Levi Leipheimer and Peter Velits found themselves in the front group after the peloton split into several pieces on a tricky descent following a category 1 climb at the 188km Stage 2 of AMGEN Tour of California, and then stayed near the front for the remainder of the race. This was crucial, as Liquigas-Cannondale sat at the front and made sure that the finish was a bunch sprint to protect current overall leader Peter Sagan.
Velits was rewarded for his efforts with a 10th place finish on Monday, while Leipheimer was 37th. Velits earned himself three bonus seconds, while Leipheimer earned one second toward the overall classification. Sagan won his second stage in a row, while Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Barracuda) took second and Leigh Howard (Orica-GreenEDGE) was third.
Tom Boonen, who finished 11'33" back from Sagan, was happy with his finish as he worked hard to give his teammates a chance to be in the front group. Velits is 15th in the general classification (+20") because of his top 10 finish. Leipheimer is 34th, but the same time difference to overall leader Sagan.