Ogden will host the opening stage or the first time, but it will be the fifth year the Tour will pass through the host city. The 2012 race will also have a team time trial for the first time in its history. There will be an estimated 16 teams participating in the race in 2012.

Stage host cities:
Tuesday, August 7: Ogden. Stage 1, road race.
Wednesday, August 8: Miller Motorsports Park (Tooele). Stage 2, team time trial.
Thursday, August 9: Ogden to University of Utah Research Park (Salt Lake City). Stage 3, road race.
Friday, August 10: Utah County to downtown Salt Lake City. Stage 4, road race.
Saturday, August 11: Park City to Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort. Stage 5, road race.
Sunday, August 12: Park City. Stage 6, road race.

Specific details of each stage will be released in the spring.

At the finish, Henao celebrated his stage win while Leipheimer celebrated another overall victory. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

Levi Leipheimer said Wednesday that he was never in danger of being dropped when Sergio Henao put in a race shattering attack on the final climb of the Tour of Utah last weekend. In an interview with KPCW community radio in Park City, Utah, Leipheimer (RadioShack) described the uneasy truce he made with Henao (Gobernacion de Antioquia) on the road to Snowbird resort on Sunday.

“On Little Cottonwood when Sergio was going for it, and especially when he attacked, we maxed out at 840 watts. We were averaging 350 to 360 watts on the way up,” said Leipheimer. “It’s all about efficiency, especially at altitude. You need to be efficient and light. A guy like Henao, he’s smaller than I am and he can really light it up.”

Henao’s initial attack from the group of favorites sprung a 20-plus second gap and Leipheimer was the only rider to follow.

“When I caught him I came around and looked back and didn’t see anyone,” Leipheimer said. “I told him I was good, that he wasn’t going to drop me, and that if he wanted to concentrate on the stage win, I wouldn’t contest it.”

From there, the pair rode consistently toward the finish at Snowbird Resort atop the Cat. 1 climb. Henao eventually took the stage, Leipheimer the final overall, for the second year in a row.

“He had more punch or jump than I do, so it was in my interest to give him incentive to keep it steady and go for the stage win,” said Leipheimer.

Leipheimer will start the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Monday August 22 as a favorite for the overall. He said he would close his season with the two Canadian World Tour races, the Grand Prix of Québec and Montréal, in September.

This year has been up and down for Leipheimer, who struggled with illness in the spring before winning the penultimate stage of the Tour of California at Mount Baldy in May. Two weeks before his Utah win, Leipheimer finished the Tour de France battered after crashing a number of times in the race’s first week.

“That’ll be the end of my year,” said Leipheimer. “I’m looking forward to the (Levi’s) Gran Fondo on October 1st and then some relaxation.”

When asked about the growth of cycling in the U.S. in recent years, Leipheimer called this the biggest time in the history of the sport in the States.

“I was inspired by the Tour de France and the Coors Classic,” said Leipheimer. “And we’ve never had this many high caliber events in the history of cycling.”

After a couple of weeks to soak in the glory his Tour de France victory, Evans flew to Utah where he watched the final stage of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and set himself up to train for next week’s USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado.

“I’m here for a few days,” Evans said. “The timing is really good and Colorado is a really beautiful place to race. We could go to the Vuelta, Colorado or Poland, I know which one I want to do, because I am here and I don’t think I am the only one that feels that way.”

Evans and the BMC squad will take advantage of the Utah altitude and the fact several members of the team are already there to formulate their gameplan for the third UCI-rated race in the U.S. The Aussie said he hasn’t don’t a lot of riding since he slipped into the maillot jaune and will adjust his expectations accordingly.

“I don’t know if I will be a factor in Colorado, but I’m going to take it as it comes,” Evans said. “If I can be good that would be great but with the travel and altitude it is not exactly optimal.”

Still, Evans plans on representing well.

“I am going to take it as it comes,” Evans said. “I’ve had a lot of travel over the last few days and I just want to get on my bike and become an athlete again, that is my main thing, become an athlete again, and get some cycling legs back in hopes that I can be reasonably competitive in Colorado. What I can do in Colorado will depend on how well I recover and adapt to altitude.”

BMC team doctor Massimo Testa said he expects Evans to discover his passion for competition in short order.

“He’s a proud guy,” Testa said. “So he’s going to race his best for sure. He doesn’t like to race for second, ever.”

Testa said Evans and BMC would be in Utah for five days to ride and get more altitude acclimation.

While taking in the atmosphere at the Snowbird Ski Resort, Evans couldn’t help but notice the enthusiasm for cycling in America. The Tour of Utah, though not on his calendar this year, made an impression.

“I was talking to (Tour of Utah president) Steve Miller and he has a really nice plan, a really professional and sustainable approach,” Evans said. “I raced a lot in America as a mountain biker years ago and I understand the passion there is for cycling here. Now that there are races emerging like the Tour of California, Tour of Utah and USA Pro Cycling Challenge, I try and support those races. I went to the first Tour of California and I’m going to the first Colorado race.

“If the Prime Minister was a bit freer, I might have been able to come to Tour of Utah as well,” Evans said, referring to his recent return to his homecountry, where he was lauded as the biggest Australian sports star since Rod Laver.

• 1. Sergio Luis Henao Montoya, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, in 4:20:13
• 2. Levi Leipheimer, (USA) Team RadioShack, at s.t.
• 3. Janez Brajkovic, (SLO) Team RadioShack, at :18
• 4. Thomas Danielson, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at :50
• 5. Oscar Sevilla Ribera, (ESP) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:01:25
• 6. Christian Vande Velde, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at 00:02:33
• 7. Pat Mc Carty, (USA) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at s.t.
• 8. Christopher Butler, (USA) BMC Racing Team, at s.t.
• 9. Timothy Duggan, (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 00:02:38
• 10. Lucas Euser, (USA) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at s.t.
• 11. Max Jenkins, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, at 00:03:46
• 12. Jeff Louder, (USA) BMC Racing Team, at s.t.
• 13. Peter Stetina, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at 00:04:01
• 14. Andrew Bajadali, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at 00:04:37
• 15. Augusto Grajales Cesar, (COL) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at s.t.
• 16. Chad Beyer, (USA) BMC Racing Team, at 00:05:02
• 17. Alan Chadwick Glen, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 00:05:26
• 18. Tyler Wren, (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home, at 00:05:34
• 19. Rafael Montiel, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:05:42
• 20. Benjamin King, (USA) Team RadioShack, at 00:05:46
• 21. Francisco Mancebo Perez, (ESP) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at s.t.
• 22. Rene Mandri, (EST) Endura Racing, at 00:06:20
• 23. Cristian Montoya Giraldo, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:06:48
• 24. Alexander Efimkin, (RUS) Team Type 1, at 00:07:44
• 25. Philip Deignan, (IRL) Team RadioShack, at 00:07:52
• 26. Paolo Longo Borghini, (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 00:08:56
• 27. Iker Camano Ortuzar, (ESP) Endura Racing, at 00:09:47
• 28. Christopher Baldwin, (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling, at s.t.
• 29. Oscar Alvarez, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:09:53
• 30. Javier Alexis Acevedo Colle, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at s.t.
• 31. Paolo Cheula Gian, (ITA) Geox-Tmc, at 00:10:00
• 32. Jack Bauer, (NZL) Endura Racing, at 00:11:19
• 33. Flavio De Lune, (MEX) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 00:12:14
• 34. Alejandro Ramirez Calderon, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:12:22
• 35. Christopher Jones, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, at 00:14:03
• 36. Paul Voss, (GER) Endura Racing, at 00:14:20
• 37. Paul Mach, (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling, at 00:15:25
• 38. Brent Bookwalter, (USA) BMC Racing Team, at 00:16:16
• 39. George Bennet, (NZL) Team RadioShack, at 00:16:20
• 40. Carlos Alberto Ospina Hernandes, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at s.t.
• 41. William Dugan, (USA) Team Type 1, at 00:16:23
• 42. James Driscoll, (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home, at 00:16:46
• 43. Valeriy Kobzarenko, (UKR) Team Type 1, at 00:18:18
• 44. Jason Donald, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at 00:18:46
• 45. Chase Pinkham, (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling, at 00:21:56
• 46. Tom Zirbel, (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home, at 00:23:12
• 47. Danny Summerhill, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at 00:25:26
• 48. Dale Parker, (AUS) Team RadioShack, at s.t.
• 49. John Anderson, (AUS) Endura Racing, at s.t.
• 50. Davide Cimolai, (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at s.t.
• 51. Vladimir Efimkin, (RUS) Team Type 1, at s.t.
• 52. Maurizio Gorato, (ITA) Geox-Tmc, at s.t.
• 53. Edward King, (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at s.t.
• 54. Lachian Norris, (AUS) HTC-Highroad, at s.t.
• 55. Alexander Wetterhall, (SWE) Endura Racing, at s.t.
• 56. David Gutierrez, (ESP) Geox-Tmc, at s.t.
• 57. Joshua Berry, (USA) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at s.t.
• 58. Rubens Bertogliati, (SUI) Team Type 1, at s.t.
• 59. Javier Megias Leal, (ESP) Team Type 1, at s.t.
• 60. Davide Frattini, (ITA) Unitedhealthcare, at s.t.
• 61. Rob Britton, (CAN) Bissell Pro Cycling, at s.t.
• 62. Reid Mumford, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at s.t.
• 63. Tejay Van Garderen, (USA) HTC-Highroad, at s.t.
• 64. Alexender Candelario, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at s.t.
• 65. James Northey Michael, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at s.t.
• 66. Marcel Wyss, (SUI) Geox-Tmc, at s.t.
• 67. Rory Sutherland, (AUS) Unitedhealthcare, at s.t.
• 68. Danny Pate, (USA) HTC-Highroad, at s.t.
• 69. Patrick Gretsch, (GER) HTC-Highroad, at s.t.
• 70. Juraj Sagan, (SVK) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 00:27:35
• 71. Robert Partridge, (GBR) Endura Racing, at 00:27:43
• 72. Scott Thwaites, (GBR) Endura Racing, at s.t.
• 73. Robert Thomson Jay, (RSA) Bissell Pro Cycling, at s.t.
• 74. Timothy Gudsell, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 00:27:47
• 75. Roman Van Uden, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at s.t.
• 76. Albert Torres, (ESP) Geox-Tmc, at 00:27:49
• 77. Bruno Langlois, (CAN) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at s.t.
• 78. Fabio Calabria, (AUS) Team Type 1, at s.t.
• 79. Zak Dempster, (AUS) HTC-Highroad, at s.t.
• 80. Evan Hyde, (USA) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at s.t.
• 81. Jeremy Vennell, (NZL) Bissell Pro Cycling, at s.t.
• 82. Daniel Barry, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 00:27:53
• 83. Scott Lyttle, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 00:27:54
• 84. Ian Burnett, (USA) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at 00:28:07
• 85. Elia Viviani, (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 00:29:48
• 86. Marsh Cooper, (CAN) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at s.t.
• 87. Tommy Nankervis, (AUS) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at 00:31:05
• 88. Thomas Rabou, (NED) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at s.t.

Brajkovic leads Montoya, Leipheimer, Sevilla and Danielson into the Alpine Loop. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

SNOWBIRD, Utah (VN) — After winning the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah as a solo rider last year, Levi Leipheimer brought his RadioShack teammates with him for 2011.

And boy did he need them.

Facing a surprisingly deep challenge from the Colombian Gobernacion de Antioquia team, Leipheimer fought off attack after attack over three categorized climbs before he was finally able to gently roll across the finish line on the wheel of his closest competitor.

“My number 1 goal, my only goal,” Leipheimer said after claiming the overall victory at the 2011 Tour of Utah, “was to win the race.”

And that meant he had no issues whatsoever following the wheel of Gobernacion’s Sergio Henao from the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon to the finish line at the Snowbird Ski Resort.

Henao got his second stage win of the Tour of Utah with Tour de France winner Cadel Evans watching, to finish off a week of racing along the Wasatch Mountains.

Leading by just 23 seconds when stage 5 started, Leipheimer’s strategy as the race began in Park City was simple: find Henao and fellow Gobernacion rider Oscar Sevilla and never let them out of his sight. The problem with that, however, was the Colombians had, by far, the strongest and deepest team in the Tour of Utah and launched attack after attack up the climbs trying to break Leipheimer and his RadioShack partners.

Janez Brajkovic, starting the stage only 29 seconds back, played the perfect partner to Leipheimer as they battled the Gobernacion squad and matched each attack perfectly.

“The strategy today,” Henao said through a translator after his stage 5 victory, “was to get ahead as much as we could. I felt good, I felt strong. But Levi was just as strong.”

With seven members of the Gobernacion team together through the first two climbs and shepherding Henao to the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon, Leipheimer needed all the help he could get. Brajkovic was right beside him for most of the stage and after the first monster climb over the Alpine Loop, Shack riders Philip Deignan, Ben King and George Bennet chased on to help their team leader.

“It was a little daunting at that moment,” Leipheimer said of the time he looked around the break and saw himself and Brajkovic against seven Gobernacion climbers.

The final climb was all about being patient and keeping an eye on Henao. One by one, the Gobernacion armada peeled off and finally it was just Leipheimer and Henao marking each other up the brutal climb that started after nearly 100 miles in the saddle.

“At that point, we wiped the slate clean and started over,” Leipheimer said.

Henao put in several digs, but none of them worked and Leipheimer simply kept his pace steady.

With a mile or two to go, Leipheimer knew he had secured his second straight Tour of Utah overall win and matched Henao’s pace, allowing the youngster from Colombia to earn the stage win.

“The way the Gobernacion team rode today and all week, they deserved to win,” Leipheimer said.

Brajkovic finished third on the day, just 18 seconds behind the winner, and slotted into third in the overall — 45 seconds back — as he showed his form is just fine prior to departing to compete in the Vuelta a España.

Gobernacion was an easy winner of the team classification with seven riders in the top 25 and Cristian Montoya claimed the Best Young Rider jersey.

PureBlack’s Roman Van Uden won both intermediate sprints during stage 5 to reclaim the points jersey he lost a day earlier and BMC’s Jeff Louder retained his Best Utah Rider jersey by placing 10th overall – just 7:31 off the winning pace.

Leipheimer, by virtue of chasing the leaders up the mountains, earned the King of the Mountain jersey.

The yellow jersey, however, was the one he treasured most.

“Last year was nice,” Leipheimer said, “but it was a little lonely.”

Brajkovic the rest of the RadioShack crew made sure he had plenty of friends to celebrate with this time around.

Quick results
Stage

• 1. Sergio Luis Henao Montoya, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, in 4:20:13
• 2. Levi Leipheimer, (USA) Team RadioShack, at s.t.
• 3. Janez Brajkovic, (SLO) Team RadioShack, at 00:00:18
• 4. Thomas Danielson, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at 00:00:50
• 5. Oscar Sevilla Ribera, (ESP) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:01:25

GC

• 1. Levi Leipheimer, (USA) Team RadioShack, in 15:53:12
• 2. Sergio Luis Henao Montoya, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:00:23
• 3. Janez Brajkovic, (SLO) Team RadioShack, at 00:00:45
• 4. Oscar Sevilla Ribera, (ESP) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:01:54
• 5. Thomas Danielson, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at 00:03:49

Complete results

• 1. Javier Alexis Acevedo Colle, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, in 2:56:18
• 2. Javier Megias Leal, (ESP) Team Type 1, at s.t.:05
• 3. Rubens Bertogliati, (SUI) Team Type 1, at s.t.:06
• 4. Francisco Mancebo Perez, (ESP) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, s.t.
• 5. Chad Beyer, (USA) BMC Racing Team, s.t.
• 6. Lucas Euser, (USA) Spidertech-Planet Energy, s.t.
• 7. Pat Mc Carty, (USA) Spidertech-Planet Energy, s.t.
• 8. Timothy Duggan, (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale, s.t.
• 9. Christian Vandevelde, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, s.t.
• 10. Christopher Jones, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, s.t.
• 11. David Gutierrez, (ESP) Geox-Tmc, at s.t.:13
• 12. Andrew Bajadali, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at s.t.:15
• 13. Alejandro Ramirez Calderon, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, at s.t.:25
• 14. Rafael Montiel, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, at s.t.:27
• 15. Paul Mach, (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling, at s.t.:28
• 16. Christopher Baldwin, (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling, s.t.
• 17. Peter Stetina, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, s.t.
• 18. Luis Romero Amaran, (CUB) Jamis-Sutter Home, at s.t.:36
• 19. Elia Viviani, (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at s.t.:44
• 20. Davide Frattini, (ITA) Unitedhealthcare, at 01:02
• 21. Sergio Luis Henao Montoya, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, at 01:05
• 22. Jack Bauer, (NZL) Endura Racing, at 01:24
• 23. Tejay Van Garderen, (USA) HTC-Highroad, at 01:38
• 24. Oscar Sevilla Ribera, (ESP) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, s.t.
• 25. Flavio De Lune, (MEX) Spidertech-Planet Energy, s.t.
• 26. Augusto Grajales Cesar, (COL) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, s.t.
• 27. Joshua Berry, (USA) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, s.t.
• 28. Tyler Wren, (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home, s.t.
• 29. Jeff Louder, (USA) BMC Racing Team, s.t.
• 30. Levi Leipheimer, (USA) Team RadioShack, s.t.
• 31. Marcel Wyss, (SUI) Geox-Tmc, s.t.
• 32. Iker Camano Ortuzar, (ESP) Endura Racing, s.t.
• 33. Janez Brajkovic, (SLO) Team RadioShack, s.t.
• 34. Thomas Danielson, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, s.t.
• 35. George Hincapie, (USA) BMC Racing Team, s.t.
• 36. Rory Sutherland, (AUS) Unitedhealthcare, at 01:47
• 37. Timothy Gudsell, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, s.t.
• 38. Cristian Montoya Giraldo, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, s.t.
• 39. Tom Zirbel, (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home, at 01:51
• 40. Oscar Alvarez, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, s.t.
• 41. Max Jenkins, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, s.t.
• 42. Chase Pinkham, (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling, s.t.
• 43. Paolo Longo Borghini, (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 01:54
• 44. Rene Mandri, (EST) Endura Racing, s.t.
• 45. Alexander Efimkin, (RUS) Team Type 1, s.t.
• 46. James Northey Michael, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 02:00
• 47. Alan Chadwick Glen, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 02:04
• 48. Brent Bookwalter, (USA) BMC Racing Team, s.t.
• 49. Robert Partridge, (GBR) Endura Racing, s.t.
• 50. Rob Britton, (CAN) Bissell Pro Cycling, at 02:20
• 51. Paolo Cheula Gian, (ITA) Geox-Tmc, s.t.
• 52. Michael Creed, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at 02:29
• 53. Danny Pate, (USA) HTC-Highroad, s.t.
• 54. David Zabriskie, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at 03:53
• 55. Danny Summerhill, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, s.t.
• 56. William Dugan, (USA) Team Type 1, at 05:44
• 57. Christopher Butler, (USA) BMC Racing Team, s.t.
• 58. Vladimir Efimkin, (RUS) Team Type 1, s.t.
• 59. Paul Voss, (GER) Endura Racing, s.t.
• 60. Edward King, (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale, s.t.
• 61. Carlos Alberto Ospina Hernandes, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, s.t.
• 62. Lachian Norris, (AUS) HTC-Highroad, s.t.
• 63. Bradley White, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, s.t.
• 64. Marsh Cooper, (CAN) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, s.t.
• 65. Robert Thomson Jay, (RSA) Bissell Pro Cycling, at 06:12
• 66. Jason Donald, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, s.t.
• 67. Andy Baker, (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling, s.t.
• 68. Zak Dempster, (AUS) HTC-Highroad, s.t.
• 69. Valeriy Kobzarenko, (UKR) Team Type 1, s.t.
• 70. Patrick Bevin, (NZL) Bissell Pro Cycling, s.t.
• 71. Philip Deignan, (IRL) Team RadioShack, s.t.
• 72. Alexander Wetterhall, (SWE) Endura Racing, s.t.
• 73. Davide Cimolai, (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale, s.t.
• 74. James Driscoll, (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home, s.t.
• 75. Juraj Sagan, (SVK) Liquigas-Cannondale, s.t.
• 76. Scott Thwaites, (GBR) Endura Racing, s.t.
• 77. Fabio Calabria, (AUS) Team Type 1, s.t.
• 78. Jeremy Vennell, (NZL) Bissell Pro Cycling, s.t.
• 79. Maurizio Gorato, (ITA) Geox-Tmc, s.t.
• 80. Robert Forster, (GER) Unitedhealthcare, s.t.
• 81. Ian Burnett, (USA) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, s.t.
• 82. Scott Lyttle, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, s.t.
• 83. Patrick Gretsch, (GER) HTC-Highroad, s.t.
• 84. Evan Hyde, (USA) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, s.t.
• 85. Bruno Langlois, (CAN) Spidertech-Planet Energy, s.t.
• 86. Francois Parisien, (CAN) Spidertech-Planet Energy, s.t.
• 87. Ryan Roth, (CAN) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 06:19
• 88. Andrew Randell, (CAN) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 06:34
• 89. Hayden Roulston, (NZL) HTC-Highroad, at 07:02
• 90. Oscar Clark, (USA) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at 08:36
• 91. Jacob Keough, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, s.t.
• 92. John Anderson, (AUS) Endura Racing, s.t.
• 93. Daniel Barry, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, s.t.
• 94. Tommy Nankervis, (AUS) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, s.t.
• 95. Roman Van Uden, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, s.t.
• 96. Alexender Candelario, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, s.t.
• 97. Thomas Rabou, (NED) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, s.t.
• 98. George Bennet, (NZL) Team RadioShack, s.t.
• 99. Albert Torres, (ESP) Geox-Tmc, s.t.
• 100. Dale Parker, (AUS) Team RadioShack, at 10:06
• 101. Benjamin King, (USA) Team RadioShack, s.t.
• 102. Scott Zwizanski, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, s.t.
• 103. Reid Mumford, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, s.t.
• 104. Alberto Borrajo Alejandro, (ARG) Jamis-Sutter Home, at 10:23

Javier Acevedo rode away from the field to win on the steep finish. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

SALT LAKE CITY (VN) — By the end of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah’s stage 4, the sweat — if there was any fluid left in the peloton — was dripping in buckets.

So, too, were the comments about the brutally tough the 7.4-mile circuit around the downtown of Utah’s capitol city.

At the finish, though, is was a rider from Colombia — where cyclists are no stranger to heat and altitude — who broke free on the final ascent of Salt Lake City’s Capitol Hill for the victory.

“I am extremely happy,” Javier Acevedo, of the Gobernacion de Antioqia team, said through a translater. “It is hard to win a stage anywhere in the world, but today it was especially difficult.”

Acevedo and the rest of the Gobernacion team entered the stage with a distinct plan after losing Sergio Henao’s yellow jersey Friday night. The plan was to be a part of any breakaway attempt and put as much pressure as possible on Levi Leipheimer and the RadioShack team.

It was mission accomplished in that regard as the breakaway group swelled to 24 riders and was able to push its lead to more than 2:30 after six of the 11 laps. After the break assembled, Leipheimer’s teammates took charge at the front and desperately tried to drag the new yellow jersey owner closer to the front. But the damage done by the breakaway — not to mention the searing heat and nasty hard course —  took its toll on the RadioShack riders, who were dropped from the chase group, leaving Leipheimer and Janez Brajkovic to forge reluctant alliances with other racers fearful of falling down the overall standings.

Leipheimer finished 1:38 behind Acevedo and was able to hold on to the yellow jersey by a slim 23 seconds over Henao who escaped from Leipheimer’s chase group on the final lap and rolled across the finish line 33 seconds earlier.

“It was difficult,” Leipheimer said after the stage. “We were under pressure the entire time and with the finish the way it was, I had to leave something in reserve for that last lap and climb.”

The circuit, dubbed the Louder Loop because it has been a popular training ride for BMC rider Jeff Louder and his father, Ken, over the years, featured a gnarly little climb up State Street to the Capitol with grades in excess of 13 percent at points. A long false-flat section after the steeps kept heart rates pegged and made for an exciting day of racing with thousands of fans lining the streets and ringing cowbells.

Acevedo proved the smartest on the day as he placed himself in the winning break, then jumped at precisely the correct time to open a 5-second gap at the finish line. That result helped him move from 25th to eighth in the GC. Henoa also moved up, climbing back to second. And the Gobernacion team is already looking forward to the challenge on Sunday’s Queen Stage from Park City to Snowbird.

With temperatures in the upper 90s and only a slight breeze blowing, staying hydrated in the dry Utah air was a constant challenge. Several riders commented publicly and on Twitter about the difficulty of the stage.

“I have a feeling that the Colombians were the only riders happy with how hard today’s stage was,” tweeted United Healthcare’s Davide Frattini.

Another racer, Bissell’s Jeremy Vennell, sent his comment directly to the course designer, Burke Swindlehurst.

“Text from a rider a few mins ago re; today’s course “Ur trying to kill me arnt u!” Me: “not you specifically” (evil grin),” Swindelhurst tweeted.

One rider who didn’t mind the course was Liquigas-Cannondale’s Tim Duggan.

“I’ve got to say this kind of race is my absolute favorite,” Duggan said after showing strongly in both intermediate sprints and jumping up the GC from 15th to sixth and shaving a whopping 1:37 off his time behind Leipheimer. “I wish every race was like this, with a circuit with a hill and a really great crowd.”

With the GC tightened up a bit and the contenders well within shouting distance of each other, Sunday’s final stage should hold all sorts of intrigue. Starting in Park City at 11 a.m., stage 5 includes roughly 100 miles of racing with 10,900 feet of climbing. The course has three categorized climbs, including a l’Alpe d’Huez-rivaling ascent of Little Cottonwood Canyon to the finish line at Snowbird.

There will be ample room for error as well as a race-changing break.

Quick results
Stage

• 1. Javier Alexis Acevedo Colle, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, in 2:56:18
• 2. Javier Megias Leal, (ESP) Team Type 1, at s.t.:05
• 3. Rubens Bertogliati, (SUI) Team Type 1, at s.t.:06
• 4. Francisco Mancebo Perez, (ESP) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, s.t.
• 5. Chad Beyer, (USA) BMC Racing Team, s.t.

GC

• 1. Levi Leipheimer, (USA) Team RadioShack, in 11:32:59
• 2. Sergio Luis Henao Montoya, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, at s.t.:23
• 3. Janez Brajkovic, (SLO) Team RadioShack, at s.t.:27
• 4. Oscar Sevilla Ribera, (ESP) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, at s.t.:29
• 5. Christian Vande Velde, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at 01:18

Complete results

Anthony (Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth), winner of the race’s first stage in Ogden and fifth overall, awoke Saturday morning with flu symptoms. Director Jonas Carney told VeloNews the team would pull Anthony from the race.

“(He’s) having difficulty just getting out of bed … he’s going to pull out of the race today,” said Carney.

Anthony’s stage win on Wednesday came after he attacked the field solo on the tough North Ogden Pass climb late in the stage. A group of four GC favorites, including former leader Sergio Henao (Gobernacion De Antioquia) and current yellow jersey Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack), caught Anthony and he won a long, five-up sprint in Ogden.

The Tour of Utah continues Saturday with the penultimate stage, a circuit race in Salt Lake City.

• 1. Tejay Van Garderen, (USA) HTC-Highroad, in 17:34
• 2. Levi Leipheimer, (USA) Team RadioShack, at :06
• 3. Patrick Gretsch, (GER) HTC-Highroad, at :10
• 4. Alexander Wetterhall, (SWE) Endura Racing, at :18
• 5. Christian Vandevelde, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at :19
• 6. Janez Brajkovic, (SLO) Team RadioShack, at :25
• 7. Danny Pate, (USA) HTC-Highroad, at :27
• 8. Thomas Danielson, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at :30
• 9. Tom Zirbel, (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home, at s.t
• 10. George Hincapie, (USA) BMC Racing Team, at s.t
• 11. David Zabriskie, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at :34
• 12. Jack Bauer, (NZL) Endura Racing, at :38
• 13. Brent Bookwalter, (USA) BMC Racing Team, at :39
• 14. Jeremy Vennell, (NZL) Bissell Pro Cycling, at s.t
• 15. Oscar Sevilla Ribera, (ESP) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at :41
• 16. Rory Sutherland, (AUS) Unitedhealthcare, at :44
• 17. Scott Zwizanski, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, at :47
• 18. Benjamin King, (USA) Team RadioShack, at :51
• 19. Robert Forster, (GER) Unitedhealthcare, at :55
• 20. Francois Parisien, (CAN) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at s.t
• 21. Marcel Wyss, (SUI) Geox-Tmc, at s.t
• 22. Iker Camano Ortuzar, (ESP) Endura Racing, at s.t
• 23. Robert Thomson Jay, (RSA) Bissell Pro Cycling, at :56
• 24. Dale Parker, (AUS) Team RadioShack, at :58
• 25. Lachian Norris, (AUS) HTC-Highroad, at 1:00
• 26. Timothy Duggan, (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 1:01
• 27. Hayden Roulston, (NZL) HTC-Highroad, at 1:03
• 28. George Bennet, (NZL) Team RadioShack, at s.t
• 29. Rubens Bertogliati, (SUI) Team Type 1, at 1:04
• 30. Jeff Louder #, (USA) BMC Racing Team, at 1:05
• 31. Augusto Grajales Cesar, (COL) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at 1:06
• 32. Zak Dempster, (AUS) HTC-Highroad, at 1:08
• 33. Alan Chadwick Glen, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 1:10
• 34. Luis Romero Amaran, (CUB) Jamis-Sutter Home, at 1:11
• 35. Elia Viviani, (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 1:12
• 36. Jason Mccartney, (USA) Team RadioShack, at s.t
• 37. Philip Deignan, (IRL) Team RadioShack, at s.t
• 38. Andy Baker, (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling, at 1:13
• 39. Sergio Luis Henao Montoya, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at 1:15
• 40. Bjorn Selander, (USA) Team RadioShack, at s.t
• 41. Paul Mach, (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling, at 1:16
• 42. Francisco Mancebo Perez, (ESP) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at 1:18
• 43. Christopher Baldwin, (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling, at s.t
• 44. Danny Summerhill, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at 1:20
• 45. Ryan Roth, (CAN) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 1:21
• 46. Paul Voss, (GER) Endura Racing, at s.t
• 47. Rob Britton, (CAN) Bissell Pro Cycling, at 1:22
• 48. Michael Creed, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at s.t
• 49. Jason Donald, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at 1:23
• 50. Oscar Clark, (USA) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at s.t
• 51. Peter Stetina, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at 1:25
• 52. Jesse Anthony, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at s.t
• 53. Reid Mumford #, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at s.t
• 54. Joshua Berry, (USA) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at s.t
• 55. Carlos Alberto Ospina Hernandes, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at 1:26
• 56. Pat Mc Carty, (USA) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 1:28
• 57. Andrew Randell, (CAN) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 1:30
• 58. Ian Burnett, (USA) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at 1:31
• 59. Patrick Bevin, (NZL) Bissell Pro Cycling, at 1:32
• 60. John Anderson, (AUS) Endura Racing, at s.t
• 61. Edward King, (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 1:33
• 62. Albert Torres, (ESP) Geox-Tmc, at s.t
• 63. Javier Alexis Acevedo Colle, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at 1:34
• 64. Tyler Wren #, (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home, at s.t
• 65. Rene Mandri, (EST) Endura Racing, at 1:35
• 66. Lucas Euser, (USA) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 1:36
• 67. James Northey Michael, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 1:38
• 68. # Chase Pinkham, (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling, at 1:39
• 69. Max Jenkins, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, at s.t
• 70. Timothy Gudsell, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 1:41
• 71. James Driscoll, (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home, at s.t
• 72. Tino Thomel, (GER) Geox-Tmc, at 1:46
• 73. Valeriy Kobzarenko, (UKR) Team Type 1, at s.t
• 74. Rafael Montiel, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at 1:47
• 75. Christopher Butler, (USA) BMC Racing Team, at 1:51
• 76. Alexander Efimkin, (RUS) Team Type 1, at 1:52
• 77. Alexender Candelario, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at s.t
• 78. Caleb Fairly, (USA) HTC-Highroad, at s.t
• 79. Evan Hyde #, (USA) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at 1:55
• 80. Bradley White, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, at 1:57
• 81. Thomas Rabou, (NED) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at s.t
• 82. Daniel Barry, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 1:59
• 83. Tommy Nankervis, (AUS) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at 2:04
• 84. Robert Partridge, (GBR) Endura Racing, at s.t
• 85. Jacob Keough, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, at s.t
• 86. Christopher Jones, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, at 2:05
• 87. Andrew Bajadali, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at 2:06
• 88. Flavio De Lune, (MEX) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 2:08
• 89. Bruno Langlois, (CAN) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 2:10
• 90. Chad Beyer, (USA) BMC Racing Team, at s.t
• 91. Paolo Cheula Gian, (ITA) Geox-Tmc, at 2:12
• 92. William Dugan, (USA) Team Type 1, at 2:13
• 93. Scott Lyttle, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 2:14
• 94. Paolo Longo Borghini, (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 2:16
• 95. Javier Megias Leal, (ESP) Team Type 1, at s.t
• 96. Davide Frattini, (ITA) Unitedhealthcare, at 2:17
• 97. Luis Crosby, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at s.t
• 98. Maurizio Gorato, (ITA) Geox-Tmc, at 2:24
• 99. Vladimir Efimkin, (RUS) Team Type 1, at s.t
• 100. Marsh Cooper, (CAN) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at 2:25
• 101. Simon Lambert-lemay, (CAN) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at s.t
• 102. Juraj Sagan, (SVK) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 2:29
• 103. Roman Van Uden, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 2:30
• 104. Davide Cimolai, (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 2:31
• 105. Oscar Alvarez, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at 2:33
• 106. David Gutierrez, (ESP) Geox-Tmc, at 2:36
• 107. Alberto Borrajo Alejandro, (ARG) Jamis-Sutter Home, at 2:38
• 108. Nicolas Frey, (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home, at 2:39
• 109. Alejandro Ramirez Calderon, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at 2:47
• 110. Scott Thwaites, (GBR) Endura Racing, at 2:55
• 111. Cristian Montoya Giraldo, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at 2:57
• 112. Fabio Calabria, (AUS) Team Type 1, at 3:06

Tom Danielson with the desert mountain range as a backdrop. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

TOOELE, Utah (VN) — Happy Birthday, Tejay Van Garderen. You are finally a professional bike race winner.

Lighting the 9.7-mile course at the Miller Motorsports Park on fire on a sizzling hot day in Utah’s west desert, Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad) picked up the first victory of his professional career with a time of 17:33 — squeaking past RadioShack’s Levi Leipheimer and fellow HTC-Highroad rider Patrick Gretsch to win stage 3 of the 2011 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah.

“I’ve been waiting for a win for the last two years,” Van Garderen, who turned 23 Friday, said seconds after he watched Leipheimer’s clock tick past the magic number needed to give him the stage win. “It’s my birthday and it’s one of my last races with my team … So this is really a gift to them because they have been there and supported me so much all this time.”

While Van Garderen (who is joining BMC next year) had multiple causes to celebrate, it was Leipheimer — as expected coming into the stage — who stepped onto the overall leader’s spot on the podium as his second-place ride of 17:39 was more than enough to strip the jersey off the back of Gobernacion de Antioquia’s Sergio Henao.

The Colombian climbing specialist suffered around the course with a time of 18:48 – 1:15 off the pace set by Van Garderen and 1:09 slower than Leipheimer.

With two stages to go, the bullseye is more squarely on Leipheimer’s back as he now has a 27-second advantage over teammate Janez Brajkovic while Oscar Sevilla (Gobernacion) now sits in third position just 29 seconds off the pace. Henao slipped from first overall to fourth — 56 seconds back and will likely now work to protect Sevilla heading into Sunday’s final stage.

Before that, however, the Tour of Utah hits the streets of downtown Salt Lake City for a torturous circuit race up and down steep hills around the state capitol and University of Utah.

Leipheimer said he knows the race is anything but over. His effort, and the resulting time gaps, Friday night were valuable.

“Those two (Sevilla and Henao) and their team will be very aggressive and I’ll need every second I can get.”

So, while Leipheimer celebrated his yellow jersey, Van Garderen accepted the congratulatory kisses of his fiancé, Jessica Phillips, on the sidelines after he knew his victory was assured.

After making an attack in the final few kilometers that didn’t quite work on Thursday, Van Garderen was determined to salvage something special from the race.

Already wearing the Best Young Rider jersey, he decided a stage victory would be icing on the proverbial birthday cake.

“All I wanted to do was ride as hard as I could,” he said. “I didn’t care what names were still out there or about anything else. I came here thinking about going for the GC, but after that wasn’t going to happen, I just wanted to win a stage.”

He did it in dramatic fashion and with six seconds to spare.

Gretsch, who set the early time to beat and sat in the hot seat for nearly an hour, was awarded the Most Aggressive Rider jersey. BMC’s Jeff Louder, who posted a 18:38 time, retained his Best Utah Rider jersey extending his lead to 42 seconds over Bissell’s Chase Pinkham.

The King of the Mountain and Points jersey chases remained unchanged with Rubens Bertogliati (Team Type 1) and Roman Van Uden (PureBlack) not at risk during the time trial.

Stage

• 1. Tejay Van Garderen, (USA) HTC-Highroad, in 17:34
• 2. Levi Leipheimer, (USA) Team RadioShack, at :06
• 3. Patrick Gretsch, (GER) HTC-Highroad, at :10
• 4. Alexander Wetterhall, (SWE) Endura Racing, at :18
• 5. Christian Vandevelde, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at :19

GC

• 1. Levi Leipheimer, (USA) Team RadioShack, in 8:35:03
• 2. Janez Brajkovic, (SLO) Team RadioShack, at :27
• 3. Oscar Sevilla Ribera, (ESP) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at :29
• 4. Sergio Luis Henao Montoya, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia-Indeportes Antiquia, at :56
• 5. Jesse Anthony, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at 1:24

Complete results

Jeff Louder won the stage 4 crit last year. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

There is just one race in the United States garnering attention this week and all eyes are on the newly upgraded Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. The six-day 2.1-rated race began Tuesday at the Utah Olympic Park and concludes Sunday atop the steep, 16km climb to Snowbird resort. Best Utah Rider Jeff Louder (BMC Racing) will head into Saturday’s Salt Lake City circuit race with double motivation from his jersey and the memories of times spent riding Louder Loop with his dad.

Louder found himself in familiar territory Thursday, pulling on a leader’s jersey near Salt Lake City, when he finished safely in the crash-filled finale of stage 2 to take command of the Best Utah Rider competition. The Salt Lake City native is a former overall winner of the tour and took the demanding Park City Criterium stage in 2010. That win was particularly meaningful; after going solo for an hour, Louder pointed to the sky as he crossed the line, thinking about friend and former race director Terry McGinnis, who had passed away months earlier after a long battle with cancer.

Due to UCI rules prohibiting criteriums in international stage races, that penultimate-day crit is replaced this year by a new circuit in Salt Lake City. The brutal 11 laps around the northeast side of the city hold a special place in Louder’s heart — and that of his father, Ken, who pioneered a portion of the route in the 1970s. In fact, a local group ride, which he takes part in before work to this day, uses a portion of Saturday’s course.

That route carries the family’s name: the Louder Loop.

“It’s been known as such since Jeff was a kid,” Ken Louder told VeloNews after parking the VIP car he is driving for the race this week. “I stopped riding all-together for 19 years and so I rode it for the first time with Jeff after he turned pro, in 2000.”

The elder Louder, an accomplished amateur racer, hung up his bike when Jeff’s younger sister was born (Jeff was 3) and only returned to the sport when the BMC rider went on his first stint to Belgium, with Tönisteiner-Colnago, in 2000. Since then he’s won multiple national championship medals and has competed in the masters world championships.

“He wanted to ride with me on my easy days,” said Jeff Louder. “So he fixed his old bike up and brought it to Belgium. We rode together between races and to a couple kermesses I raced in, and now he’s hooked again. He’s full gas, as serious as I am.”

The Louder Loop, an hour-long route from the family’s home, includes Bonneville Boulevard around City Creek Canyon (site of the 2009 and 2010 prologue) and the long false flat on 11th Avenue above the city that approaches the University of Utah.

“I’ve always done this out training and fantasized about racing and how cool it would be,” said Louder, who sat 14th overall, 2:59 down, on GC Friday morning. “For as long as I’ve been a racing cyclist, I’ve always sort of imagined that route and being able to race on it. To realize that is a dream come true.”

Racing on the 7.4-mile circuit may be a dream for Louder, but come lap nine or ten, that dream is going to hurt an awful lot. The race through the state capital includes a maximum 13-percent gradient ramp of State Street, from downtown to the Capitol, every lap, followed by a 2.5-mile false flat to the University. The stage will finish atop the climb near the start of the old prologue course.

When Louder won the Park City criterium last year, the stage decimated the field and the high-altitude fatigue had very real effects on the final stage to Snowbird.

“It’s really, really tough,” said the Louder the father. “It’s going to be hard like Park City last year. It will do well to replace the crit. The distance and elevation for the first part of every lap is very similar to Tuesday’s prologue.”

Louder the son said he was excited about the stage – and his upgraded home tour in general – before the start of the prologue.

“It’s short enough and not so steep, a lot of people can survive that in my mind, but it will be a guy like (Francisco) Mancebo or (Levi) Leipheimer (winning),” he said. “Is it physically harder than a 90-minute climb? Not necessarily, but harder if you get caught out and have to chase for a lap and blow up your team. It’s is a bit harder (than in 2010), especially being much more complicated.”

No one is better able mentally to sort out the complications on home roads Saturday. The stage, second to last before the big day to Snowbird, will likely prove decisive and while Louder’s dream is to race on the loop bearing his name, the real dream would be a stage win there.

Taylor Phinney won the ToU time trial last year. Photo: Rich Rynders

TOOELE, Utah (VN) — Before the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah even began, most observers were pointing to Sunday’s epic stage from Park City to Snowbird as the race that would decide it all.

That may still be so, but Friday night’s time trial will almost undoubtedly set everything up and tell us who, exactly, is the man to beat.

With Sergio Henao holding a 13-second advantage over Levi Leipheimer — and with Oscar Sevilla, Jesse Anthony and Janez Brajkovic all within 21 seconds of the Gobernacion de Antioquia rider’s overall time — there will be some tense moments as the final five riders roll out of the starting chute at Miller Motorsports Park.

Odds are Leipheimer, one of the strongest time trial racers in the world when he is healthy, will move ahead of the Colombian youngster when stage 3 draws to a close. Henao himself admitted he expects to see the yellow jersey on the RadioShack rider Friday night.

His goal, he said through an interpreter, is to limit the time loss to Leipheimer and Brajkovic and be in position to attack when necessary on the final climb up Little Cottonwood Canyon Sunday afternoon toward the Snowbird Resort.

The time trial at Miller Motorsports Park is not your typical time trial. Instead of racing on city streets or highways where road conditions and bumps on corners can create havoc, the track designed with NASCAR and Superbike racing in mind is as forgiving a surface as a bicycle racer can hope for.

After a looping around the track on a service road outside the park, cyclists return to a 4.5-mile, 23-turn circuit that features high-banked corners and a few gentle rollers. Even the so-called hairpin turn inside the track will allow cyclists to power through with acceleration and focus on little other than pedaling as hard as they can.

Race notes

• Bike Change: In a racing moment reminiscent of one of Jens Voigt’s most famous rides, GEOX rider Tino Thomel found himself in need of a little outside assistance on the third ascent of the North Ogden Pass during stage 1. Struggling to keep up the pace with a broken bike, Thomel pulled to the side and asked spectator Steve Hadley for a favor.Thomel hopped on Hadley’s bike — coincidentally a Fuji like the GEOX team rides — and finished the final 25 miles a little off the back, but still in the race. Hadley rode back to the GEOX bus where he exchanged bikes and was given a hat, water bottle, some autographs and sincere thanks for giving up his ride for the hour.
• Audition Time: Big names like Thor Hushovd and Mark Cavendish are not the only cyclists changing teams at the end of the season. And with time running out to secure new contracts, many riders at the Tour of Utah are using the race as a chance to pad their resumes.Roman Van Uden, who slipped into the points leader jersey Thursday night, said he hopes his efforts get noticed.

  “I think this was a good time to step up and show some other teams and other riders how good of a rider I can be,” the PureBlack racer said.

  By being a big part of a two-lap breakaway on Wednesday and snagging some sprint points Thursday, the sprint jersey he’s now wearing helps that out quite a bit.

  Jeff Louder, likewise, has said he’s worried about not having his BMC contract renewed. His sixth-place finish Thursday and current 15th-place overall standing show he’s not ready to give up yet.

• Utah’s Best: Unlike many stage races, the Tour of Utah seeks to reward its own with a special jersey. This year, the Miller Light Best Utah Rider jersey has only five competitors. All are friends and go for frequent training rides together but see the chance to wear the jersey — and claim the cash prize that comes with it at the end of the race — as a fun little race within the race.Louder is wearing the jersey after his strong finish in Provo on Thursday, taking it over from Jamis-Sutter Home’s Tyler Wren.

  Wren ran into a bit of bad luck in Provo, and was tangled up in a crash with 4k to go. Not knowing the extent of the damage and needing to hurry back into the race, Wren suffered his way to the finish line 30 seconds behind the leader thanks to a warped rear wheel.

  “I crashed and couldn’t make it back,” he said via twitter. “Realized afterwards that was because my wheel was broken. Still have lots of fight left in me.”

  The other riders eligible for the jersey this year are Bissell’s Chase Pinkham, Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optum Health’s Reid Mumford and RealCyclist.com’s Evan Hyde. The criteria for eligibility is simple: possess a current Utah driver’s license. That rules out Utah native Dave Zabriskie and former Utahn Levi Leipheimer.

• 1. Jack Bauer, (NZL) Endura Racing, in 3:33:43
• 2. Elia Viviani, (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 00:00:00
• 3. Jacob Keough, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, at 00:00:00
• 4. Robert Forster, (GER) Unitedhealthcare, at 00:00:00
• 5. Danny Summerhill, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at 00:00:00
• 6. Jeff Louder #, (USA) BMC Racing Team, at 00:00:00
• 7. Tommy Nankervis, (AUS) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at 00:00:00
• 8. Scott Thwaites, (GBR) Endura Racing, at 00:00:00
• 9. Davide Cimolai, (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 00:00:00
• 10. Roman Van Uden, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 00:00:00
• 11. Alexender Candelario, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at 00:00:00
• 12. Edward King, (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 00:00:00
• 13. Levi Leipheimer, (USA) Team RadioShack, at 00:00:00
• 14. Maurizio Gorato, (ITA) Geox-Tmc, at 00:00:00
• 15. Benjamin King, (USA) Team RadioShack, at 00:00:00
• 16. Iker Camano Ortuzar, (ESP) Endura Racing, at 00:00:00
• 17. Patrick Bevin, (NZL) Bissell Pro Cycling, at 00:00:00
• 18. George Hincapie, (USA) BMC Racing Team, at 00:00:00
• 19. Marcel Wyss, (SUI) Geox-Tmc, at 00:00:00
• 20. Tino Thomel, (GER) Geox-Tmc, at 00:00:00
• 21. Christopher Baldwin, (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling, at 00:00:00
• 22. Jason Donald, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at 00:00:00
• 23. Oscar Sevilla Ribera, (ESP) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:00:00
• 24. Paul Voss, (GER) Endura Racing, at 00:00:00
• 25. Jesse Anthony, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at 00:00:00
• 26. Albert Torres, (ESP) Geox-Tmc, at 00:00:00
• 27. Andrew Bajadali, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at 00:00:00
• 28. Francisco Mancebo Perez, (ESP) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at 00:00:00
• 29. Brent Bookwalter, (USA) BMC Racing Team, at 00:00:00
• 30. Janez Brajkovic, (SLO) Team RadioShack, at 00:00:00
• 31. Luis Romero Amaran, (CUB) Jamis-Sutter Home, at 00:00:00
• 32. Tejay Van Garderen, (USA) HTC-Highroad, at 00:00:00
• 33. Augusto Grajales Cesar, (COL) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at 00:00:00
• 34. Javier Megias Leal, (ESP) Team Type 1, at 00:00:00
• 35. Sergio Luis Henao Montoya, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:00:00
• 36. Reid Mumford #, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at 00:00:00
• 37. William Dugan, (USA) Team Type 1, at 00:00:00
• 38. Chad Beyer, (USA) BMC Racing Team, at 00:00:00
• 39. Paul Mach, (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling, at 00:00:00
• 40. Thomas Danielson, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at 00:00:00
• 41. Robert Partridge, (GBR) Endura Racing, at 00:00:00
• 42. James Driscoll, (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home, at 00:00:00
• 43. Evan Hyde #, (USA) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at 00:00:00
• 44. Javier Alexis Acevedo Colle, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:00:00
• 45. Rene Mandri, (EST) Endura Racing, at 00:00:00
• 46. Christian Vandevelde, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at 00:00:00
• 47. Vladimir Efimkin, (RUS) Team Type 1, at 00:00:00
• 48. Alexander Wetterhall, (SWE) Endura Racing, at 00:00:00
• 49. Max Jenkins, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, at 00:00:00
• 50. Timothy Duggan, (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 00:00:00
• 51. Christopher Butler, (USA) BMC Racing Team, at 00:00:00
• 52. Valeriy Kobzarenko, (UKR) Team Type 1, at 00:00:00
• 53. Oscar Clark, (USA) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at 00:00:00
• 54. Fabio Calabria, (AUS) Team Type 1, at 00:00:00
• 55. Cristian Montoya Giraldo, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:00:00
• 56. Dale Parker, (AUS) Team RadioShack, at 00:00:00
• 57. George Bennet, (NZL) Team RadioShack, at 00:00:00
• 58. # Chase Pinkham, (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling, at 00:00:00
• 59. Jason Mccartney, (USA) Team RadioShack, at 00:00:00
• 60. Rubens Bertogliati, (SUI) Team Type 1, at 00:00:00
• 61. Zak Dempster, (AUS) HTC-Highroad, at 00:00:00
• 62. Joshua Berry, (USA) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at 00:00:00
• 63. Pat Mc Carty, (USA) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 00:00:00
• 64. Paolo Cheula Gian, (ITA) Geox-Tmc, at 00:00:00
• 65. Robert Thomson Jay, (RSA) Bissell Pro Cycling, at 00:00:00
• 66. Alexander Efimkin, (RUS) Team Type 1, at 00:00:00
• 67. Flavio De Lune, (MEX) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 00:00:00
• 68. Rob Britton, (CAN) Bissell Pro Cycling, at 00:00:00
• 69. Philip Deignan, (IRL) Team RadioShack, at 00:00:00
• 70. Jeremy Vennell, (NZL) Bissell Pro Cycling, at 00:00:00
• 71. Lucas Euser, (USA) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 00:00:00
• 72. Thomas Rabou, (NED) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, at 00:00:00
• 73. David Gutierrez, (ESP) Geox-Tmc, at 00:00:00
• 74. Danny Pate, (USA) HTC-Highroad, at 00:00:00
• 75. Oscar Alvarez, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:00:00
• 76. Alan Chadwick Glen, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 00:00:00
• 77. Marsh Cooper, (CAN) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at 00:00:00
• 78. Rafael Montiel, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:00:22
• 79. Tyler Wren #, (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home, at 00:00:30
• 80. Caleb Fairly, (USA) HTC-Highroad, s.t.
• 81. Rory Sutherland, (AUS) Unitedhealthcare, at 00:00:32
• 82. David Zabriskie, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at 00:00:49
• 83. James Northey Michael, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 00:01:08
• 84. Paolo Longo Borghini, (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale, s.t.
• 85. Andy Baker, (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling, s.t.
• 86. Lachian Norris, (AUS) HTC-Highroad, at 00:01:13
• 87. Christopher Jones, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, at 00:01:30
• 88. Ryan Roth, (CAN) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 00:01:38
• 89. Alejandro Ramirez Calderon, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:01:56
• 90. Patrick Gretsch, (GER) HTC-Highroad, at 00:01:58
• 91. Bjorn Selander, (USA) Team RadioShack, s.t.
• 92. Bradley White, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, s.t.
• 93. Davide Frattini, (ITA) Unitedhealthcare, at 00:01:59
• 94. Andrew Randell, (CAN) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 00:03:00
• 95. Nicolas Frey, (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home, s.t.
• 96. Ian Burnett, (USA) Realcyclist.Com Cycling Team, s.t.
• 97. Juraj Sagan, (SVK) Liquigas-Cannondale, s.t.
• 98. Scott Lyttle, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 00:03:03
• 99. Michael Creed, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, s.t.
• 100. Bruno Langlois, (CAN) Spidertech-Planet Energy, s.t.
• 101. Francois Parisien, (CAN) Spidertech-Planet Energy, s.t.
• 102. John Anderson, (AUS) Endura Racing, s.t.
• 103. Hayden Roulston, (NZL) HTC-Highroad, at 00:03:14
• 104. Daniel Barry, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, s.t.
• 105. Simon Lambert-lemay, (CAN) Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 00:03:31
• 106. Peter Stetina, (USA) Garmin-Cervelo, at 00:03:58
• 107. Tom Zirbel, (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home, at 00:04:05
• 108. Alberto Borrajo Alejandro, (ARG) Jamis-Sutter Home, s.t.
• 109. Scott Zwizanski, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, at 00:04:58
• 110. Luis Crosby, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, at 00:05:19
• 111. Timothy Gudsell, (NZL) Rabobank Continental Team, s.t.
• 112. Carlos Alberto Ospina Hernandes, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:07:09

The peloton winds through a narrow canyon, midway through today's course. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

PROVO, Utah (VN) — It was supposed to be a fairly uneventful day designed to throw a bone at the sprinters during the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah.

Instead, there was more than enough drama to put a serious scare into the GC as a pair of crashes inside 10 kilometers to the finish created ample storylines.

Jack Bauer, racing at altitude for the first time all season with his Endura Racing team out of Great Britain, deftly maneuvered around the chaos of the final few miles and outkicked a hard-charging field to pick up a huge victory for the small team.

“It wasn’t really a sprint finish,” Bauer said. “We tried to set (the team sprinter) up, but going into the final corner we had a bit of a gap. I looked around and no one was on my wheel so I decided to go.”

Bauer had a solid two bike lengths advantage over Liquigas’ Elia Viviani and UnitedHealthcare’s Jake Keough.

There was, as expected, no significant movement in the general classification. But that could have easily changed after the crashes.

Race leader Sergio Henao of the Colombian Gobernacion de Antioquia team went down with a bunch of riders with about 7k to go when there was confusion about a turn. Somebody turned left when the course went straight and Henao, hit the asphalt for a moment. About the same time, Levi Leipheimer had a flat.

They were all able to quickly get back in with the group but might have been in serious trouble had one or two of the other group of five riders still in GC contention been separated from the others. Because the crash and Leipheimer’s flat happened outside the final 3k, anyone involved in the crash wouldn’t have received the same time as other finishers.

As it was, Leipheimer righted himself and zipped through the field to finish safely inside the pack at 13th. Brajkovic finished with the same time as Bauer while the Gobernacion teammates Henao and Oscar Seville (second in the GC) also finished in the main pack.

Jack Bauer enjoys his winner's kiss. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

One rider who wasn’t so lucky coming out of the crash zone was Jamis-Sutter Home’s Tyler Wren. The Salt Lake City resident had some wheel damage that slowed him significantly and he crossed the line 30 seconds back and lost the Best Utah Rider jersey to BMC’s Jeff Louder, who had a strong kick to finish sixth on the day.

“He lost some time due to bad luck,” Louder said of his frequent training partner, Wren. “So it’s a little bittersweet.”

HTC-Highroad’s Tejay Van Garderen, disappointed after missing an opportunity to get into the race-changing break during Stage 1, set the stage for the finishing highlights when, with about 4k to go, he launched a solo attack and tried to time trial his way to a victory.

“When I went, it was on a bit of a rise and people were going backwards. It looked like people were getting tired,” Van Garderen said.

He opened up a gap while teams struggled to figure out who was still in the pack after the crashes. Once those teams got themselves sorted out, though, the chase began.

“The sprinters’ teams got organized and poured it on,” Van Garderen said. “When it’s one guy against nine it’s hard to succeed.”

He nearly got it done, though, only to be caught by the Endura train that was fortunate enough to find itself out front on a somewhat tricky approach to the finish.

Being out front for the final turns allowed Bauer and Endura to stay in the lead and pick up the win.

“My form is just coming on,” Bauer said. “So to go away from here with a win for our team is just awesome.”

The race, despite the gut-busting queen stage up Little Cottonwood Canyon to the Snowbird Resort on Sunday, may be determined Friday evening at Miller Motorsports Park during a 9-mile individual time trial that may not change who is in the top five, but will certainly juggle their order and possibly put the yellow jersey back on the shoulders of Leipheimer.

Stage

• 1. Jack Bauer. (NZL) Endura Racin. in 3:33:43
• 2. Elia Vivian. (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondal. at s.t.
• 3. Jacob Keough. (USA) Unitedhealthcar. at s.t.
• 4. Robert Forste. (GER) Unitedhealthcar. at s.t.
• 5. Danny Summerhil. (USA) Garmin-Cervel. at s.t.

GC

• 1. Sergio Luis Henao Montoya, (COL) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, in 8:17:11
• 2. Oscar Sevilla Ribera, (ESP) Gobernacion De Antioquia – Indeportes Antiquia, at 00:00:07
• 3. Levi Leipheimer, (USA) Team RadioShack, at 00:00:13
• 4. Jesse Anthony, (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optumhealth, at 00:00:18
• 5. Janez Brajkovic, (SLO) Team RadioShack, at 00:00:21

Complete results

Jesse Anthony bridges up to the break alone. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

Jesse Anthony’s stage win in Ogden, Utah, Wednesday was big. But just how big?

Anthony (Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth) broke an almost two-year drought for third-tier teams at the big American stage races when he topped a five-man sprint in northern Utah. If history is any indication, Anthony’s win should set him up for a solid look at Europe for 2012, making the win, well, really big.

A long draught, but plenty for the sprinters
It’s been since September 13, 2009 that a rider from Continental, or third division, team has won a stage in a major tour in the U.S. The top tier teams have bullied — or overpowered, depending on whom you talk to — the smaller squads into small, poorly represented breakaways in the big American races the last couple of years. The tension reached a head at May’s Tour of California with a number of U.S.-based riders confronting their big-name counterparts verbally on the road.

No Continental riders won a stage in the 2010 or 2011 Tours of California; the last Continental stage win occurred when Canadian Martin Gilbert (Planet Energy)  took a surprise bunch sprint on the final day of the 2009 Tour of Missouri. Earlier that year, Francisco Mancebo (Rock Racing) won a bizarre opening stage at the Tour of California in Santa Rosa in which radio communication was nearly non-existent and the weather conditions atrocious.

While surprising, Gilbert’s win was not that out of the ordinary for Conti’ riders a few years ago. Mancebo’s sports director this year at Realcyclist.com, Gord Fraser, was among the riders to tally numerous sprint wins on the big stage races in the mid-2000s. Ivan Dominguez won stages in California, Georgia and Missouri for Toyota-United and J.J. Haedo (Toyota), Boy Van Poppel (Rabobank Continental) and Richard England (Bissell) were also winners from the bunch.

Wins lead to European careers

While Fraser’s wins came near the end of his long career, which included three years with Motorola and a week at the Tour de France in 1997, Dominguez and more notably Haedo went on to join top caliber teams. For the most part, the Toyota sprinters’ wins came in races rated at the UCI’s 2.HC level, the top ranking below the World Tour. The Tour of Utah is this year rated a step down, at 2.1, which directly impacts the quality of the field and length of the race.

Van Poppel’s 2008 Missouri win, atop the steep Capitol Hill circuit in Jefferson City, was the last 2.1-level win for a Conti rider. After graduating from the Rabobank development program, the Dutchman this year joined U.S. Pro Continental squad UnitedHealthcare.

A brash win like Anthony’s stands out, though, and with a field packed with top Americans and solid international riders, the UCI designation isn’t entirely relevant.

Colombian Lance beater

Perhaps the most storied — or at least most bandied about — of the domestic wins in the major U.S. tours in the last decade was César Grajales’ triumph over Lance Armstrong at Brasstown Bald in Georgia in 2004. Then a young Colombian riding for the Jittery Joe’s regional squad, Grajales jumped away from the elite GC contenders on the final, hors categorie climb to take 17 seconds to the line over Armstrong and Jens Voigt, among others.

The win came out of nowhere. The Colombian, now with Mancebo and Fraser at Realcyclist.com, had finished second at the Redlands Classic a month earlier, but the Southern California national calendar opener was a long way from Georgia. At the time Georgia was a smaller race (it didn’t move on-par with Utah as far as sanctioning until 2005) and the win didn’t net Grajales the accolades of the other solo winners on the list. Since 2004 he’s struggled with a run of team collapses, including a bizarre on-again-off-again relationship with Rock Racing and a failed year with the Bahati Foundation.

Looking east for Anthony
Anthony, on the other hand, is on the upswing. Like the other attackers on this list, Wednesday’s win was the biggest of his career at the moment. The 26-year-old has turned his focus in 2011 toward the road and after contending for the KOM jersey with Spidertech’s Pat McCarty in California and winning the overall at June’s Nature Valley Grand Prix, Anthony showed in Ogden that he is due the rewards of his hard work.

And who did Anthony beat with a cagey, long sprint in downtown Ogden? RadioShack’s Levi Leipheimer and Jani Brajkovic are grand tour podium contenders, while Gobernacion de Antioguia’s Oscar Sevilla is a former — albeit prior to a doping suspension — best young rider at the Tour de France. Then there’s Gobernacion Colombian Sergio Luis Henao, who beat all comers in the prologue and wears the race leader’s jersey.

Anthony made good on an opportunity that doesn’t often come at the elite level.

Canada's Martin Gilbert won ahead of Andrew Pinfold and Thor Hushovd in the final stage of the Tour of Missouri, in 2009. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

“I’m an aggressive rider,” he said after standing atop the podium. “I like to roll the dice; 99 times out of 100 it’s not going to pay off. I couldn’t be happier. Call it stupid, but it worked out. I don’t claim to be smart, but I try hard.”

Anyone calling his ride on Wednesday “stupid” wasn’t watching closely. To the contrary, it was brilliant. He stayed quiet in the peloton until the early break began ceding serious ground and he struck out on his own. Without race radio Anthony took advantage of the extended catch of the disorganized group of former leaders after blowing through the group to await his eventual mates. When Leipheimer and crew came forward, Anthony latched onto the GC favorites and eventually outfoxed them with a long sprint. KBS director Jonas Carney couldn’t have drawn it up better.

Carney’s Kelly Benefit Strategies squad has a history of blessing its riders’ departures to top tier squads. Most recently Canadian David Veilleux signed a contract with Thomas Voeckler’s Europcar squad late in 2010. It’s a shame for a program that invests in young talent to lose top riders, but that is what the Continental designation is built for and Carney knows Anthony is looking toward Europe.

“It’s just amazing,” Anthony said Wednesday. “It’s a huge relief. Now it allows us to aim higher and see just what we can do.”

Anthony and his teammates will see what they can do in Utah for the rest of the week and if recent history is any indication, the quiet, uniquely funny, Christian kid from Massachusetts may soon be seeing what he can do as a full-time member of the European peloton.