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2015 Tour of Utah: Stage 1 live blog

3rd August, 2015
Length: 213 kilometres
Start: 4:30am (AEST)
Matt Goss is one of the favourites for Stage 1 of the Tour of Utah. (Image: La Gazzetta dello Sport)
Roar Guru
3rd August, 2015
76

Stage Results:

The expected sprint stage was spoiled by a determined group of five, with Kiel Reijnen from United Healthcare taking the win, and the leader’s yellow jersey in Logan after 212 tough kilometres.

The start of the day saw seven riders skip off the front of the peloton in the rain-soaked conditions. The break consisted of Johann Van Zyl (MTN Qhubecka), Carlos Ramirez (Colombia), Joe Schmalz (Hincapie Racing), Emerson Oronte (Team Smartstop), Greg Daniel (Axeon Cycling), David Williams (Jamis-Hagens Berman) and Josh Berry (Budget Forklifts).

Up the first King of the Mountain sprint after 50 kilometres, Daniel took the top points over the category three climb of Logan Canyon. Berry was in second place, with Ramirez third. At this point, the seven leaders had an advantage of around 10 minutes before the riders descended to the first sprint point.

At the first intermediate sprint, Williams was first across the Idaho state border. Schmalz was second, with Ramirez rounding out the top three. At the second intermediate sprint though, at 70 kilometres to go in Garden City, it was Daniel who took the top points, ahead of Oronte with Van Zyl third.

Immediately after the final sprint point, the riders set themselves up for the second category climb of Logan Canyon. The breakaway had a lead of seven minutes heading into the early slopes.

Oronte attacked early on the climb, and after a few kilometres only two other men could follow, with Daniel and Van Zyl working well together.

Daniel again crested the climb first, extending his lead in the King of the Mountains competition. At this point, the leaders had still over five minutes’ lead on the peloton.

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With 60 kilometres of descending to come until the finish, the breakaway was the favourite to finish first. This was further enhanced when with 40 kilometres to go the break was still five minutes ahead, the peloton only taking back 20 seconds over the preceding 20 kilometres of descending.

However the descent started to soften out as the riders got closer to the finishing town of Logan, and the peloton started pulling back the leading group.

Within the final 15 kilometres, the break still had over 2 minutes 30 seconds, and the leading trio were about to come off the descent onto the circuits around Logan. However, a strong headwind and a couple of difficult ramps in the finale meant that with five kilometres to go, the gap was 15 seconds.

This led to attacks from Taylor Phinney (BMC), Kiel Reijnen (United Healthcare) and Alex Howes (Cannondale-Garmin), who joined the front two.

In the finale, the five leaders held off the peloton, with Reijnen too quick in the sprint for both Howes and Phinney.

What a great way to start the Tour. See the comments section for full results and jersey standings.

Stage Preview:

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The first stage race since the end of the Tour de France is the second big American race on the calendar, the Tour of Utah. Stage 1 is 213 kilometres on mostly flat roads, with two climbs, starting and finishing in the town of Logan. Join The Roar for live race updates and coverage from 4:30am (AEST).

This is the first race after a mid-season break for many riders, so such a long stage will certainly show who has form.

Today’s stage should be one for the sprinters, although the profile is not pan flat, with the first 50 kilometres to the summit of the third category Logan Canyon being uphill. The rise of those 50 kilometres is only 2 per cent gradient, but the third category climb itself is steeper than that at the summit.

Furthermore, as today’s course is an out-and-back affair, the riders will climb the Logan Canyon from the other side on the way back, which is a category two climb, and averages out at just under 6 per cent for eight kilometres.

Another complication coming into the final climb of the day is circling Bear Lake, which may produce crosswinds.

There are two sprint points, one at the Idaho-Utah state border (the state of Idaho featuring in the race for the first time) after 69 kilometres, and another just a few kilometres before the last climb of the day, in Garden City.

The final sprint in Logan should be a simple affair, and while the preceding 212 kilometres may throw up some surprises, a bunch sprint is expected.

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In the smaller races like this, picking favourites for sprint stages is difficult, but a few names come to mind.

The hilly nature of the course may suit a more punchy sprinter, like Bardiani-CSF’s Sonny Colbrelli. While he hasn’t had any major results this season, a top 20 at Milan-San Remo, and a top-10 performance on Stage 7 of the Giro d’Italia, where the course was extremely lumpy, show Colbrelli is not a rider to discount.

However the pure sprinters should get over the final climb, if not in the front group, closely following with teammates willing to bring them back to the front over the long descent back into Logan. If that occurs, than Wouter Wippert from Drapac looks the pick.

The Dutchman has had an impressive season to date, rivalling Caleb Ewan in the sprints at the Tour of Korea, taking two wins, and three podiums in the process, while also finishing third in the points classification at the Tour of California, behind Mark Cavendish and Peter Sagan. He also dominated the final stage of the Tour Down Under, beating favourites Heinrich Haussler and Darryl Impey.

Other riders to look out for today include Lucas Sebastian Haedo, Kiel Reijnen (second in the points classification last year), Juan Sebastian Molano, Matt Goss, Eric Young (won Stage 5 last year) and Jure Kocjan (winner of the points classification last year).

Join The Roar for live coverage of the first stage of the 2015 Tour of Utah from 4:30am (AEST) and don’t forget to comment if you’re following along.

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