And welcome to VeloNews.com’s live coverage of the fifth stage of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California.

This is the longest day of this year’s edition of America’s largest stage race, and will take us 134.3 miles from Visalia to Paso Robles — that’s 216km for those of you living in modernized countries.

The first 80 or 90 miles of this route are flat, but could be windy, as the road is quite exposed as in winds through the San Joaquin Valley. The final 40 miles or so are hillier, but there are no major categorized climbs.

There are two intermediate sprints today, both coming in the final 30 miles.

You can reach us by clicking that little “Contact our editors” button on the bottom of this page. We’re also keeping an eye on the @velonewslive feed on Twitter, so you can get in touch that way if you prefer.

It’s going to be a long stage folks, so there should be time for some discussion. We have two reporters in the caravan — Neal Rogers and John Wilcockson. VeloNews tech writer Matt Pacocha also is with the race today, and photographers Casey B. Gibson and Graham Watson are on moto on this sunny day.

Yesterday, write/photographer Mark Johnson was in the caravan as well, in the Garmin team car. You can read his report and see his photos on the VeloNews.com homepage now.

Ok, we are getting in touch with our boys in the caravan. We have an early six-man break off the front. They have about 3 minutes over the field. They are:

Pieter Weening (Rabobank), Jeff Louder (BMC), Cameron Evans (OUCH), Matthew Crane (Jelly Belly), Curtis Gunn (Fly V Australia) and Glen Chadwick (Rock Racing).

Astana is at the front of the pack, with Leipheimer safely in the mix.

After the usual flurry of attacks in the early miles, this group came together, and it has the look to be the Break du Jour.

Here are their GC positions and gaps:

33. Pieter Weening Rabobank at 00:06:13
50. Glen Chadwick Rock Racing at 00:15:29
52. Cameron Evans Ouch Presented By Maxxis at 00:15:56
55. Matthew Crane Jelly Belly Cycling Team at 00:17:42
76. Jeffry Louder Bmc Racing Team at 00:26:43
97. Curtis Gunn Fly V Australia P/b Successful Living Foundation at 00:30:42

Our guys in the caravan today report that the farm fields smell like, well, like farm fields. It may be a long opening 70 miles passing by these fields.

We are checking with our reporters on their opinions of the chalk dust at the end of yesterday’s stages. The race is encouraging fans to use chalk – rather than spray paint – to support their faves. It wasn’t much of an issue during the rainy stages, but it really came up yesterday, as you can see in the finish photos.

The break is working together nicely, working with the wind from their right. Astana is in single file on the front, five riders then Levi.

we are 23 miles in, for this 134 mile stage.

Word from the caravan is the gap was 6 minutes at the 25 mile mark.

You will be happy to know that at least some of the supporters are using paint, instead of chalk today. According to the Tribune of San Luis Obispo, a group of Paso Robles High School students have painted the words “Paso Robles” and “Bearcats” on city streets.

The paintings were part of an effort by school and city leaders to make the finish line recognizable from aerial photographs.

Boy, that went fast. The wind is from the riders’ right and they are echelon-ing subtly.

By the way, the The Trib also reports that local firefighter Roy Knickman visited three Paso elementary schools to talk about perseverance and the rewards people gain from working hard.

VeloNews readers may remember Mr. Knickman as a bronze medalist from the 1984 Olympics.

The Solvang TT tomorrow is key, and despite the length of today’s stage, today should give the key GC riders a chance to “rest” a bit.

Which helps explain why the peloton looks comfortable letting the break build up a big gap – it’s over six minutes now.

If you missed the good news yesterday, we have fixed the mobile feed, so you can follow on your Iphone or other phone by pointing your browser to http://mobile.velonews.com/live.

6:45 gap. Three of the riders have drifted back to their team cars to gets some bottles.

And it’s wide and flat, flat, flat. There is an irrigation ditch to the riders’ right. Many of the teams are loading up their water carriers with bottles and food and sending them back up to the field.

VeloNews’ European correspondent Andy Hood reports that Davide Rebellin (Diquigiovanni) won his second stage of the Ruta del Sol today. Rabobank’s Joost Posthuma now leads the race.

And the gap is still 6:45 ahead of the Astana-led peloton. The wind is now from dead ahead, perhaps slightly to the rider’s left.

The six men in the break are working well together.

The break is at mile 45 and the gap has come up slightly. Just 88 miles to go.

David in Sacramento is asking if we expect the breakaway to be reeled in to protect Leipheimer’s jersey?

Unfortunately for the break, David, the pattern is for the leader’s team, in this case Astana, to work to keep the break to a reasonable gap for most of the day, and then for the sprinters’ teams to take over to reel the break in in time for the finish. Having the break out there makes the ride a little steadier for the bunch for most of the day.

The breakaway riders are of course aware of this, and experienced riders will not kill themselves early in the day, but perhaps look for an opportunity later in the stage, if the chase hesitates a bit too much or the finish terrain turns out to be more challenging than expected.

JeanLuc is asking our opinion on Lance Armstrong’s strategy for tomorrow’s time trial.

Well since you asked.

The strategy will be to go full bore and do his best time possible. He also will start before Leipheimer, so his splits will be useful for Leipheimer’s pacing. There is only so much pacing one can do in a time trial, especially a relatively short one, and holding anything back could cost Armstrong his GC position.

If Armstrong happens to beat Leipheimer (which the Live Update Dude does not expect) well, then, that will get interesting, won’t it?

The wind is picking up, and the break is feeling the pain. The gap is now 5:35 as the break approaches the feed zone at mile 55

David in Indianapolis is asking whether a rider like Tom Boonen cares more about the Tour de France green jersey, a classic win, or a world championship.

David, our Euro correspondent Andrew Hood did an insightful interview with Boonen a few weeks ago, which you can read here: http://www.velonews.com/article/87106.

But I, your humble Live Update Dude, would say that Boonen is at a position in his career where he is looking to fill in the holes in his results, to win the races he hasn’t won, and to repeat at the big races. In other words, he has the luxury of racing for the history books at this point. And there is no reason that a rider like Boonen can’t win all of the above in one season, or at least come close. That kind of year-round consistency is well-regarded by his Belgian fans, especially.

The boys are fed and the peloton is approaching the zone now. The latest gap is 5:50. Garmin’s Allen Lim is twittering that this may be the flattest road he’s ever been on.

Heidi in Reno is asking if Mark Cavendish will prevent Boonen from reaching his goals.

Well, Boonen and Cav won a nearly equal number of races last season — someone is sure to correct me, but I recall that Cav won 17 times and Boonen won 16 times? — but Boonen won that Roubaix thing, and then was not invited to the Tour de France, so it’s hard to compare.

Boonen is certainly a more mature racer who can win in a wider range of conditions than Cavendish can at this point, while Cavendish arguably is faster over the critical last 150 meters. But Cavendish is getting more well-rounded all the time, as John Wilcockson reported in his stage 4 report on VeloNews.com this morning.

The break is at mile 71 and the gap is back up to six mins. Astana still at the front, but Columbia and Garmin also near the front.

Astana has five – no six – riders at the front, lined up diagonally to work with the wind from the left. the breakaway, likewise, is tight to the left side of the road. The latest split is 6:15.

Alison in … gmail land … asks Where is Contador? Is he feuding with Levi or Lance.

We don’t think there is a feud, Astana is just a big team and can send riders to multiple big races.

So this week Contador is starting his season a little more slowly than Leipheimer and Armstrong, at Portugal’s Volta ao Algarve stage race. Our Euro Guy Andrew Hood is there, and he’s loving it. You can read his latest report here: http://www.velonews.com/article/88217/.

Take a look at the results for today’s stage. You will see names like McEwen, Contador, Kloden, Ciolek, Gilbert, Chavenel, Millar, Fothen … So even while the Tour of California has arguably the best field ever assembled in the U.S., there are still a lot of top pro riders left over to ride in Portugal!

The gap is up a hair as the breakaway rolls past a gran elevator.

Brandon in Denver wants to know how Scott Nydam is doing after his ugly crash yesterday.

Neal Rogers, who has sped ahead of the race to the finish, is giving us an update. He says Nydam had a concussion and a broken collarbone. Kim Kirchen also broke his collarbone and Oscar Freire has two broken ribs.

The break is at 72 miles into the race. the latest split has them at 6:05

Joe in Washington state is asking, what about the water bottles that pro riders toss – is it ok to pick them up for souvenirs?

Joe, most well funded pro teams do not re-use bottles, so yes it’s kosher to pick them up. Just give them a good scrubbing! At smaller domestic races, some team workers will collect the bottles that their riders chuck near the feed zones in order to re-use them, so that might not be a good place to gather souvenirs.

Last year at the Leadville 100 race, I saw people picking up Lance Armstrong’s discarded food wrappers for souvenirs. yuck.

tick tick

Not sure if the break could fade back if they wanted – Astana appears determined to keep that gap at six minutes. This could turn into a mass track stand, with 100 riders stopped six minutes behind six others.

David in cyberspace asks – what about Cameron Evans – wasn’t he disqualified yesterday for hanging onto a car?

Actually David, Cam was fined 50 Swiss francs and given a 20-second penalty for sheltering behind a car for a bit too long (and within sight of an official). So he can continue, and he’s looking good today.

For the break they are at 81 – now 82 miles

The latest gap is up over 7 minutes for the first time today.

The leaders are hitting the bumps. They are starting to roll up a little, bit, by bit, and the gap is growing to near eight minutes.

They don’t appear to be too motivated right now – maybe they’d like some other teams to take over now that the race has reached the hills? The gap is near eight minutes.

A reader asks why some of the other teams – those without sprinters – don’t attack Astana and “make a race out of it.”

My opinion: It’s still too early. This is a looong stage. And there is a critical TT tomorrow. So they are happy to let the Astana boys power the race and for a bit longer.

Several readers have asked if the riders were bothered by the chalk dust at the finish yesterday. One former school teacher says switching from black boards to “white boards” was a godsend.

Our guy Neal Rogers on the scene says none of the riders he’s talked to have mentioned it. It sure made the finish line photos look cool, though, huh?

That’s the consensus pick for today’s stage by the VeloNews men on the scene.

Jeffrey in Pittsburgh says, isn’t Peter Weening, at 6:13 on GC, the leader on the road at the moment? Would Astana let him take the jersey?

Jeffrey,

The answer to your first question: yup he is, for what that distinction is worth. Something to tell your grandchildren, I suppose.

As to the second question, we’d expect the sprinters’ teams to easily pull in this group in the final miles, so Astana’s got nothing to worry about.

The break is mile 89 and the chase is starting to look a bit more animated, with Highroad and Quickstep sending some riders to the front.

There are some Garmin, Quick Step, Saxo, Cervelo and Columbia riders taking some pulls at the front of the chase group, as it heads up a decent little leg-sapper of a hill. The gap is now 7:15.

So the sprinters’ teams are giving Astana a hand. It’s conceivable that some opportunist might try to spring out of the group on one of these hills. We’ll keep an eye out for that.

And the gap is under seven minutes.

the chase is really getting animated. Leipheimer is tucked in behind Armstrong and there is a Captain American fan with a massive afro cheering them on. The gap is 6:20

Just past mile 100 the riders will pass the sprint point at Cholame. History and film buffs may recognize the town as the spot of James Dean’s death in 1955.

On September 30, Dean was driving his Porsche Spyder to an auto race in Salinas, California with his mechanic Rolf Wutherich. The two were traveling westbound on highway 41, when a Ford
truck, driven by college student Donald Turnupseed, turned abruptly in front of Dean. The two cars collided, and both Dean and Wutherich were thrown from the car. Wutherich survived, but Dean died of a broken neck. He was only 24. There’s a restaurant and a small memorial to Dean in Cholame.

He’s looking pretty cheery, today, cheering on the pack. Today’s What the Heck moment.

The chase is on a fast downhill and they are moving – 50mph+

this should liven things up – the days first intermediate sprint is up in about two kilometers.

In the chase group, the front riders are in full tucks, chin to stem.

Weening takes first place, followed by Evans and Gunn.

The time gap at the sprint line was just 4:40. The break is coming back.

Tyson in Oklahoma says that not only is there a memorial to James Dean nearby, but something called the San Andreas Fault. Tyson says it’s “readily apparent to even a liberal arts major.”

Tyson, we know liberal arts majors, we’ve worked with liberal arts majors (we may even have been liberal arts majors). They wouldn’t see a geological feature if it fell in their cup of chai.

Cervelo is really pitching in at the front. What got into them?

It might be worthwhile to remind you of who these fellows are, who are off the front.

They are:
33. Pieter Weening Rabobank at 00:06:13
50. Glen Chadwick Rock Racing at 00:15:29
52. Cameron Evans Ouch Presented By Maxxis at 00:15:56
55. Matthew Crane Jelly Belly Cycling Team at 00:17:42
76. Jeffry Louder Bmc Racing Team at 00:26:43
97. Curtis Gunn Fly V Australia P/b Successful Living Foundation at 00:30:42

The gap is under four minutes, now. Columbia, Quick Step and Cervelo are at the front of the pack.

The break just zoomed past the second and final intermediate sprint. They didn’t change their rotation a bit. They are thinking about getting to Paso Robles.

the break is headed up what we believe is the last climb, or perhaps the next to last, before the 14 or 15 mile descent to the finish.

The break is over the top and enjoying a nice descent. It’s getting a bit greener and warmer – over 70 degrees now.

Howell in San Diego is asking how many total riders have dropped out.

We haven’t heard of any abandonings during the stage today, and we believe that 108 riders started this morning, down from the 136 riders who started the prologue Saturday. I’d do the math, but I was a liberal arts major.

the break is at mile 116 and the gap is near 3:15. The chase is holding a steady pace.

Weening is hammering on the last climb. Crane and Gunn are coming unglued.

The gap is coming down and Gunn and Louder are popped.

almost all downhill now for the break – now four men.

The race radio is reporting that it was Louder and Gunn who were dropped

Weening, Chadwick, Evans and Crane are hammering, but the gap is 2:45.

2:25 is the gap. And the pack is tasting the finish. still a relatively technical, narrow, twisty road.

22km to go and the gap is 2:05. Columbia, Quick Step and Cervelo are driving the front.

This run in remains more tricky than perhaps the course profile indicated. The sprinters’ teams have not been able to really open it up yet, and the reduced breakaway is looking a bit quicker. Gap still almost 2 minutes. 9 miles to go.

Hoping to set up Farrar. Interesting report by Mark Johnson on a ride in the Garmin team car on the VeloNews homepage today.

A minute and a half between the pack and the four-man breakaway with seven miles left.

The break has passed the 10k banner

The gap at the 10k line was 1 minute.

Jelly Belly’s Matt Crane is throwing in a dig, which was matched by the other three in the break

The breakaway men are starting to look over their shoulders. Meanwhile, the chase group is pulling apart, with some riders getting spit.

Crane through in another dig and they have dropped Weening and Chadwick

They are spending a lot of time watching each other and looking back. Basso was last seen coming off the back of the pack … as the chase gets desperate.

4 1/2 miles to go and the roads are straightening out. bad news for any riders stuck off the back – trying to confirm who got dropped.

The break comes around a tight left.

Garmin’s Farrar might be out of the mix

The break is being caught, although Cam Evans is staying at the front. 4k to go

3k to go and Astana is trying to keep things steady for Levi
And OUCH’s Tim Johnson attacks!

TJ and Jens Voigt with 5 seconds, coming up on the 1k mark

Columbia and Liquigas pulling to back together

all together, stretched out

at the front

Cav holds off Boonen again!

Two days in a row. A great leadout and incredible speed in the last meters. He won by a good bike length over Boonen this time.

Levi Leipheimer was visible near the front, so he easily holds the leader’s jersey heading into tomorrow’s crucial Solvang time trial.

1. Mark Cavendish (Columbia)
2. Tom Boonen (Quick Step)
3. Pedro Horrillo (Rabobank)
4. Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas)
5. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo)
6. JJ Haedo (Saxo Bank)
7. Fred Rodriguez (Rock Racing)

Thanks for following along. Check back to VeloNews.com soon for: a full report by John Wilcockson; photos by Casey Gibson and Graham Watson; complete results; tech reports by Zack Vestal and Matt Pacocha, a power report, and more.