Dutchman Robert Gesink has snared the lead in the 2012 Tour of California after an impressive finish in the mountainous Stage 7. With Darwin Atapuma Hurtado close on his trail, Gesink finished with an impressive 3:37:08 finish, pushing his total time to a first-place 29:14:52.
With a 46-second deficit, David Zabrinske of the Colorado-based Garmin-Barracuda comes in at second place in the overall standings heading into the final stage. Here's a league at the Stage 7 top ten, courtesy of CyclingFans.com:
Stage 7 Results
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Team | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert GESINK | NED | RAB | 3:37:08 |
| 2 | Darwin ATAPUMA HURTADO | COL | COL | +0 |
| 3 | Fabio Andres DUARTE AREVALO | COL | COL | +14 |
| 4 | Joe DOMBROSKI | USA | BLS | +18 |
| 5 | Thomas DANIELSON | USA | GRM | +26 |
| 6 | Christopher HORNER | USA | RNT | +38 |
| 7 | Wilco KELDERMAN | NED | RAB | +1:04 |
| 8 | Tiago MACHADO | POR | RNT | +1:06 |
| 9 | Levi LEIPHEIMER | USA | OPQ | +1:08 |
| 10 | Tejay VAN GARDEREN | USA | BMC | +1:22 |
And here is a look at the overall leaderboard after Stage 7:
General Classification
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Team | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert GESINK | Netherlands | RAB | 29:14:52 |
| 2 | David ZABRISKIE | United States | GRM | +46 |
| 3 | Thomas DANIELSON | United States | GRM | +54 |
| 4 | Tejay VAN GARDEREN | United States | BMC | +1:17 |
| 5 | Fabio Andres DUARTE AREVALO | Colombia | COL | +1:36 |
| 6 | Levi LEIPHEIMER | United States | OPQ | +2:13 |
| 7 | Wilco KELDERMAN | Netherlands | RAB | +2:30 |
| 8 | Christopher HORNER | United States | RNT | +2:49 |
| 9 | Tiago MACHADO | Portugal | RNT | +2:54 |
| 10 | Pieter WEENING | Netherlands | OGE | +3:05 |
Stick with this Tour of California StoryStream, the cycling blog Podium Cafe and the Tour of California's official site for more race coverage as it happens.