Argentinian cyclist Juan Jose Haedo won stage 1 of the Amgen Tour of California today. In a dramatic field sprint, Haedo shot to the front and stayed there in the final 50 meters to the finish line.

Today’s stage saw a 40 mile breakaway by Jackson Stewart of KodakGallery.com/Sierra Nevada Pro and Jean Marc Marino of Credit Agricole. The pair jumped away from the Peleton early on and stretched their lead to 3:20 before a concerted effort by the peleton caught them just outside Santa Rosa. The pair weren’t sure whether they’d make it all the way to Santa Rosa alone, said Stewart: “(Marino) was really strong and I felt that I was riding really well. But, I knew how much Levi wanted to come into his hometown with that (leader) jersey, and he showed it from the gun. We kind of had mixed thoughts if we were going to make it or not.”

Stewart sprinted away from Marino to capture the Pt Reyes sprint.

Levi Leipheimer kept his yellow jersey, to the delight of his hometown crowd, and himself. “I%u2019ve been dreaming for month, training the whole winter, every day, thinking about the possibility of winning the prologue and bringing the yellow jersey into my hometown,” said Levi, “and then to actually realize that dream is something I can%u2019t describe. It%u2019s an amazing feeling.”

See Amgen website for more info.

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