*Today’s stage began with parade laps in Martinez, Calif., and then moved on to a hilly ride through the East Bay to the first significant climb (Category One, the most difficult) of the race before finishing in downtown San Jose.

*While Levi Leipheimer of Gerolsteiner took the climb, Discovery Team’s George Hincapie (time: 4.01.26) crossed the finish line first, followed by Lotto’s Chris Horner (same time) and Josep Jufre Pou (same time).

*George Hincapie is now the overall leader of the Tour of California.

*Team CSC had two riders in the top 10: Bobby Julich finished fifth at 4.01.26 and David Zabriskie finished ninth at 4.01.27.

*Read the full story on today’s Stage 2 at www.csc.com/cycling.

*There will be TV coverage tonight on ESPN2 at 10:00 p.m. Pacific time (1 hour).

*Stage 3 is a 17-mile individual time trial on the outskirts of San Jose, which will begin at 11 a.m.

What did you think of the course today?
It was a beautiful day and very scenic. That climb was definitely one of the hardest climbs I’ve done in America. It was a very steep one so I was glad that it all came back together, but it made for some pretty dramatic racing today.

What was going through your head during the last climb?
Yeah, the last climb of the day, what was going though my mind was just to stay in a good group and I knew from the training that I’ve done that I couldn’t really go with the first group but I knew I needed to keep up the speed so that at least I could be in the second group and then come back if the groups did come back together. And it did and it worked out. Oh, and we had three in the front group so we couldn’t have asked for much more.

What was your strategy and did it change at all during the race?

No, we just wanted to make sure we didn’t lose major amounts of time before tomorrow’s time trial and that was mission achieved for that. We lost 10 seconds to Hincapie in the sprint and now he’s the overall leader, but we didn’t lose time, myself or David Zabriskie, and tomorrow will pretty much decide the race. But with Hincapie and Leipheimer behind David and I it’s going to be difficult to do any better.

So far how does Tour of California compare to other stage races that you’ve been in?
I tell you, so far so good. I’m totally impressed with everything so far. The weather has been great, the crowds have been incredible and I cannot find a single problem with it. I mean, we have much better food than the races in Europe, much better hotels than the races in Europe and much better weather than the races in Europe. So I see this race taking off very fast.

*Today’s Stage 1 started on the Marin side of the San Francisco Bay covering roughly 84 miles from Sausalito and ended with three laps of a technical finishing circuit in downtown Santa Rosa.

*Australian sprinter Stuart O’ Grady took third in a bunch sprint at the end.

*In the final three laps the peloton stretched almost single file as speeds hit nearly 40 miles per hour. Despite the presence of established sprinters like O’Grady and Fred Rodriguez of Davitomon Lotto, the stage went to a relative unknown: Juan José Haedo, an Argentine with the newest U.S. domestic team, Team Toyota-United Pro.

*Read the full story on today’s Stage 1 at csc.com/cycling.

*View Windows Media Video or photos of today’s stage.

*There will be TV coverage tonight on ESPN2 at 10:00 p.m. Pacific time (1 hour).

*Stage 2 will start at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. The 95-mile stage from Martinez to San Jose hits a single Category 1 mountain, the Sierra Road climb east of San Jose and is expected to be the first stage to bring about a split in the peloton.

Bobby Julich’s thoughts about the outcome of today’s Stage 1:
“I was a little surprised when the Discovery Team lit it up on the climb. But it was pretty much business as usual, a sprint finish.“

On his strategy for today’s stage:
“Save enough energy for tomorrow and the next day.“

On tomorrow’s Stage 2, arguably the most challenging stage of the tour:
“The whole thing is challenging. It’s a very difficult stage, especially with that climb at the end with about 25 kilometers to go. It’s going to be very difficult.“

On being back in Santa Rosa, Calif.: 
“I’m very happy. I have a lot of friends over here so it’s so nice to see them and hang out for a bit.“

* Today’s prologue time trial in San Francisco was a short (1.9 mile, 3.1km) course on mostly flat terrain ending with a tight, steep climb to Coit Tower.

*Team CSC’s Bobby Julich (second at 4.58.19) and Dave Zabriskie (fifth at 5.02.80) took two spots in an all-American sweep of the top five finishers.

* Time trial was won by Gerolsteiner’s Levi Leipheimer (4:53.43); Discovery’s George Hincapie placed third (at 4.59.11) and Phonak’s Floyd Landis was fourth (at 4.59.55).

*Team CSC’s new Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara finished an impressive sixth (at 5:03.19) and new Australian rider Stuart O’Grady finished 18th (11 seconds behind Julich).

*Read the full story on today’s prologue results at www.csc.com/cycling.

*View Windows Media Video or photos of today’s prologue.

*There will be TV coverage tonight on ESPN2 at 10:00pm Pacific time (1 hour).

*Stage 1 start time is 11 a.m. on Monday, in Sausalito; it will be an 80.2 mile (129.1km) road race on moderate to rolling terrain ending in downtown Santa Rosa.