In Stage 2 of the inaugural Tour of Missouri, Canadian Dominique Rollin found himself in a  successful 12-man breakaway that got a 17-minute lead on the peloton at one point.

But the Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada rider couldn’t find a way to beat veteran Georgie Hincapie in the 12-man sprint to the finishing ine in Springfield and Hincapie not only won the stage but took the yellow jersey, for good it turned out.

Thursday, in brutal weather conditions in Stage 4 of the Tour of California, Rollin again found himself with Hincapie in a 11-man breakaway, but this time he didn’t let it come down to a sprint. Now with Toyota-United, Rollin attacked the breakaway group with 12 miles to go, and though Hincapie and Iker Camano of Saunier Duval gave chase, they couldn’t catch up after Rollin got a gap on them.

Rollin ended up winning the stage by 18 seconds over Hincapie and Camano, who crossed the line second and third, respectively.

“With 40 km to go I started looking around and realized I was the strongest guy in the break,” Rollin told reporters after the race. “With 20 km to go, I managed to get three or four meters and could see the guys weren’t reacting.”

Hincapie had been on a long breakaway the previous day and jumped in this break so his team, High Road Sports, would be represented in the break. The team, which is headquartered in San Luis Obispo, had wanted to set up Mark Cavendish for the stage win in the team’s hometown, but Rollin’s strength kept that from happening on a brutal, brutal day.

Rain, cold and a sustained headwind of 30 mph blasted the peleton throughout the stage, turning the 135-mile trek along the Pacific Coast Highway into a 7-hour schlog that not only pitted man against nature but man against body and mind. A whopping 15 riders abandoned, some overcome by the flu that had been raging through the peloton, others by symptoms of hypothermia and still others who lacked the will to continue.

“It was definitely pretty epic as far as conditions go,” Hincapie said.

Winning under such epic conditions only adds to Rollin’s growing resume, which includes a podium finish (third place) at the Tour of Missouri last year.

“Missouri was my biggest career highlight, being able to stand on the podium in a six day stage race at that level was big for me,”Rollin told cyclingnews.com, adding that he has set his sights on the ToM this season. “The Tour of Missouri is a race that suits me with mostly flatter roads and a long hard time trial. I’ll be working on my time trial all summer just to make sure George Hincapie can’t catch me again, like last time.”

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