Fifth and 195 kilometer long stage of Tour of California from Visalia to Bakersfield started off with an unfortunate crash in which Andy's teammates Jakob Fuglsang and Stuart O'Grady were involved. Dane, Jakob Fuglsang was able to get back on his bike but Aussie Stuart O'Grady had to pay a visit to the local hospital.

Six riders stole the attention in the front of the race by forming today's breakaway of which Mark Renshaw (Columbia) seemed to be strongest. But the peloton was not willing to just let the group go and on the final two laps on the circuit before the finish, Team Saxo Bank's Jens Voigt put in a violent attack from the field. The powerful German was however caught by the sprinter teams and on the finish line, Peter Sagan (Liquigas) demonstrated convincing form and took the stage victory.

Michael Rogers is the new leader of the race. Tomorrow's stage will be crucial as it takes the peloton to an altitude of 2400 meters.

Andy has been in front of the pelotonand finished 41th. In the overall classification he is in 42th place with 18.38 minutes to Rogers.