Pasadena, CA - For the second consecutive day, Rory Sutherland of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis found himself in the main break of the day. Unlike Stage 6, this one stuck. Unfortunately, part of the reason it stuck was the serious horsepower the break contained, including George Hincapie of Team High Road, who won the stage in what ended up a three-up sprint contested by Sutherland, Hincapie and Jason McCartney (CSC).

"Nine out of 10 times, or maybe even more than that, George is going to beat me in a sprint," Sutherland said. But that didn't stop him from giving it a go. "I did the best I could do and I picked the best places on the circuit that I thought suited me best to try to get rid of him before the finish. I kept trying to shake him on every little hill, but he kept covering everything."

Hincapie noted afterward that of the five riders who came to the line together, "Rory and Jason were the two strongest and the two I was most worried about."

The break of 10 riders entered the circuits with a gap of over 2:30 on the peloton, which at first was being led by the Quick Step team of Tom Boonen and Paolo Bettini until race leader Levi Leipheimer's Astana team took over in the rain-drenched course to keep their leader safe.

The break had been working well up until it hit the first of six 7.2 km finishing circuits, which is when the attacks started. Tom Zirbel (Bissel) was the one rider to put in the most serious effort. His solo mission achieved a gap of 0:15 on the chasing break, a gap which he held for the better part of four circuits.

When Zirbel took off, the break fractured, and only Sutherland, Hincapie, McCartney and Mike Creed (Rock Racing) remained to chase. While Sutherland, Hincapie and McCartney kept an eye on each other, they also made sure to keep Zirbel, who is a strong time trialist, within reach. On the final lap, up one of the several climbs, it was Sutherland and Hincapie who finally caught and then passed Zirbel. The Bissel rider struggled back to their wheels, and with Sutherland and Hincapie keeping tabs on each other, McCartney and Creed were able to rejoin them for the sprint.

Inside the final kilometer, it was McCartney who hit out first, but Hincapie responded with Sutherland glued to his wheel. Unfortunately, this sprint didn't prove to be that one time out of 10, and Hincapie was able to hold off Sutherland on the line.

A long, hard week

Coming into the week, Health Net Presented by Maxxis already faced the challenge of competing against the strongest field ever assembled for the Amgen Tour of California. So when illness slowly whittled away the roster as the week went on, the challenge grew even greater. First Karl Menzies got the stomach bug that ravaged the peloton all week. He fought through the first couple days, but wasn't able to finish within time cut on the grueling Stage 3.

Following that stage, Matt Crane succumbed to the bug and was unable to finish Stage 4. Roman Kilun was in the break during that long, agonizing 217 km epic through the wind and rain, despite suffering from a respiratory flu. He survived Stage 4, but was time cut during the Stage 5 time trial due to his illness. Another rider, Phil Zajicek, also caught the stomach bug following Stage 4 and was so weakened by it that he was unable to finish within time cut on Stage 5 as well, despite being one of the top time trialists in the country.

Team captain Tim Johnson also came down with the flu that flattened Kilun. And though he finished with the main pack in Stage 6, he wisely didn't start the final stage in order to rest and begin his return to health. That left only Frank Pipp, John Murphy and Sutherland, who was also beginning to feel the early stages of the respiratory flu that stopped Johnson.

Despite waking up Sunday morning with congestion in his chest and a bit of a fever, he vowed to "go down swinging."

"There's not a lot you can do when guys get sick," he said. "Being a smaller team with younger guys, that does put a bit more pressure on us when it happens. But we still have to ride our bikes as hard as we can. It didn't matter if I was a little sick today. I don't have to race tomorrow, so it doesn't matter how I feel then. But if you keep trying until the last day, there's always a chance for a good result."