Farrar takes lead with speed

It was a sprinter’s day at the Amgen Tour of California.

American Tyler Farrar took the leader’s jersey Tuesday by earning mid-race sprint points during the rainy 115-mile ride from Santa Rosa to Sacramento, and Belgian sprint specialist Tom Boonen won the stage with an explosive move at the finish. Boonen, who rides for Quickstep, completed the stage in 5 hours 9 minutes 35 seconds.

Farrar, a 23-year-old from Wenatchee, Wash., who rides for Slipstream-Chipotle, has a one-second lead over CSC’s Fabian Cancellara and will wear the leader’s yellow jersey next. But Farrar said he has no false hopes about how long he will be in the front. “I’m a sprinter, and we hit some pretty big mountains” today, Farrar said. “I’ll be stepping back for the climbers.”

Racers will pedal 4,360 feet up to the summit of Mt. Hamilton during the 102.7-mile stage from Modesto to San Jose. “So I’ll hopefully be handing the [leader’s] jersey to one of my capable teammates,” Farrar said.

Boonen, who won two sprint stages at last year’s Tour de France, arrived in California after a strong start and four stage wins at the Tour of Qatar last month. In the crowd-pleasing finish in front of the state Capitol, 40-year-old Mario Cipollini, the Italian sprint star who came out of a two-year retirement to compete for Rock Racing, finished third in the stage.

Farrar said he had grown up with Cipollini as his idol.

“Mario was someone who was my hero through the juniors,” Farrar said. “I’ve always been a sprinter, I’ve always known the direction I was headed in. Mario was probably the best sprinter in the world when I was growing up, maybe the best sprinter ever.

“This was the first time I’ve ridden against him. I said hello at the end.”

Defending champion Levi Leipheimer of Astana is seven seconds back in sixth place overall.

Boonen said he was surprised Tuesday at how the California crowds welcomed him at the end. “They really seemed to understand who I am,” said Boonen, who gave a simple explanation for how he won at the end. “I’m a sprinter,” he said. “I sprinted.”

diane.pucin@latimes.com