While most GC riders suffered in yesterday's Tour of California time trial, Team Giant-Shimano put themselves in a very good position with their two American talents Chad Haga and Lawson Craddock. Both finished in the top 15 as some of the best GC riders and are now ready to strike in the upcoming mountain stages.

 

Chad Haga has finished 10th with young compatriot Lawson Craddock just a handful of seconds behind in 13th at the end of the individual time trial on stage two of the Amgen Tour of California.

 

Haga raced around the 20.1km rolling course in a time of 24’43″, clocking an average speed of 48.8kmh, while Craddock came home just eight seconds slower to make it two riders in the top 15 for Team Giant-Shimano. As a reward for his efforts, Craddock also earnt himself the leaders jersey in the best young rider competition.

 

The stage win went to Bradley Wiggins (Sky) who blitzed the course at a speed of 51.8kmh, finishing 44 seconds ahead of his nearest rival. As a result of this he assumes the overall race lead heading into tomorrow’s third stage which features a mountain finish atop Mount Diablo.

 

After the stage, Craddock confirmed how tough it was out there on the course today. He said: “With the rolling terrain it was very difficult and not a perfect course for me but I kept focused and was able to pull out a good time.

 

“It is all still very close after the top three and this will make the next mountain top finishes very decisive.

 

“I haven’t actually noticed the pressure of racing here for a WorldTour team now compared to before. The team only expect me to do my best and it is great to be here with such a strong and prestigious team. It has been a lot of fun so far and I’m already looking forward to the next stages.”

 

Haga added: “The TT was hard but after three practice laps I knew the course and this helped me to execute my pacing exactly as I wanted to – I had nothing left at the finish so I can be happy.

 

“Tomorrow will be very hard but I know the climb from last year and I think that it suits me quite well being fast and not too steep. Together with Lawson and Daan we have a strong team to keep challenging there and I am looking forward to it.”

 

Young Dutchman, Daan Olivier also rode a strong race to finish with a time of 25’27″ in 32nd place and sits 27th overall with Haga ninth and Craddock 12th.