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4th Tour of Utah - 2.2
Utah, USA, August 13-17, 2008
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Stage 1 - August 13: Nephi - Nephi, 162km/101.8mi
Garmin-Chipotle starts Utah in yellow
By Kirsten Robbins in Nephi, Utah
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Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) triumphed in a three-up sprint ahead of break companions Sheldon Deeny (Fan Sports Network) and Brad White (Successful Living). The trio fought for victory between themselves after a lengthy 150-kilometre break away.
"In the past couple of weeks my sprint has become pretty good," said Donald, who is better known for his time trailing. "I was confident that I would be able to sprint well with those guys today."
The winning break sprinted to the line 20 seconds ahead of the main field. Donald picked up the full time bonuses on the line to take the event's early lead by four seconds over Deeny and six seconds ahead of White.
"The first goal was to get the KOM and after that we kept getting luckier and luckier with the time we gained," said Donald, who also took the full points in the stage's single KOM sprint. "My climbing at this moment leaves a bit to be desired so I would love to pass it on to one of my team-mates.
"My confidence for the mountains is less than it was today but having the leader's jersey always helps," he added. "We would love to keep it within the team tomorrow."
A break away of four riders jumped off the front of an active peloton early in the stage. Riders included Donald, Deeny, White and Jesse Gordon (Canyon Bicycles Utah). The group was reduced to three when Gordon fell off pace with 20 kilometres to the finish.
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The peloton, led predominantly by Rock Racing, closed in on the remaining three leaders after ramping up their speed mid-race. They considerably reduced the gap, but fell 20 seconds short of a field sprint for the stage win in Nephi.
"It's hard to argue with a ride like Oscar Sevilla in the climbs," said Donald, referring to Rock Racing's motivation to lessen the time gap for its general classification climber before the race enters the mountains. "I think they wanted to hold us at three minutes until 20 or 30 kilometres to go, but underestimated us a little bit in the end."
The three leaders approached the last three kilometres with a 50 second advantage on the main field. "I really didn't think we were going to stay away," said Deeny. "I thought they were going to catch us when we hit five kilometres to go but we were able to hold them off all the way to the line."
The field barreled onto the finishing straight where Ricardo Escuela (Successful Living) won the bunch sprint for fourth place.
How it unfolded
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Some 120 of North America's strongest climbers started the Tour of Utah's opening stage, a 162-kilometre road race. The course rolled through the scenic countryside surrounding the start and finish city of Nephi.
It was considered a day for the sprinters, with three intermediate sprints available to kick off the green jersey competition. The first and most gradual of the KOMs present itself as the riders approach the foothills of the mountain range.
An active peloton started the stage up against moderate winds and warm temperatures. Luis Zamudio (American R.A.D.D) started the activity with a solo flyer from the gun and while his effort was short lived it led to a winning counter attack.
Deeny initiated the next move without thinking of the 144 kilometres that lay ahead. "Honestly, I just wanted to be in a break today and it didn't matter if it was early or later," he said. "I'm looking for a team next year, I feel strong so I wanted to get out there and see what I could do."
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White and Gordon joined Deeny for the long haul and the trio worked well together. They gained an advantage of 30 seconds before Donald bridged across to them.
With more than two thirds of the race remaining, the peloton seemed content to let the early escapees go. They continued to gain more than six minutes on the field when three additional riders attempted to close the gap.
Billy Demong (American R.A.D.D), Sam Johnson (Hagens Berman) and Rob Campbell (Bob's Bicycles) dangled between the leaders and the field for more than 40 kilometres. Rock Racing picked up the pace on the front of the main bunch and reeled the chasers back in before the first intermediate sprint.
White proved the strongest sprinter against his break companions, accumulating full points in the first intermediate sprint held in Spring City.
Some directional confusion caused the leaders to be taken off course. The peloton followed the correct route, but race officials stopped the peloton to allow time for the leaders to catch back up and resume their 2'40" lead before restarting the peloton behind them.
"We were all a little disappointed by the misdirection, but I was very surprised that they neutralized the peloton for us," said Donald, regarding the peloton's request to give the leaders their time back. "There is a level of respect amongst the peloton and it was good of the field to give us the lead back."
Several team's with notable general classification climbers were absent from the breakaway including Rock Racing, Bissell, HealthNet-Maxxis and Toyota-United. The field looked to decorated Spanish climber Sevilla and his team-mates to assume the chase responsibility.
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Rock Racing set a tempo that reduced the time gap from seven minutes to a more manageable three minutes. It welcomed the occasional help from riders on HealthNet-Maxxis, Team Type 1, Toyota-United and Bissell to reduce the gap further.
The leaders approached the single KOM atop of Hill Top road where Donald picked up top points. White continued to accumulate points in the second and third intermediate sprints held along the many kilometres back to Nephi.
"I'm happy with this [sprinter's] jersey," said White. "It is something I wanted to go for today. I didn't win the last sprint or the finish, my legs were really starting to cramp from the heat."
The break gained a maximum time of eight minutes on the field but the field brought all but 20 seconds back in the end.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by
Jonathan Devich/
- The bunch heads into the canyon straight out of town.
- Still together as it gets a little steeper.
- Things get strung out as the break splinters off the front.
- The breakaway starts to get up the road.
- Exiting the canyon, the race reaches a plateau.
- Brad White (Successful Living) made his way into the break.
- The peloton rolls through the grassy hills outside of Fairmont.
- Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) settles in for the long day.
- A little bit of attacking is going on in the break.
- A chase group comes up better never quite made it.
- Brad White (Successful Living) gets on the front to power the break.
- The Ride Clean team tries to send someone up the road.
- Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing) leads the peloton.
- Tom Zirbel (Bissel) leans into a turn partway through the day.
- Things get a little more serious and the field starts to get back some time on the break.
- Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) comes up to do his share in the break.
- Freddy Rodriguez (Rock Racing) spending some time back in the bunch.
- The peloton starts to slow down as they learn the mistake of the break.
- The break works to get back in front of the bunch.
- Riders didn't seem to mind the mid-race stop at all.
- Tyler Hamilton (Rock Racing) seemed to be pretty content in the bunch after his recent win in China.
- The front of the bunch still seems to be going hard though not bringing back the break.
- Brad White (Successful Living) takes home more of todays sprint points.
- Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing) gets back on the front line.
- Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing) sat on the front setting tempo.
- The Garmin team stayed close to the front to cover any moves.
- A few clouds started to move in later on the day.
- Danny Pate (Garmin-Chipotle) says hi.
- Brad White (Successful Living) continues as clouds begin to loom in the valley.
- The Garmin-Chipotle organises and finds the front of the bunch.
- Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) heads back to the front of the break.
- Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) leads the break.
- Hm, a bike race… don't see one of those everyday.
- Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) on the front to get more points.
- Most teams were represented on the front of the field.
- Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing) comes back up to take control over the chase.
- Nice rolly hills before we get into the mountains tomorrow.
- Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) keeps the pressure on the break as they descend back towards the finish.
- Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) takes the big win.
- Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) autographs a jersey for some fans .
- Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) explains how it all happened.
- The final podium with Brad White (Successful Living ) 3rd, Sheldon Deeny (Fan Sports Network) 2nd and Jason Donald 1st.
- Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) was proud to wear the leaders jersey heading into the rest of the week.
Results
1 Jason Donald (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 4.07.09 (39.33 km/h) 2 Sheldon Deeny (USA) The Fan Sports Network 0.01 3 Bradley White (USA) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre 0.02 4 Ricardo Escuela (Arg) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre 0.20 5 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 6 Frank Pipp (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 7 Ryan Anderson (Can) Land Rover - Orbea 8 Alessandro Bazzana (Ita) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre 9 Bryson Perry (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel 10 Michael Grabinger (USA) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre 11 Cesar Augusto Grajales (Col) Rock Racing 12 Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Type 1 13 Garrett Peltonen (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 14 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Rock Racing 15 Jared Barrilleaux (USA) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 16 Brent Brookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 17 Matthew Wilson (Aus) Team Type 1 0.21 18 William Frischkorn (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 19 Calvin Allan (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom 20 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com 21 Blake Caldwell (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 22 Neil Shirley (USA) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 23 Steve Bovay (Swi) BMC Racing Team 24 Scott Stewart (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel 25 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Rock Racing 26 Max Jenkins (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized 27 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Health Net p/b Maxxis 28 Carson Miller (USA) Land Rover - Orbea 29 Justin England (USA) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 30 Todd Hageman (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars 0.22 31 Adrian Hegyvary (USA) Hagens Berman LLP Cycling Team 32 Ben Day (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 33 Rudolph Napolitano (USA) Rock Racing 34 Mark Santurbane (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized 35 Edward King (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 36 Christopher Jones (USA) Team Type 1 37 Nick Clayville (USA) Hagens Berman LLP Cycling Team 38 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Bissell Pro Cycling 39 Andy Guptill (USA) The Fan Sports Network 40 Chris Lieto (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized 41 Scott Tietzel (USA) The Fan Sports Network 42 Chuck Coyle (USA) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre 43 Ryan Barrett (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars 44 Scott Nydam (USA) BMC Racing Team 45 Peter Stetina (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 46 Ian McKissick (USA) BMC Racing Team 47 Phil Zajicek (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 48 Chris Stuart (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom 49 Christopher Baldwin (USA) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 50 Matt Cooke (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 51 Paul Mach (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom 52 Eric Pardyjak (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars 53 Glen Chadwick (Aus) Team Type 1 54 Joshua Bartlett (USA) Land Rover - Orbea 55 Jeffry Louder (USA) BMC Racing Team 56 Thomas Peterson (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 57 Dave Vukets (USA) Land Rover - Orbea 58 Aaron Olson (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 59 Osvaldo Olmos (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized 60 John Hunt (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized 61 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Rock Racing 62 Tom Zirbel (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 63 Billy Demong (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel 64 Nate Page (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars 65 Burke Swindlehurst (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 66 Trent Wilson (Aus) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 67 Adam Livingston (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel 68 Stefano Barberi (USA) The Fan Sports Network 69 Ben Kneller (USA) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 70 Anthony Colby (USA) The Fan Sports Network 71 Kyle Colavito (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com 72 Ryan Trebon (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com 73 Ryan Sullivan (Aus) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 74 Aaron Tuckerman (USA) The Fan Sports Network 75 Darren Lill (RSA) BMC Racing Team 76 Michael Creed (USA) Rock Racing 77 Roman Kilun (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 78 Jonathan Chodroff (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com 79 Jake MacArthur (USA) Hagens Berman LLP Cycling Team 80 Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col) Rock Racing 81 Caleb Manion (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 82 James Mattis (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized 83 Dan Harm (USA) Hagens Berman LLP Cycling Team 84 Jesse Moore (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized 85 Lang Reynolds (USA) Hagens Berman LLP Cycling Team 86 Andrew Miller (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com 87 Omer Kem (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 88 Gardie Jackson (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel 89 Justin Mayfield (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom 90 Sam Johnson (USA) Hagens Berman LLP Cycling Team 91 Robert Campbell (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom 92 Brian Forbes (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com 93 Jacob Rubelt (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com 94 Jesse Gordon (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars 95 Alex Rock (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars 96 Shaun Morris (USA) Land Rover - Orbea 97 Matthew Crane (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 98 Luis Alejandro Zamudio (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel 99 Cody O'Reilly (USA) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre 100 Corey Collier (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 101 Tyler Wren (USA) The Fan Sports Network 102 Matthew Shriver (USA) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 103 David Harward (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars 104 Valery Kobzarenko (Ukr) Team Type 1 105 Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 106 Jonathan Garcia (USA) BMC Racing Team 107 Erik Slack (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom 108 Ian MacGregor (USA) Team Type 1 0.23 109 Cameron Hoffman (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel 110 Heath Blackgrove (NZl) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 111 Chris Wherry (USA) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 112 Danny Pate (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 General Classification after Stage 1 1 Jason Donald (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 4.06.59 2 Sheldon Deeny (USA) The Fan Sports Network 0.05 3 Bradley White (USA) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre 0.08 4 Ricardo Escuela (Arg) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre 0.30 5 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 6 Frank Pipp (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 7 Ryan Anderson (Can) Land Rover - Orbea 8 Alessandro Bazzana (Ita) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre 9 Bryson Perry (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel 10 Michael Grabinger (USA) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre 11 Cesar Augusto Grajales (Col) Rock Racing 12 Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Type 1 13 Garrett Peltonen (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 14 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Rock Racing 15 Jared Barrilleaux (USA) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 16 Brent Brookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 17 Matthew Wilson (Aus) Team Type 1 0.31 18 William Frischkorn (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 19 Calvin Allan (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom 20 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com 21 Blake Caldwell (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 22 Neil Shirley (USA) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 23 Steve Bovay (Swi) BMC Racing Team 24 Scott Stewart (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel 25 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Rock Racing 26 Max Jenkins (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized 27 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Health Net p/b Maxxis 28 Carson Miller (USA) Land Rover - Orbea 29 Justin England (USA) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 30 Todd Hageman (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars 0.32 31 Adrian Hegyvary (USA) Hagens Berman LLP Cycling Team 32 Ben Day (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 33 Rudolph Napolitano (USA) Rock Racing 34 Mark Santurbane (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized 35 Edward King (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 36 Christopher Jones (USA) Team Type 1 37 Nick Clayville (USA) Hagens Berman LLP Cycling Team 38 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Bissell Pro Cycling 39 Andy Guptill (USA) The Fan Sports Network 40 Chris Lieto (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized 41 Scott Tietzel (USA) The Fan Sports Network 42 Chuck Coyle (USA) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre 43 Ryan Barrett (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars 44 Scott Nydam (USA) BMC Racing Team 45 Peter Stetina (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 46 Ian McKissick (USA) BMC Racing Team 47 Phil Zajicek (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 48 Chris Stuart (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom 49 Christopher Baldwin (USA) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 50 Matt Cooke (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 51 Paul Mach (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom 52 Eric Pardyjak (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars 53 Glen Chadwick (Aus) Team Type 1 54 Joshua Bartlett (USA) Land Rover - Orbea 55 Jeffry Louder (USA) BMC Racing Team 56 Thomas Peterson (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 57 Dave Vukets (USA) Land Rover - Orbea 58 Aaron Olson (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 59 Osvaldo Olmos (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized 60 John Hunt (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized 61 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Rock Racing 62 Tom Zirbel (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 63 Billy Demong (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel 64 Nate Page (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars 65 Burke Swindlehurst (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 66 Trent Wilson (Aus) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 67 Adam Livingston (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel 68 Stefano Barberi (USA) The Fan Sports Network 69 Ben Kneller (USA) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 70 Anthony Colby (USA) The Fan Sports Network 71 Kyle Colavito (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com 72 Ryan Trebon (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com 73 Ryan Sullivan (Aus) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 74 Aaron Tuckerman (USA) The Fan Sports Network 75 Darren Lill (RSA) BMC Racing Team 76 Michael Creed (USA) Rock Racing 77 Roman Kilun (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 78 Jonathan Chodroff (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com 79 Jake MacArthur (USA) Hagens Berman LLP Cycling Team 80 Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col) Rock Racing 81 Caleb Manion (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 82 James Mattis (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized 83 Dan Harm (USA) Hagens Berman LLP Cycling Team 84 Jesse Moore (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized 85 Lang Reynolds (USA) Hagens Berman LLP Cycling Team 86 Andrew Miller (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com 87 Omer Kem (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling 88 Gardie Jackson (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel 89 Justin Mayfield (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom 90 Sam Johnson (USA) Hagens Berman LLP Cycling Team 91 Robert Campbell (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom 92 Jacob Rubelt (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com 93 Jesse Gordon (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars 94 Alex Rock (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars 95 Shaun Morris (USA) Land Rover - Orbea 96 Matthew Crane (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 97 Luis Alejandro Zamudio (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel 98 Cody O'Reilly (USA) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre 99 Corey Collier (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 100 Tyler Wren (USA) The Fan Sports Network 101 Matthew Shriver (USA) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 102 David Harward (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars 103 Valery Kobzarenko (Ukr) Team Type 1 104 Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 105 Jonathan Garcia (USA) BMC Racing Team 106 Erik Slack (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom 107 Ian MacGregor (USA) Team Type 1 0.33 108 Cameron Hoffman (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel 109 Heath Blackgrove (NZl) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 110 Chris Wherry (USA) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 111 Danny Pate (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 112 Brian Forbes (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com 0.52
