Stage 1 Tour of California

Stage 1 of the Tour of California finished Sunday in Santa Rosa with three circuit laps, giving more opportunities to take photos. Even though it was raining, I decided to drive to Santa Rosa for the experience of a pro bike race and to try some action photography.

The experience was good, memorable, and wet. The action photography—well, not so good. Conditions were poor. Even at ASA 800 I could not shoot faster than 1/160 second at f2.8, so I had a lot of shots with both motion blur and depth of field blur. Plus, I’m sure my technique was awful. I stood next another amateur shooting with a Canon 300mm f2.8 and I was envious.

Francisco Mancebo broke away from the peleton early on and held on to win the stage and take the yellow jersey.

On one of the final circuits Lance Armstrong was leading the Astana team. I’ve never understood bike racing tactics, but I’m not sure the Astana team was pushing hard. It could be better tactics to let another team be the leader and have to expend all the energy setting the pace on the next stage at the front of the peleton.

More photos are below in the gallery.


Links
—Amgen Tour of California 2009 stage 1