MOUNT BALDY, Calif. (AP) — Dutchman Robert Gesink won the difficult seventh stage of the Tour of California on Saturday to take a 46-second lead in the overall standings into the largely ceremonial final leg.
Gesink, the Rabobank rider who broke his right leg in a training accident last fall, pulled away from Colombia's Jhon Atapuma in the final-half mile to win the 78.3-mile leg from Ontario to Mount Baldy in 3 hours, 37 minutes, 8 seconds. Gesink was fifth in the 2010 Tour de France.
"This is amazing," Gesink said. "At the end of last season I crashed and broke my leg. In January, I still had to learn how to walk. Now I'm back."
Atapuma, riding for Colombia-Coldeportes, was second in the same time.
Dave Zabriskie, the Garmin-Barracuda rider from Salt Lake City, was second in the overall standings entering the final 46.2-mile stage from Beverly Hills to Los Angeles.
Tom Danielson of Garmin-Barracuda and Lyme, Conn., was third overall, 54 seconds behind.
"I've been working really, really hard in the last few months," said Gesink, who won his first Tour of California stage in 2008. "It didn't always work out in the beginning and that's difficult on an athlete, always wanting to win. Now to be back at the highest level is unbelievable."
Zabriskie, a former Tour de France leader who assumed the race lead after a dominating fifth stage time trial, will likely finish second in the race for the fourth time.