Mt. Baldy is the toughest of the eight stages of the Amgen Tour of California.

A day after riding to the top of Big Bear, competitors in the 2012 Amgen Tour of California faced an even tougher challenge: Mt. Baldy.

The two Southern California peaks are just an hour from one another, with Mt. Baldy being only an hour from downtown Los Angeles.  And what the Mt. Baldy stage lacked in distance – it started in nearby Ontario and covered just 78.3 miles instead of the usual 115 or so – it more than made up for in vertical climbs, featuring two brutal King of the Mountains (KOM) at Glendora Ridge Road and Glendora Mountain Road and 15 switchbacks before the finish. The rout is comparable to the epic stages of the European Grand Tours.

It was won by Robert Gesink (NED) of the Rabobank Cycling Team. And not only that, he took took the leader’s jersey from American David Zabriskie of Garmin-Barracuda by making up 39 seconds while adding another 46 to his lead going into the final day’s finish in at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, May 20.

Gesink emerged the winner after an epic battle to the 6,445-foot Mt. Baldy summit, outclimbing two Colombia-Coldeportes riders to take the win. The  final stage covers just 42.6 miles from Beverly Hills, through Hollywood and ends a LA Live (a very busy place this weekend) and with a big lead, Gesink is in outstanding position to claim the Amgen Tour title.

Zabriskie, who has finished second overall in the 2006, 2007 and 2010, slipped to second overall, while his American teammate Tom Danielson climbed to third (from seventh) after Saturday’s Mt. Baldy stage. American Tejay van Garderen of the BMC Racing Team entered the day in second place, but lost two places and is out of podium range.

The 25-year-old Gesink said, “We started riding very early because we saw [Chris] Horner in the first group. A guy who does an attack like that has to be a really big rider to make a race as he did today. It was an incredible chase today; everyone was suffering. On the last climb I decided to go with five kilometers left. I think I looked back and the remaining group was small; it worked out perfectly.

“In the end, I was happy to take the stage victory. It’s a great day for me and also for my sponsor, Robobank.”

Gesink overtook Jhon Atapuma (COL) of Colombia-Coldeportes with a little under 1 kilometer to the finish on Saturday, crossing the finish line first after a stage that took the cyclists 78.3 miles from Ontario to the top of Mt. Baldy. Atapuma’s teammate and fellow Colombian, Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo, finished third.

Defending Amgen Tour of California champion Chris Horner (USA) of RadioShack-Nissan-Trek rode alone with Atapuma for more than 20 miles during Saturday’s race, but faded in the final three miles to finish in sixth place on the day. Danielson finished in fifth place, moving him to third place overall.

Sylvain Georges pumps his fist at the finish to Stage 6 in Big Bear. Photo: Rose Arzate.

It’s challenging enough to drive to Big Bear.  Try getting there on a bicycle.

Just ask Sylvain Georges of France.

He was seemingly having a jaunt through the Southern California countryside for most of the 115-mile ride from Palmdale to Big Bear Lake’s Snow Summit finish during Stage 6 of the Amgen Tour of California. But at the end, as he reached the final 20 kilometers, the climb up steep and twisty Highway 18  started getting the best of him.

But despite fading leg strength he did what winners in all sports do; he dug deeply and hung on for the victory. In the biggest stage win of his career, Georges captured Stage 6 of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California on a sunny Friday afternoon in Southern California.

Making a final push to the finish of Stage 6 at Big Bear. Photo: Rose Arzate.

Rider roll by fans after a grueling climb to Big Bear Lake. Photo: Rose Arzate.

It sure wasn’t easy.  When he reached the town of Big Bear, he had a three-minute lead. By the time he reached Summit Blvd., near the finish, it was down to a minute.

But hang on he did and he won in what is known in the sport as a cycling breakaway. Usually, a cyclist who breaks away from the pack does not finish first.

“I just had it in my up in my head, and held it up in the end,” he said quite modestly. Then he admitted his legs were spent.

The riders get their rewards on the podium. Photo: Rose Arzate.

He's got water, but he's in sight of the Michelob Ultra beer tent.

Anyone at the finish could see that, for he crossed the finish line not in triumph, but in relief. Summit Blvd. is only about five blocks long but it’s an uphill grade. Georges crossed, then took a breather by hugging a photographer. The crowd, lined up along Summit Road that was whipped into a frenzy by the enthusiastic PA announcers, let out a huge roar of approval at his accomplishment.

Georges, of AG2R La Mondiale crossed the uphill finish line first, 28 seconds ahead of his nearest rival, Peter Sagan (SVK) of Liquigas-Cannondale. It was Sagan who had dominated the first half of the Amgen Tour, winning a Tour-record four consecutive stages from the start.

Stage 6 kicked off in Palmdale. The cyclists trekked more than 115 miles today through the Angeles National Forest, Crestline and Lake Arrowhead, and then onto the Rim of the World Highway. Entering the Big Bear area, the riders took the northern route around Big Bear Lake and then tackled the last ascent to the finish at Snow Summit ski area more than 7,000 feet above sea level.

The overall leader after six stages is American David Zabriskie of Garmin-Barracuda because of his outstanding showing in the Stage 5 time trials.

The next-to-last stage on Saturday is another difficult climb for the riders, up to Mt. Baldy just an hour from Big Bear. That will likely determine the event’s 2012 champion because, like the ride through Paris on the final day of the Tour de France, the Amgen’s last stage rolls from Beverly Hills, through Hollywood and ends up with a festival at LA Live and is only competitive is riders are extremely close in their times.

That’s some weekend for Staples Center, by the way. It hosts the Lakers, Kings and on Sunday the Clippers, and also the conclusion of the Amgen Tour.

Stage 5 consisted of a sprint; here is Tejay Van Garderen of USA , Photo: Ezra Shaw.

In an All-American city, home of the famed “Mears Gang” auto and desert racing family – Rick was a four-time Indy 50 winner, brother Roger an off-road legend and Roger’s son Casey is currently in NASCAR – an American won the sprint stage of the Amgen Tour of California.

David Zabriskie (USA) of Garmin-Barracuda had a best time of 35 minutes, 59 seconds, which placed him ahead of Jens Voigt (GER) RadioShack-Nissan-Trek (LUX), who finished in 36 minutes, 51 seconds; and Tejay van Garderen (USA), BMC Racing Team (USA), who had a time of 36 minutes, 33 seconds.

Thursday marked the first day that Peter Sagan wasn’t first in something, the 22-year-old having won the event’s first four stages.

The 2012 Amgen Tour of California is winding down time time-wise, but winding up challenge-wise, as the mountains of Big Bear and Mt. Baldy remain in two weekend stages.

Big Bear is the Friday objective after a start in Palmdale. It’s a 115.7-mile ride. Once there, fans will be in a good mood because there’s a beer garden and festival from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. The next day, it’s Glendora to Mt. Baldy.

The tour ends Sunday with a ride from Beverly Hills to Staples Center in L.A.

Kobe Bryant and Metta World Peace are not at peace at the end of Game 2.

And you thought 90-119 was bad, Laker fans.

But 75-77 is worse. Far worse.

It’s one thing to get blown out and another one to follow up and lose a game you had won the whole time. Close games are always mentally much more difficult to recover from than a blowout. And as a result of this Game 2 result, the series is over, the Lakers are done and the future of Andrew Bynam, Metta World Peace and even coach MIke Brown is as foggy as the coming June Gloom.

Oh, the Lakers will come home and win a game or two, temporarily exciting their fans. But, like the occasional peak of sun during the overcast month of June along the LA coast, it’s a tease.

The Game 1 blowout to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round of the NBA Playoffs was embarrassing. An insult to a proud franchise. A slap in the face to the fans.

But the loss was so bad, and it was only the first game of a best-of-seven series, it could be treated like a bad one-night stand. It happened, and it’s easy to move on to the next one.

And, like a bad one-night stand, there were all kinds of readily available excuses:  The Thunder were fresh, the Lakers were tired; the Thunder were home; the Lakers were on the road; the Thunder showed up enthusiastic and ready to play, the Lakers showed up lethargic and in need of a nap.

And, when Game 2 rolled around, all those excuses seemed to be valid. Better rested, the Lakers came out and took it to the home team. The youth of the Thunder, so thunderous in the opener, began to panic. They could not shoot the ball any better than the sportswriters covering the game. The Thunder, which had rolled up 98 points in the third quarter in Game 1, had just 60 in Game 2. And they trailed by three.

But with the game all but won – L.A. had a seven-point lead with two minutes to play and the Thunder were reduced to trying desperation jump shots, none of which they could make – the Lakers collapsed. Kobe Bryant, of all people had a turnover that led to a fast-break basket (the only way the Thunder could score for nearly four minutes). He then was involved in another turnover the next possession. That was two turnovers in eight seconds. Oklahoma City, which scored just 12 points in the third quarter and 17 in the fourth, was on an 8-0 run.

Feeling the need to carry the team, Bryant tried to take over in the fourth quarter. But for whatever reason, he just didn’t have it; he couldn’t hit shots down the stretch. Still, he should have had a chance to win the game. But on the in-bounds play he was running away from the ball, and that left it up to Steve Blake to take the shot. He was wide open, but missed a three-pointer. It’s those kinds of things that have Brown on the hottest seat in L.A.

It was the end of the most disappointing – and devastating – Laker loss of the season.

Peter Sagan celebrates his fourth win in four stages of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California. Photo: Jonathan Pierce’.

It was Bob Seger who wrote about Night Moves, but if he saw Peter Sagan race in the Amgen Tour of California, he may have changed it to Daytime Moves.

On Wednesday, May 16, the 22-year-old Sagan won his fourth consecutive stage of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California. Considering it was Stage 4, that means he’s won every stage of the race to date. With seven career Amgen Tour wins – and he’s just 22 – he’s now won more stages than any other rider in the history of the event.

Stage 4 started in Sonora and ended in Clovis after a 130.2-mile route that challenged the cyclists with six King of the Mountains (KOM) and two sprints.

Amgen Tour riders depart the small California town of Sonora. Photo: Doug Pensinger.

Here's something unique and fun about cycling: People running along the racers, like this guy wearing antlers. Photo: Ezra Shaw.

As the athletes skirted Yosemite, they encountered everything from climbs to twisty and technical descents, but very few sections of flat roadway. Sagan (SVK) of Liquigas-Cannondale crossed the finish line first, making Amgen Tour of California history.

Stage 5 starts and finishes in Bakersfield and is an 18.4-mile individual time trial course. Right from the start, the riders will go from zero to nearly 60 mph in a matter of seconds. The start ramp will launch them onto an immediate descent to Alfred Harrel Highway. From there, it will be a straight – but not exactly flat – route to the turnaround point at Lake Ming.

It runs from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

The other stages finish in Big Bear, Mt. Badly and downtown Los Angeles.

Amgen Tour website: www.amgentourofcalifornia.com.

Brock Osweiler is Elway's "QB of the future" in Denver. Photo: Denver Broncos.

John Elway should stick with selling Toyotas.

When it comes to quarterbacks, the California car dealer is obviously out of gas.

All fall, even as his quarterback pulled the Denver Broncos off the turf and led them into the playoffs, he refused to give Tim Tebow an endorsement. Yet before Brock Osweiler even takes a snap, he tells season ticket holders that Osweiler is the team’s “quarterback of the future.”

Brock Osweiler!? The guy who started just 15 games in college? At loser Arizona State!? Sure he’s 6-7, 242, but Elway obviously can’t see the forest for the trees.

“He’s our guy for the future,” Elway said. “And sometimes we have to sacrifice the short-term for the long-term to grab the guy that you believe can be that next guy for you, and that’s Brock Osweiler.”

Maybe Elway has Brock Osweiler confused with Dieter Brock.

With Brock Osweiler under center, Arizona State was 6-7 in 2011 playing in a weak Pac-12 and was humiliated 56-24 by Boise State in the MACCO bowl. Osweiler’s main contribution was a pick-six from the Boise 1-yard line.

Tebow, on the other hand, won a National Championship at Florida. Well, two actually; he was a backup when the Gators won it all his freshman year. He may not have the mechanics, may not be a pure gunslinging drop-back passer like Elway, but he’s a winner. He wins games, not praise.

Of course, Elway has pressure to deal with long before Osweiler even takes a snap, which even Elway acknowledges is two years away in the NFL. He’s got to deal with Peyton Manning, and if Manning indeed isn’t healthy and can’t play this year, or cannot finish the season, then the Broncos must turn to former Chicago Bears backup Caleb Hanie.

Rather than proclaiming an unproven player with an unspectacular college record the team’s “guy of the future,” Elway is better off saying to people, “Hi, may I interest you in a Prius!?”

Fenway Park is a beer drinker's haven for fans and might should be for players again.

The big baseball off-season controversy was the revelation that Red Sox pitchers were drinking beer in the clubhouse during games last September as the team collapsed.

To appease fans and media reaction, the team then banned beer in the clubhouse and even drinking on flights home after road games.

But considering how the team has started this season  – dead last in the AL East standings – the Red Sox should not only reinstate beer in the clubhouse, they should have a keg party!

Because, frankly, what could get any worse than starting the season 17-19, including a losing record at home?

Riders go through yet anothe scenic part of the Golden State in the Amgern Tour of California. Photo: Ezra Shaw.

If there is such a things as a hat trick in cycling, then Peter Sagan has done it.

He has won his third consecutive heat to start the 2012 Amgen Tour of California by taking the 115.3-mile Stage 3 from San Jose to Livermore. Sagan (SVK) of Liquigas-Cannondale made event history today in the process; no other winner has won three stages in as many days.

The 22-year-old rider again outsprinted Garmin-Barracuda’s Heinrich Haussler (AUS), and Tom Boonen (BEL) of Omega Pharma-QuickStep at the finish.

“I don’t know what to say because it’s also a surprise for me,”  Sagan said.

Riders push hard in Stage 3 of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California. Photo: Ezra Shaw.

The final flat sprint into Livermore was a battle at more than 40 miles and hour with a sweeping right-hand turn into the finish, contested by three of the world’s top sprinters including Sagan, Haussler and Boonen, the world’s No. 1-ranked rider.

“This race is very hard for me because it’s a very long climb and the finish in the mountain is very hard as well,” Sagan said. “But, I did very good today and this suits me. Maybe I will try harder to win the yellow jersey one more day and after the time trial we’ll see.”

Stage 3 included a climb up Mt. Diablo, one of the most revered climbs in California, for the first time in the race’s history.  At the end, defending Amgen Tour of California champion Chris Horner (USA) was being escorted to the front with Haussler in the lead, but, as happened in the first two stages, Sagan outsprinted him to the finish line.

In honor of cancer survivors,  cancer survivor Bob Hammer, Danville, Calif., was recognized and celebrated as the Breakaway from Cancer Champion. Hammer founded the “Have a Ball” Foundation, which has raised more than a million dollars since its start and benefits 20 cancer organizations, sends kids with cancer to camps, and has established and granted scholarships for students.

STAGE 4:
Wednesday, May 16 – Sonora to Clovis (130.2 mi/209.6 km)
Start Time: 10:35 a.m. PT
Estimated Finish Time: 3:39 – 5:10 p.m. PT

At 130 miles, Stage 4 is the longest stage of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California, and possibly the most difficult. This will be the race’s first visit to Sonora, a town that many consider to be the most preserved Gold Rush town in California.

As the riders head south towards Mariposa and Oakhurst (both Sprint cities), they will enjoy the incredible beauty and challenge of historic Highway 49. As they skirt Yosemite, they will encounter everything from numerous KOMs, twisty and technical descents, and raging rivers, but very few sections of flat roadway. Once through Mariposa, Highway 49 widens a bit, but two more KOMs will await the cyclists as they head to the final Sprint in Oakhurst. The riders will no doubt be fearless as they attack the final 40 miles into the return to Clovis.

The historic LA Coliseum may cease to exist without USC taking control of it.

A nine-person panel has voted to turn over the running of the historic Los Angeles Coliseum to USC.

Good for them.

The vote was 8-1 and frankly, what other choice did they have in the matter? The Coliseum – site of two Olympics, the first Super Bowl, the Pope home of two NFL teams, at one time two college teams, and even the Dodgers – is a shell of its former self.

And a crumbling shell, at that.

By handing over the keys to the gate at the famous peristyle, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission may have saved the very structure it was supposed to preserve. By getting out of it.

The Coliseum has been controlled by an odd combination of the city, county and state governments. And if you think one government owning a sports facility sounds troubling, imagine three governments being involved in it. Management of the Coliseum was so poor that three recent former managers, two rave concert promoters and a contractor are all up against corruption charges from a financial scandal. By the end of June, the Coliseum will  have just $15,375 in its reserves – hopefully you have more than that in your bank account –  at which time it is expected to have an operating loss of $302,000 for the fiscal year.

It has no hope of making $60 million in renovations that were part of a 2008 deal with USC.

And the Coliseum needs renovations. If you walk around the outside of it, particularly the west end zone and look up, you can see cracked and missing pieces of concrete. The tunnel that leads the the USC locker room is damp and has similar issues.  You feel like putting your hands over your head thinking a chunk of concrete might fall on you. Good thing the football players wear helmets.

The place is named after the original Coliseum in Rome, but that is the one that is supposed to be crumbling, not one that is still in use today.

If the board’s recommendation gets passed – there are still politics involved – then it could well wind up saving the stadium.  Because without any money for improvements, it would eventually have to be abandoned.

USC will pour $70 million into improvements. This money would not be spent not just structurally, but also to fix leaky bathrooms, improve the locker rooms (well at least the one for the home team) and concession areas, which anyone who has ever been there can tell you are too small and which the workers will say are too cramped, hampering service.

USC would make the stadium nice and keep it that way. It has all the incentive it needs to do so: It’s the home for its football team (the campus is right across the street). It needs a first-rate facility to compete withe other schools for top recruits and it wants to keep its well-heeled alumni happy and comfortable.

Sure, it’s a one-sided deal. USC wants naming rights, control of the parking lots and the Sports Arena, which is just steps from the peristyle.  USC is likely to tear down that eyesore, by the way. That is if it doesn’t fall down by itself first.

But USC’s management would ensure the area’s success for, well, the next 100 years if it gets its way. It should really work out a deal to only take over the parking lots when it uses them, on game days. The rest of the time the revenue can go to the surrounding museums.

But without USC, the Coliseum likely cannot survive. And an LA landmark would soon be in more ruins than its namesake in Rome.

It wasn't Metta World Peace that caused the first incident for the Lakers in Game 1.

The criticism would have been harsh, the fans would have been up in arms and management would have had to make some major off-season moves to restore a quickly-falling franchise. All that would have happened had the Los Angeles Lakers lost their first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets.

Which they practically did, stretching the series to seven games before finally prevailing at the end.

But could it have been worse than what happened in Game 1 of the next round? A 119-90 blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder? The Lakers were down by 30 – thirty! – 98-68. And that was after just three quarters.  Through three quarters they scored only 68 points? And have up 90!?

No proud Laker fan wants to see their team take such a beating. They are better off sulking at being eliminated than having to watch this mess.  If there’s another beatdown, then this could get downright embarrassing for the fans and the franchise.

The immaturity of some of the players could surface. Again.  Metta World Peace could loses peace and start throwing elbows on Thunder players (he actually took down one at the end of the third period). Andrew Bynum, already the most immature player in the NBA, could do a repeat of his childish behavior of last year’s playoff finale against the Dallas Mavericks. Something close did happen, in fact, but surprisingly it wasn’t Bynum, it was a reserve player, Devin Ebanks, who got ejected in the fourth quarter and then took off his jersey on the way to the locker room.

Based on what happened in Game 1, Laker fans will be watching the next couple of games with their hands up, ready to cover their eyes. If there’s another rout, they will start to tune out completely.

And if the routs and lackluster performances continue, then it would have indeed been better for them to lose to the Nuggets.