Thursday 19 May 2016 15:48, UK
Britain’s Tao Geoghegan Hart finished fifth as Peter Sagan won stage four of the Amgen Tour of California and Julian Alaphilippe retained the overall lead.
The peloton split apart on two late climbs and Sagan (Tinkoff) subsequently beat Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) in a 12-man sprint to claim his second win of this year's race and 15th of his career.
Geoghegan Hart, a 21-year-old amateur who rides for the American team Axeon Hagens Berman, made it into the final group and then sprinted to one of the best stage results of his career so far.
Alaphilippe (Etixx - Quick-Step) followed in 10th place to ensure he remains top of the general classification, with his lead over second-placed Peter Stetina (BMC Racing) growing from 19 seconds to 22 after he won three bonus seconds at an earlier intermediate sprint.
Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) formed part of the day's breakaway but was caught and then dropped by the peloton on the run-in to the finish at the Laguna Seca motor racing circuit and crossed the line more than eight minutes down in 69th. Sir Bradley Wiggins (WIGGINS) was almost 12 minutes back in 120th.
The eight-day race continues on Thursday with a 212km fifth stage from Lodi to South Lake Tahoe.
Stage four result
1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff, 5:16:33
2 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing, same time
3 Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data, st
4 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing, st
5 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GB) Axeon Hegans Berman, st
General classification
1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx - Quick-Step, 18:06:17
2 Peter Stetina (USA) BMC Racing, +22sec
3 George Bennett (NZ) LottoNL-Jumbo, +37
4 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing, +40
5 Nielson Powless (USA) Axeon Hegans Berman, +43