The organisers of the Tour of California should consider changing its name. Tour of Colombians sounds about right.
Australian Caleb Ewan was third in the final stage sprint behind Fernando Gaviria, who claimed a third stage win of the week-long race on the crowd-lined streets of Sacramento on Saturday, while 21-year-old Egan Bernal of powerhouse Team Sky finished safely in the main field to secure the overall race victory.
Throw in a third-place finish by Daniel Martinez in the overall standings and it was a dominant performance by Colombian riders, even without more well-known riders such as Nairo Quintana in the field.
"I'm really happy with this Tour of California and I'm really happy with our team," Quick-Step Floors' Gaviria, who nipped Max Walscheid in a photo-finish to take the seventh stage, said..
"It was a really good week. A lot of people, a lot of Colombian guys," Gaviria said.
The final stage began with a long run-in to Sacramento, followed by three circuits on a course with sharp right-hand bends.
But not even the technical nature of those corners allowed for anyone to breakaway, and the stage came down to the bunch sprint that everyone expected.
Marcel Kittel was third in line as the field strung out due to the rapid speed, then tried to pop to the front.
He was joined by Australian team Mitchelton-Scott's Ewan, who had made a habit of landing on the podium this week but had yet to achieve victory - though both of them ultimately went too soon.
Gaviria and Walscheid, a 6-foot-6 powerhouse, rushed by them to the finish line, and the live shots appeared to show the German sprinter, who raised his arms in celebration, winning.
It took a photo-finish to show Gaviria winning by inches, which also allowed him to claim the green points jersey as the race's top sprinter.
Bernal wound up maintaining his advantage of 1min 25sec over Tejay van Garderen in the overall standings, with Martinez third and Ewan's teammate, Briton Adam Yates, fourth.
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