It wasn't the yellow leaders' jersey, but at the Amgen Tour of California this week Whistler's Will Routley won the next best thing - the Breakaway from Cancer Most Courageous Jersey, which according to the website ranks even higher than the red "King of the Mountain" jersey or green sprint jersey.
Routley won the award after the third stage of the competition, which wraps up this weekend. He was solidly in the pack on the first day, but lost several minutes with a crash on the second stage.
Routley stayed positioned on day three and managed to get into every break, including an unexpected five-rider break before the final climb. The lead group was caught by the peleton, as expected, but Routley's effort off the front of the pack was big for Team Jelly Belly presented by Kenda, which is looking to hold its own against some of the top teams and athletes in the sport.
"This is what we wanted to do, we want to be involved in the race, be out there, be aggressive and we got our first jersey today," Routley told interviewers after the race. "There are still quite a few stages left and we're going to keep trying to get into more breakaways."
The Tour of California is considered by some to be the biggest road race in the world behind the Tour de France.
