Team Type 1’s Thomas Rabou Retains King of the Mountain at Amgen Tour of California

Santa Cruz — For the second straight day, Team Type 1 was the king of the mountains of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California, picking up the maximum number of points at all but one of stage three’s King of the Mountain sites. Like Thomas Rabou one day prior, Team Type 1 climber Davide Frattini was a dominant force when the road went upwards, and personally ran the team’s win streak at King of the Mountain points to seven in a row. When Frattini’s day was finished, Chris Jones and Valeriy Kobzarenko took their turn to show that Team Type 1 can truly compete with the titans of the sport.

The wait may have been longer than usual for the decisive breakaway to form on stage three, a 113-mile route that departed from San Francisco and ended four and a half hours later in Santa Cruz, but after thirty miles of intense racing, a five-man breakaway formed on the slopes of the day’s first rated climb, the category two climb up Tunitas Creek Road. Contained in this breakaway was Team Type 1’s Italian climbing ace, Davide Frattini, who had previously won the King of the Mountains jersey at the 2010 Redlands Bicycle Classic. Once at the front, Frattini’s mission was to ensure the safety of Thomas Rabou’s King of the Mountains jersey, which he had earned on stage two, by taking as many King of the Mountains points as possible.

Frattini quickly showed that he was up to his assigned task, as he scored the top placing at the peak of Tunitas Creek Road. The break quickly descended the far side of the climb, navigating narrow, technical roads before beginning the category three climb up California Route 84. Frattini dictated the pace up the climb, and before long, the break was contesting the day’s second King of the Mountain sprint. Again it was Frattini who was first over the summit, taking another win for the Team Type 1 squad.

One more climb stood on the breakaway’s immediate horizon, the category four ascent of Pescadero Road. Frattini successfully descended off of California Route 84, and set to cresting the day’s third climb in the lead. Frattini did just that, edging his way over the top in first, the seventh time Team Type 1 held that distinction in their last seven tries. Once over Pescadero Road, Frattini’s time in the lead began to get more tenuous, as the pace in the chasing peloton lifted significantly. The main general classification contenders were beginning to come to the fore, in anticipation of the category two Bonny Doon climb.

Team Type 1 was not to be left in the peloton’s wake, and despite the chasing pack having caught Frattini and his breakaway companions, Team Type 1 was safely tucked away as the field hit the bottom of Bonny Doon. The pace at the front was hot, and it did not take long for the peloton to splinter as small groups were spread out across the climb. A major chase group came together only seconds behind a leading group of three which included such cycling superstars as Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) and Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank). Clawing their way back up into this group were Team Type 1’s Chris Jones and Valeriy Kobzarenko who found themselves ahead of such riders as the champion of Luxembourg, Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank).

Nothing could deter Jones and Kobzarenko, and as their group began to bring back the elite leading trio, Jones and Kobzarenko were never far from the front. As the two Team Type 1 leaders approached the finish line in Santa Cruz, they schemed to deliver Kobzarenko to a top five finish. Their plans were derailed, however, when Kobzarenko suffered a flat tire inside the final 500 meters. Despite the setback, Jones was able to notch an excellent 15th place finish, while Kobzarenko rode his flat tire home to 27th place.

After a hard day in the saddle on stage two, King of the Mountain leader Thomas Rabou finished up his day having saved his legs for battle on stage four. Thanks to selfless teamwork by Davide Frattini, Rabou’s lead in the classification was never in jeopardy, and he will enjoy another day at the top of the standings. Frattini’s work moved him into third place in the King of the Mountains compeition, eight points adrift of his teammate.

Not long after the start of the fourth stage of the Amgen Tour of California in San Jose, Team Type 1 will face the only first category ascent in the entire race, the feared Sierra Grade climb. Team Type 1 will look to secure Rabou’s King of the Mountains lead with their eighth climbing win in the race’s first four days. One more rated climb, the category four climb up Mines Road, will give way to a mostly downhill run-in to the finish in Modesto, where Team Type 1 sprinters Ken Hanson and Aldo Ino Ilesic will look to rule the day after 121.5 miles in the saddle.