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An aggressive and entertaining Stage 3 of the 2015 Tour of Utah has seen Logan Owen (Axeon Cycling) win an incredibly close reduced bunch sprint in Bountiful.
The action refused to slow down for even a split second over the final 60km of the stage as Kiel Reijnen (United Healthcare) has managed to hang on over the climbs and hold onto his overall lead of the race.
Early in the stage, it was a fast start to proceedings as a six man breakaway was eventually able to be established. The riders who made the day’s move were Johann Van Zyl (MTN – Qhubeka), Dion Smith (Hincapie Racing), Joey Rosskopf (BMC), Tyler Magner (Hincapie Racing), Jasper Bovenhuis (Cannondale – Garmin) and Wouter Wippert (Drapac Pro Cycling).
Whilst they were able to get to a decently sized gap in front of the peloton, with about 60km to go they were back to within 2 minutes of the United Healthcare and Airgas Safeway led peloton. Both of the early King of the Mountains climbs were won by Johann Van Zyl, putting him into the overall lead of that competition, whilst he also took out the first intermediate sprint with Wouter Wippert taking out the second on route.
A crash also marred the early part of the stage, with Trek Factory Racing team leader Matt Busche having to pull out of the race with a reported broken collarbone. However, he was the only rider to pull out, the rest getting back to the peloton.
As the riders got to the final circuit, with the steep and difficult category three climb of the Temple involved the breakaway had been reduced to just four riders with Wippert and Manger disappearing, unable to keep up with the tempo.
From the bottom of the Temple it was Dion Smith who was able to set the pace out of the breakaway and go along, animating the race. Joey Rosskopf then was able to leave the rest of his breakaway companions behind and go off in pursuit of Smith, who he eventually caught and passed before the top of the climb, taking a solo lead of the race.
From there, the attacks began flying out of the peloton various riders trying their luck to either chase down Rosskopf or put time into the overall leader who held his position in the peloton magnificently as the race went uphill.
As the riders came to the second ascent of the Temple, there was upwards of 15 riders in the chase group and Rosskopf was finally caught by a number of riders, although at first it was only Lachlan Norris (Drapac) who could attack out of the counter attack and make the junction to the front of the race.
After Flavio de Luna (SmartShop) went over the top of the second ascent in first place, with a large chase group forming with the leaders on the road, they would continue to try and ride away to the finish line.
Natnael Berhane (MTN – Qhubeka) then managed to take the solo lead of the race and at one point was holding close to 20 seconds on the peloton however was then chased down by Daniel Martinez (Colombia), who had chased down Berhane, however all of the attacks would prove to be in vain as the peloton led by BMC, Cannondale – Garmin and United Healthcare chased hard and brought the race back together with around 4km to go.
In the closing kilometres, Dion Smith tried is luck off the front of a reduced peloton and looked for a brief moment like he was going to be able to sprint away for the victory, however on the downhill run to the finish when Brent Bookwalter opened the sprint it was clear that Smith was not going to be taking the stage honours.
Instead it was be Logan Owen who would come around and win by the smallest of margins, leaving Bookwalter frustrated for a second day in a row. It was a brilliant ride by Edwin Avila (Colombia) to sprint his way into third place and take the final of the bonus seconds on course.
In the end a dream day for Logan Owen and Axeon Cycling.
Stage 3 of the 2015 Tour of Utah features almost 2000 metres of elevation over a distance of 176.1km from Antelope Island State Park to Bountiful. Join The Roar for live race updates and coverage from 5am (AEST).
Race leader Kiel Reijnen (United Healthcare) will probably struggle to hold onto his leader’s jersey as the race begins to get serious.
The route for today features three category 3 climbs and a category 2. The finale of the race will be on a circuit, which features the final category 3 climb to Tempe.
The stage starts offshore, at the Antelope Island State Park, and the first 60km or so are virtually flat. The first of two intermediate sprints also comes during this section, appearing with 142km to go in the town of Hooper. The first climb of the day is North Ogden, which rises to 1883 metres above sea level, about 500 metres above the day’s start line.
Following the descent, the peloton will arrive at the second and final intermediate sprint, coming after 81.9km in Eden.
They then head to the start of the second climb, a category 3 summited after 99.9km in Trappers Loop.
Following these climbs is an undulating route into Bountiful, which has the category 3 climb to Temple to be climbed twice – after 150.9km and 165.1km. The climb is fairly steep and doesn’t let up right to the top.
This is the first stage where we will see the climbers and overall contenders come to the fore. At the same time, without a jersey to defend, we may well see a decent breakaway steal the honours.
Looking at the start list, Chris Horner (Airgas – Safeway) looks to be the key favourite, with Janez Brackovic (United HelathCare) his main challenger. Other riders to look out for include Frank Schleck and Matthew Busche (Trek), Taylor Phinney (BMC), Natnael Berhane (MTN-Qhubeka), Lachlan Morton (Jelly Belly) and in a breakaway Jack Bobridge (Budget Forklifts).
Prediction
Chris Horner is the favourite, after Tom Danielson (Cannondale – Garmin) was forced to pull out due to a positive drug test. Janez Brackovic will be the key contender to Horner and they could ride away with a big time gap. The breakaway more than likely won’t survive until the finish.
Join The Roar for live coverage of Stage 3 of the Tour of Utah from 5am (AEST).