Greig Leach

Two steep climbs within the final 5 kilometers ensured that the marquee sprinters would not be present to contest for the stage victory. However the World Champion, Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) is not your typical sprinter. It was Sagan who was able to sprint around Nathan Hass (Dimension Data) and still hold off the chasing Greg Van Avermaet (BMC). It was Van Avermaet that Sagan left on the penultimate climb of 23rd Street in Richmond, Virginia on his was to winning his Rainbow Jersey. Van Avermaet did manage to exact some revenge in some of the early Spring races in Belgium this year. Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quickstep) managed to hang on to finish at the same time as the leaders thus holding on to Yellow. Sagan may have done enough to solidify is hold on what will become his fourth Green Jersey in the Tour of California, a feat he has already accomplished in the Tour de France.