Sir Bradley Wiggins of Britain Leads Last Stage of Amgen Tour

Sir Bradley Wiggins of Britain holds a 30-second lead over Australian Rohan Dennis entering today's final stage of cycling's Tour of California, a 76.1-mile circuit race beginning and ending in Thousand Oaks.

The stage will also pass through Westlake Village and Agoura Hills. It includes three laps of a 21-mile circuit, with cyclists having to make three 910-foot ascents up the "Rock Store" climb on Mulholland Drive between Malibu and Agoura Hills, followed by three 4.6-mile circuits around Westlake Lake.

Cyclists will be able to make up significant time on this route, according to organizers.

The route will have limited traffic flow after the race passes on each circuit. Updates will be posted on message boards on the Ventura (101) Freeway.

Parking for the Rock Store climb will be "very limited," organizers said.

There was no change among the leaders as a result of Saturday's 88.7- mile stage from Santa Clarita to Pasadena as each of the top 39 finishers was credited with the same time, three hours, 24 minutes, 33 seconds.

Wiggins, the 2012 Tour de France champion and a four-time Olympic gold medalist, finished 15th and Dennis 24th. American Lawson Craddock remained in third, 1:48 behind Wiggins, after an 11th-place finish.

Slovakian Peter Sagan recorded his 11th stage victory Saturday, a record for the race held annually since 2006. Thor Hushovd of Norway was second and Danny Van Poppel of the Netherlands third.

American Taylor Phinney led entering the final kilometer, but Sagan used three tight corners leading to the finish to his advantage.

Sagan credited the "big work" of his Cannondale Pro Cycling teammates for his first stage victory in the 2014 tour.

"They were all pulling from the start to the finish," the 24-year-old Sagan said. "It was a very big stage for us. I am very happy for a victory because I'm a finish man and today we did very, very good work."

The seventh stage in the eight-stage, approximately 720-mile race that began last Sunday in Sacramento started at the Town Center Mall. The field then headed to Acton, 15.7 miles away, along Vasquez Canyon Road, Sierra Highway, Sand Canyon Road and Soledad Canyon Road.

From Acton, the riders raced 8.9 miles to Millcreek Summit, then cycled 6.2 miles along Upper Big Tujunga Road.

After passing the Mount Wilson Observatory, the cyclists began a steep 16.1-mile descent along Angeles Forest Highway into La Canada Flintridge, then passed the Rose Bowl and crossed the Colorado Street Bridge.

The stage concluded with three laps of a three-mile circuit on many well- known Pasadena streets, including Colorado Boulevard.

--City News Service