4th Tour of Utah - 2.2

Utah, USA, August 13-17, 2008

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Stage 5 - August 17: Tooele - Tooele (ITT), 12km/ 7.45mi

Louder takes Utah in final stage by a whisker

Zirbel blasts to a final stage victory

By Kirsten Robbins is Salt Lake City Utah

Jeff Louder (BMC) claimed third place on the stage,
Photo ©: Jon Devich

Tom Zirbel (Bissell) proved to be on grand form when he blasted the 12-kilometre time trial with the best time of 13'50" to take the final stage victory. BMC team-mates Brent Bookwalter and overall winner Jeff Louder filled out the podium finishing nine and 15 seconds adrift respectively.

"I feel really good right now and my time trialing is where it needs to be," said Zirbel who has his eyes set on the US Pro time trial championships held in Greenville, South Carolina in two weeks. "Winning today doesn't surprise me, I'm feeling good in the time trials and also, I got to sit up at the base of the climb yesterday. You never know how the other guys might have been feeling after that stage."

The man of the day was Jeff Louder who started the day seven seconds behind Blake Caldwell (Garmin-Chipotle) in the overall. After a season of strong time trials in his legs, odds were in favour of the Utah native. In the end, he made up sixteen seconds to take the overall victory of the Tour of Utah by nine-seconds. Caldwell finished in a strong second place and Glen Chadwick (Team Type 1) maintained his third place.

"It was a huge team effort this week," said Louder who moved closer to his winning goal when he took the previous stage four victory atop Snowbird pass. "These are my people, my roads and my conditions. My Dad was in the follow car, my wife Soorya and baby Milana are here. So, to be able to win this in front of them - I will relish."

Louder noted the short course suited his time trial ability but the real credit for the overall victory goes to his BMC team-mates. "I dug deep thinking about everything that the team did this week," said Louder. "Our team from the riders, staff, management, directors Gavin Chilcott and John Lelangue and the vision Andy Rihs, is amazing - I wouldn’t have won with out them. The riders made the whole week easy for me and I’m really proud of everyone."

How it unfolded

Ninety riders rolled off the stage five, time trial starting ramp and onto the Miller Sports Motorway to complete the 12-kilometre individual effort. The flat and fast course offered a bit of technical flavor with some hard to read turns.

"There were a few corners that sort of caught me off guard," said Zirbel who feels confident with his Pinarello time trial machine. "I’ve had the same set up for two years, the more time on it the better - I’m cornering better than I ever have before on it."

Runner up in the overall, Caldwell elaborated on his pre-race excitement and appreciation for his Garmin-Chipotle team efforts during his four days in yellow. "I’ve never come into a time trial more motivated and I wanted to win more than anything else today," he said. "I woke up and knew that I was having a good day, in the warm up too."

"Regardless of how Louder was at the time checks, I knew I was on a good pace," he continued. "It was just me against myself out there. I was hoping it would be good enough and so it’s a little disappointing. I’m still satisfied with the race. My team deserves all the credit for my second place."

Team Garmin-Chipotle took the early lead after Caldwell’s stage one victory. They continued to put forth an impressive team effort to control the front of the bike race from day one to day five. Furthermore, the youngest rider on the squad, Peter Stetina, solidified his lead in the event’s best young rider competition.

"I think Blake road the race of his life today," said Chann McRae, Garmin-Chipotle director. "I was impressed with the way Louder rode yesterday on the climb and he had a great time trial too."

"We rode as a team and kept the team together under pressure all week," he continued proud of the team’s hard work. "We brought a strong team with two of our Tour riders, Frischkorn and Pate, who we knew could spend many kilometres on the front. We had three of the best climbers in the race to take over in the mountains. We were never on the defensive."

While Garmin-Chipotle rode a solid race on the front, BMC was the most cohesive team on paper. The Swiss-American squad won the overall best team classification. The team stacked the top ten in the overall GC and raced against other top-notch GC riders Burke Swindlehurst (Bissell), Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) and Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing) and Tom Danielson (Garmin-Chipotle) on the ‘queen’ stage four mountain top finish.

"It was a great effort by the team, who brought him to the final stage as fresh as he was," said BCM team director Gavin Chilcott. "Obviously he did a big effort yesterday but that was the first time that he had to dig deep to gain time on the overall. I think the race played out well; we didn’t want to defend the yellow jersey early if we didn’t have too. We were confident coming into today and the guys raced well all week- They were well prepared."

Other notable accomplishments included Glen Chadwick who solidified his lead in the KOM competition and place third in the overall classification. "I’m pleased with my performance here," said Chadwick. "For some reason I do well at altitude and getting the KOM jersey is really just a bonus."

Successful Living’s Brad White consistently put himself in each significant break away on the three mountainous road race stages. The opportunistic rider took the early lead of the sprint competition after stage one and solidified it in the previous stage four road race.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Jonathan Devich/

Jeff Louder (BMC) claimed third place on the stage, giving him the overall victory.
Victor Hugo Pena (Rock Racing) comes through in fine form.
Ben Day (Toyota United) had a good ride today to finish just over 29 seconds back.
Tom Zirbel (Bissell) was fastest on today's short course at 13'50".
Rory Sutherland (HealthNet-Maxxis-Maxxis) puts in a good time at the Miller Motorsports Park.
Tyler Wren (The Fan Sports Network) was one of several riders making up a composite team this week.
Tom Danielson (Garmin-Chipotle) came in a strong fourth today.
Brad White (Successful Living) rode strong all week and cinched the lead in the sprint competition.
Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle), who took the yellow jersey on Stage 1, finished up 11th for the stage.
Cesar Grajales (Rock Racing) grits it out to the end.
Phil Zajicek (HealthNet-Maxxis)
Peter Stetina (Garmin-Chipotle) rides in to keep the lead as the top young rider.
Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing) had a good week of racing, despite coming off of several recent injuries.
Chris Baldwin (Toyota United) may have been feeling his hard ride yesterday up to Snowbird.
Burke Swindlehurst (Bissell) rounded out today's top 10.
Glen Chadwick (Team Type 1) kept his fitness from the Olympic Games this week and went home with the KOM jersey.
Jeff Louder (BMC) makes his way around the flat track and into the win.
Blake Caldwell (Garmin-Chipotle) passes by, going as hard as he can to keep the overall.
Blake Caldwell (Garmin-Chipotle) gets the finish.
BMC took home the team prize for all of its hard efforts.
Jeff Louder (BMC) in first, Blake Caldwell (Garmin-Chipotle) second and Glen Chadwick (Team Type 1) third.

Results

1 Tom Zirbel (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling                                13.50.00
2 Brent Brookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team                              0.09.30
3 Jeffry Louder (USA) BMC Racing Team                                  0.15.70
4 Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30                  0.21.60
5 Ian McKissick (USA) BMC Racing Team                                  0.22.30
6 Chris Wherry (USA) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team                  0.23.00
7 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Rock Racing                                      0.24.00
8 Glen Chadwick (Aus) Team Type 1                                      0.27.30
9 Peter Stetina (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30                     0.27.80
10 Burke Swindlehurst (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling                        0.28.80
11 Jason Donald (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30                     0.29.40
12 Ben Day (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team                      0.29.60
13 Justin England (USA) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team               0.30.20
14 Blake Caldwell (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30                   0.31.80
15 Christopher Baldwin (USA) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team          0.32.20
16 Valery Kobzarenko (Ukr) Team Type 1                                 0.34.00
17 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Rock Racing                                    0.37.10
18 Phil Zajicek (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis                            0.37.90
19 Chris Lieto (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized                0.40.00
20 Michael Creed (USA) Rock Racing                                     0.41.70
21 Thomas Peterson (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30                  0.41.90
22 Roman Kilun (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis                             0.42.80
23 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Bissell Pro Cycling                            0.44.30
24 Cesar Augusto Grajales (Col) Rock Racing                            0.45.60
25 Mark Santurbane (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized            0.47.00
26 Bradley White (USA) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre                0.48.20
27 Ben Kneller (USA) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team                    0.50.10
28 Paul Mach (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom                               0.50.70
29 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team              0.51.60
30 Corey Collier (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis                           0.53.50
31 Heath Blackgrove (NZl) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team             0.55.80
32 Anthony Colby (USA) The Fan Sports Network                          0.57.10
33 Ricardo Escuela (Arg) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre              1.02.50
34 Jared Barrilleaux (USA) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team              1.02.90
35 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Health Net p/b Maxxis                         1.03.20
36 Matthew Shriver (USA) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team                1.07.50
37 Stefano Barberi (USA) The Fan Sports Network                        1.07.90
38 Cody O'Reilly (USA) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre                1.08.20
39 Tyler Wren (USA) The Fan Sports Network                             1.08.30
40 Matthew Wilson (Aus) Team Type 1                                    1.08.50
41 John Hunt (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized                  1.13.80
42 Bryson Perry (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel              1.17.70
43 Michael Grabinger (USA) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre            1.19.30
44 Calvin Allan (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom                            1.19.80
45 Sam Johnson (USA) Hagens Berman LLP Cycling Team                    1.20.20
46 Jesse Moore (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized                1.21.20
47 Justin Mayfield (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom                         1.21.40
48 Frank Pipp (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis                              1.21.90
49 Darren Lill (RSA) BMC Racing Team                                   1.22.60
50 Max Jenkins (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized                1.24.20
51 Nate Page (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars                      1.24.40
52 Scott Tietzel (USA) The Fan Sports Network                          1.26.70
53 Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col) Rock Racing                         1.27.80
54 Carson Miller (USA) Land Rover - Orbea                              1.29.20
55 James Mattis (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized               1.29.80
56 Matt Cooke (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis                              1.30.80
57 Jake MacArthur (USA) Hagens Berman LLP Cycling Team                 1.32.70
58 Billy Demong (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel              1.32.90
59 Omer Kem (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling                                  1.34.30
60 Alessandro Bazzana (Ita) Successfulliving.com p/b Parkpre           1.36.40
61 Osvaldo Olmos (USA) California Giant Berry/Specialized              1.37.40
62 Scott Stewart (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel             1.38.80
63 Rudolph Napolitano (USA) Rock Racing                                1.39.80
64 Jacob Rubelt (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com                           1.42.50
65 Eric Pardyjak (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars                  1.45.40
66 David Harward (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars                  1.46.00
67 Luis Alejandro Zamudio (USA) American R.A.D.D. presented by Agel    1.46.10
68 Erik Slack (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom                                     
69 Christopher Jones (USA) Team Type 1                                 1.49.30
70 Todd Hageman (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars                   2.00.60
71 Jesse Gordon (USA) Canyon Bicycles Utah All-Stars                   2.01.60
72 Ian MacGregor (USA) Team Type 1                                     2.03.20
73 Jonathan Garcia (USA) BMC Racing Team                               2.03.70
74 Lang Reynolds (USA) Hagens Berman LLP Cycling Team                  2.04.90
75 Joshua Bartlett (USA) Land Rover - Orbea                            2.09.00
76 Neil Shirley (USA) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team                   2.16.10
77 Kyle Colavito (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com                          2.17.10
78 Andy Guptill (USA) The Fan Sports Network                           2.18.90
79 Trent Wilson (Aus) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team                   2.19.40
80 Dave Vukets (USA) Land Rover - Orbea                                2.25.40
81 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Rideclean/Patentit.com                           3.05.00
82 Chris Stuart (USA) Team Bobs-Bicyclescom                            3.22.40
83 Ryan Sullivan (Aus) Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team                  3.27.30
84 Aaron Tuckerman (USA) The Fan Sports Network                        4.58.90

 
Final general classification
 
1 Jeff Louder (BMC)                             
2 Blake Caldwell (Garmin-Chipotle) -1 second    
3 Glen Chadwick (Team Type 1)    

Full results coming!