Wasn’t there a bicycle movie where the protagonist breaks away early in the race and manages to hold the lead for the entire race?
![The Peloton Stage 1](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3231/3283159307_483ff15f91.jpg)
That happened in real life Sunday during Stage 1 of the Amgen Tour of California when Rock Racing’s Francisco Mancebo broke away shortly after the neutral start and rode — all by himself — for 100 miles. A small group gave chase but Mancebo crossed the finish line alone and victorious as the huge crowds in Santa Rosa went wild.
![One man race](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3581/3283991328_856eb69bd3.jpg)
Fabian Cancellara of Saxo Bank, who wore the yellow jersey in today’s stage, dropped out of the race, as did AG2R rider Tadej Valjavec. Several riders — including Lance Armstrong and Carlos Sastre — crashed on the wet, windy mountain roads. At least one team reportedly ran out of wheels they had so many flats.
Vincenzo Nibali got second place on Sunday; Jurgen Van De Walle took third.
![Tour of California Stage 1 Podium](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3638/3284006202_873ba9c1ec.jpg)
A shout out to the people I ran into today: Ken Conley, David Bernstein, Mike Norris who was shooting for Steephill.TV, and a writer (whose name I forget) for Bicycle.Net. Visit their sites for great photography, news, and coverage. Apologies to all the people I missed today — I intended to spend the day in Santa Rosa, but stayed out too late in Sacramento last night and got a very late start Sunday morning.
Tomorrow: Sausalito to Santa Cruz.