day.”

After 160 km of racing, Huffman took the stage for Rally Cycling. UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling brought GC contender Javier Acevedo comfortably across the line at the same time as his closest rivals, ready to start tomorrow’s queen stage in the best position possible.

“As for tomorrow, we know that it will be the hardest day of the week, and we are ready to keep fighting for the KOM points and to put Janier Acevedo in the best position possible on GC,” Jaramillo said.

Tomorrow’s 125.5km “Queen” stage, from Ontario to Mt. Baldy will be another big test for climbers. There’s a good chance the race will stay together until the final three miles when a small group will likely attack the summit and the best legs will decide the day.

Stage 4 Results

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