Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) won the final stage of the Amgen Tour of California for the third year running, out-sprinting Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) in state capital Sacramento.
Cavendish went into the final sprint without any teammates, having burned through his lead-out in the final kilometres to bring back a stubborn breakaway group.
Sagan, with Cavendish, piggy-backed on stage seven winner Alexander Kristoff's Katusha train and sprinted past the Norwegian in the final 100m.
Earlier in the 138km stage, on a particularly straight section of road, green jersey wearer Sagan attempted to bring the race to life and split the peloton with a burst off the front. The world champion seemed angered that most of his Tinkoff teammates hadn't followed his move, with Sagan retreating back into the peloton for the rest of the stage.
Escape group, stage eight of the 2016 Tour of California
(Image credit: Watson)
Once the teams got onto the finishing circuit in Sacremento, Tinkoff came to the front in numbers this time, needing to bring back the seven-man breakaway, who were still over a minute ahead of the pack.
Tinkoff's show of strength saw the peloton strung out on the wide roads, but with two kilometres to ride the breakaway started to attack each other, meaning Dimension Data needed to use Mark Renshaw to help drag them back, leaving Cavendish alone for the final stages.
Watch highlights of stage eight of the Tour of California
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Katusha swarmed to the front for Kristoff, with Sagan and Cavendish sitting on the Norwegian's wheel. Sagan pre-empted Kristoff's sprint and got the edge on him, but Cavendish wasn't to be beaten, easing past Sagan and over the line.
Cavendish's former teammate Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quick Step) sealed the general classification, finishing 21 seconds ahead of Rohan Dennis (BMC) to take his first stage race title.
Stuart Clarke is a News Associates trained journalist who has worked for the likes of the British Olympic Associate, British Rowing and the England and Wales Cricket Board, and of course Cycling Weekly. His work at Cycling Weekly has focused upon professional racing, following the World Tour races and its characters.
