Zabriskie rolls out at the start in the yellow leader's jersey after his fine time trial yesterday.
ZABRISKIE
Not surprisingly, an attack has gone up the road from km zero.
Zabriskie's boys in blue will do the majority of the pacemaking for the peloton early in the race...
...tho their pace is somewhat liesurely as the peloton approaches the first sprint line of the day with all the points taken by the escape.
It was a long day under the California sun.
The break extended their lead to around seven minutes for most of the day.
The escape nears the top of the second KoM of the day.
Sylvain Georges leads the escape up towards the third KoM of the day, he'll soon lift the pace and attempt a solo win from 48 km out...
Meanwhile, back in the shrinking peloton, Zabriskie and the other heads of state are all more concerned with eachother.
In the autobus, Boonen is chatting with fellow Belgian Jasper Stuyven. The grouppeto will finish just over thirty minutes after the winner.
Ben King fetches water for his teammates...
LIquigas has come to the front, the lead is shrinking steadily, down to near 3:50 with 30 km to go...
Can Georges stay away?
The peloton is flying in pursuit, it is going to be close!
Georges has done it! He wins by just 28 seconds!
He has given his all on the day, and impressive win!
Sagan makes taking second place look easy - had the course been a kilometer longer...
It seems fitting that there is a single bear on for the rider who soloed in for the win.