An 18 rider select group took advantage of nasty crosswinds inside 50km to go at the 183.6km Stage 5 of AMGEN Tour of California on Thursday, with Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Leopard) sensing the wind change, and driving the tempo on the front of the peloton to force the split with several GC contenders and top sprinters.
Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team was caught in the second echelon, and while all of OPQS did everything they could to try and bring the 18 rider elite group back, the gap hovered around a minute for the remainder of the stage.
Riders such as Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team), Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp), Peter Sagan (Cannondale), and Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE) made the select group, and they remained together until 5.2km remained. That is when Voigt launched an attack, and the group seemed unwilling to chase until it was too late. A few riders tried to bridge, but Voigt went on to win the stage solo. Farrar was 2nd, and Thor Hushovd (BMC Racing Team) was 3rd.
Sylvain Chavanel was the top finisher for OPQS, in 24th place.
OPQS looks next to a 32.1km time trial in San Jose on Friday.