Young Slovakian cycling sensation and overall 2012 Amgen Tour of California race leader Peter Sagan of Liquigas-Cannondale crashed and suffered a flat tire on a tough descent, but recovered to win Stage 2 of the race in Santa Cruz, California - his second consecutive stage in as many days.

Even with an attack by Rory Sutherland of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team at the finish, Sagan managed to outsprint the pack to take the stage 2 victory in convincing fashion. He was followed by Team Garmin-Barracuda's Heinrich Haussler and Leigh Howard of Team GreenEdge to round off the top three.

Ironically, the punctured tire was also the second flat of the race in as many days for the 22-year-old Sagan, who maintained his overall lead over Haussler after the second stage of the race. Howard remained in third place overall.

"I don't know, maybe it takes a natural disaster," said Sagan, when asked what it would take to stop his winning ways, noting he suffered an untimely punctured tire three miles from the finish yesterday and still won stage 1. "I am feeling good. I will see tomorrow (if I can make it three straight wins)," he continued.

Amidst remarkable views of the San Francisco Bay, Golden Gate Bridge and Angel Island, stage 2 of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California got underway in San Francisco and routed south 117.1 miles over the climbs of Empire Grade and Bear Creek Road.

At the start of the stage, after leaving the city of San Francisco, riders headed toward the coast and faced the first sprint of the day in Pacifica, where Howard, Maarten Tjallingii of Team Rabobank and Bradley White of Team UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling were the first three to cross the line and earn valuable points. Shortly thereafter, six racers, including White, Jeremy Vennell of Bissell Pro Cycling, Michael Creed of Team Optum - powered by Kelly Benefit Strategies, Lloyd Mondory of AG2R La Mondiale, Juan Pablo Suarez of Team Colombia-Coldeportes, and Alexandre Geniez of Team Argos-Shimano established a breakaway. This breakaway swept the second sprint of the day with points awarded to White, Vennell and Mondory in that order.

Fifty miles into the race, the break had a significant lead of nine minutes and 45 seconds ahead of the peloton. However, as standard procedure prescribes it, after passing through the feed zone the main peloton group began working harder to reel the breakaway riders back in.

As the breakaway group closed in on Bonny Doon and the first King of the Mountain (KOM) climb of the day, the gap was narrowed to five minutes and 50 seconds. When the riders began to climb, Garmin-Barracuda worked hard at the front of the peloton to protect the interests of their GC leader Tom Danielson and to ensure that the stage would end in a sprint finish where their sprinter Haussler could battle for the stage victory.

After a few attacks, only three riders were left in the break - White, Vennell and Geniez - with a lead of four minutes and 20 seconds. Geniez attacked again and went out in front of the break alone.

While on the climb, a crash occurred, taking down several riders, including Sagan, George Hincapie of Team BMC Racing, Team Rabobank's Laurens Ten Dam, Andres Diaz Corrales of Team Exergy, and Josh Atkins of the Bontrager Livestrong Team. Sagan showed what he is made of by getting up quickly from the crash, brushing himself off and fighting hard, thus successfully regaining contact with the main peloton.

While this was happening, Geniez continued to ride alone at the front with a lead of four minutes and 55 seconds ahead of the group, and ultimately claimed top KOM points on Empire Grade. He was followed by David Boily of Team SpiderTech - powered by C10.

With five riders at the front of the peloton, Team Garmin-Barracuda began chasing down the mountain with a gap of three minutes and 55 seconds off the front. Vennell and White hung together, in between Geniez and the peloton. After the decent, the peloton was split with about 25 racers in the first group, then about a 30-second split to the main peloton. Just before the Bear Creek climb, Vennell and White were absorbed by the peloton, leaving Geniez alone in front. But, with 35 kilometer to go, Geniez was expectedly caught by the peloton, which at that point was being led by the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team.

"It was a very hard day," former National Time Trial champion of New Zealand Vennell said after the stage and added "The descent off Bonny Doon was pretty scary. Not least the reflectors on the tarmac."

After the descent Team Liquigas-Cannondale took over work at the front of the peloton, controlling the pace on the last bit of uphill before the major descent. Heading toward the final sprint of the day, Maxime Bouet of AG2R La Mondiale attacked, but Marc de Maar of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team claimed the top sprint points. With 17 kilometer to go, the peloton further increased its speed on its way toward the finish with Liquigas-Cannondale riders occupying the top four spots at the front, followed by riders from Rabobank, Team BMC Racing and RadioShack-Nissan.

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2012 Amgen Tour of California Stage 2 Results:
1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale     05:02:00
2 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin - Barracuda
3 Leigh Howard (Aus) GreenEdge Cycling Team
4 Koen De Kort (Ned) Argos - Shimano
5 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Team Exergy
6 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
7 Lawson Craddock (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team
8 Marc De Maar (AHo) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
9 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Argos - Shimano
10 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
11 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Bontrager Livestrong Team
12 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
13 Alexander Candelario (USA) Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies
14 Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Argos - Shimano
15 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
16 Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan
17 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
18 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
19 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
20 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan
21 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
22 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
23 Hugo Houle (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10
24 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
25 Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col) Colombia - Coldeportes

Overall 2012 Amgen Tour of California rankings after stage 2:
1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale     09:44:15
2 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin - Barracuda 0:00:08
3 Leigh Howard (Aus) GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:00:13
4 Jeffry Louder (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 0:00:14
5 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Team Exergy 0:00:16
6 Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell Cycling
7 Marc De Maar (AHo) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 0:00:17
8 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan 0:00:19
9 Josh Atkins (NZl) Bontrager Livestrong Team
10 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:20
11 Lawson Craddock (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team
12 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
13 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Argos - Shimano
14 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
15 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
16 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
17 Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan
18 Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col) Colombia - Coldeportes
19 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
20 Cameron Meyer (Aus) GreenEdge Cycling Team
21 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
22 Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack-Nissan
23 Paul Martens (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team
24 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
25 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team