Jure Kocjan (Team SmartShop) has taken out Stage 2 in the 2015 Tour of Utah, leading home Robin Carpenter (Hincapie Racing) and Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing).
The riders left Tremonton for 160 kilometres on flat roads, except for a difficult, three-kilometre climb with 30 kilometres to go.
Five broke away after 30 kilometres – Daniel Eaton (Axeon Cycling), Pierrick Naud (Optum Kelly Benefits), Mackenzie Brennan (Hindcapie Racing), Ben Jacques Maynes (Jamis-Hagens Berman) and Jay Thomson (MTN Qhubecka).
The most time they held over the peloton was around four minutes, with the gap being well marshalled by United Healthcare. After the poorly managed breakaway gap on yesterday’s stage, UHC wanted a much easier and less stressful day in defending the leaders jersey of their sprinter Kiel Reijnen.
At the first intermediate sprint, after 35 kilometres in the start town of Tremonton, Thomson crossed the line first, with Eaton in second, and Naud in third.
At the second and final intermediate sprint, after 61 kilometres in the town of Brighton City, it was again Thomson who took the three points, only being challenged by Eaton who was in second, with Jacques-Maynes collecting the final point. As the peloton went through the sprint point, the gap was just over three minutes.
With 55 kilometres to go, the gap was down to 2 minutes and 20 seconds, as the riders started to climb the false flat heading up to the climb of the North Ogden Divide.
The climb is 3 kilometres at 9 per cent, so it was always going to be decisive whether a team or individual riders decided to attack.
As the riders hit the early slopes of the climb, the gap between the break and the peloton was around a minute. Surprisingly, there were no real attacks from the main peloton, except for the final hundred metres.
Eaton was the best of the breakaway on the climb, and was able to gap the group and take the points. Brent Bookwalter from BMC was one of the riders to attack, and he managed to catch Eaton on the descent.
However, the peloton kept them on a tight leash, in particular Smartstop, and with 15 kilometres to go the two attackers were caught.
As the riders hit the final circuits there were many attacks, especially from Ben King from Cannondale Garmin, but finished as a sprint that Smartstop dominated.
With 400 metres to go the riders took the final, 90-degree bend, with Kojcan’s leadout man, Travis McCabe, on the front. Bookwalter went too early, as Kojcan came around the American to take the win ahead of Robin Carpenter.
Stage 2 of the Tour of Utah offers a little bit of everything for all types of riders, so it should be an exciting stage. Join The Roar for live race updates and coverage from 4:30am (AEST).
After a late stage breakaway from Kiel Reijnen claimed a wet and windy win yesterday, today’s 162 kilometres (or 100 miles for American folk) between Tremonton and Ogden are predominantly flat, with only one major difficulty.
As the riders leave from Tremonton, the peloton face a 30-kilometre circuit before the first sprint of the day, back in Tremonton. The sprinters will want to keep the peloton together to gain sprint points, or time in general classification.
The next sprint comes at 62 kilometres. By this stage, the breakaway should get away, but there is the potential that the sprinters may get another opportunity to show their talent.
The next 60 kilometres are flat, until the riders start the only climb of the day, the category three test of North Ogden Divide. The climb itself is a brute, averaging over 9 per cent for 3.2 kilometres.
I do not expect all of the key sprinters to get over the top of this climb, but depending on how fast the leading general classification riders go up the climb, the sprinters may claw back to the leading group on the descent. However, the climb is completed with only 30 kilometres on the stage, so I doubt the sprinters will be able to do so.
The official race website gave a description of the final events on today’s stage:
“This part of Stage 2 features a 10 per cent average gradient as riders circle around Pineview Reservoir and tackle North Ogden Divide. Then comes the rapid descent back toward downtown Ogden. Fans will witness three laps around a two-mile circuit with a thrilling finish on historic 25th Street, a fitting cap for a day that challenges every rider’s skill.”
The conclusion is likely to either see the breakaway fight for the stage, or a small group of punchy sprinters contest it.
Obviously yellow jersey wearer Kiel Reijnen looks on form, and he is one of the better climbers from this race’s group of sprinters. However, my favourite is Sonny Colbrelli, who finished yesterday second in the bunch sprint back in the peloton.
Yesterday, Bardiani did a lot of work over the final climb to reduce the gap, and with a steeper climb on offer today, they will again be looking to split the field to reduce the amount of sprinters in the bunch.
Other names to look out for include Alex Howes, Wouter Wippert (if he can get over the final climb), Eric Young, Jure Kojcan and Juan Sebastian Molano.
Also, GC contenders may attack on the climb and hold off the peloton on the 30 kilometre descent to the finish.
Join The Roar for live coverage of the second stage of the 2015 Tour of Utah from 4:30am (AEST) and don’t forget to comment if you’re following along.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Top 10 on General Classification 01. Kiel Reijnen (UHC) 5:08:52 02. Alex Howes (Cannondale Garmin) +0.04 03. Jure Kojcan (Team Smartstop) +0.04 04. Robian Carpenter (Hincapie Racing) +0.08 05. Jay Thomson (MTN Qhubeka) +0.08 06. Brent Bookwalter (BMC) +0.10 07. Daniel Eaton (Axeon Cycling) +0.10 08. Johann Van Zyl (MTN Qhubecka) +0.11 09. Ben Jacques Maynes (Jamis-Hagens Berman) +0.13 10. Edwin Avila (Colombia) +0.14
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
King of the Mountains jersey 01. Greg Daniel (Axeon Cycling) 14 02. Josh Berry (Budget Forklifts) 10 03. Johann van Zyl (MTN Qhubecka) 9 04. Emerson Oronte (Team Smartstop) 7 05. Daniel Eaton (Axeon Cycling) 6
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Points Jersey 01. Kiel Reijnen (UHC) 22 02. Alex Howes (Cannondale Garmin) 16 03. Jure Kojcan (Team Smartstop) 15 04. Robin Carpenter (Hincapie Racing) 14 05. Greg Daniel (Axeon Cycling) 12
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Young Riders Jersey 01 Robin Carpenter (Hindcapie Racing) 02. Daniel Eaton (Axeon Cycling) +0.02 03. Logan Owen (Axeon Cycling)` +0.06 04. Reuben Zepuntke (Cannondale Garmin) +0.06 05. Dion Smith (Hincapie Racing) +0.06
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
The Roar's live coverage of Stage 2 of the 2015 Tour of Utah has come to end. Be sure to check back through the day for the full list of the various classifications. Be sure to tune in from 4:30 am tomorrow for The Roar's live coverage of Stage 3 of the 2015 Tour of Utah.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Daniel Eaton is today's most aggressive, after riding away from his fellow breakaway opponents to go over the categorised climb first.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Robin Carpenter takes hold of the young riders jersey, largely thanks the bonus seconds he earned on today's stage.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Greg Daniel retains the King of the Mountains jersey. We may see him attack tomorrow, with many chances on the stage to extend his lead before the high mountains.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Kiel Reijnen retains the points jersey.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Just waiting for other results from the different classifications.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Race Review With a difficult climb 30 kilometres out from the finish, today's finish was potentially going to be as frantic as yesterday. The riders face left Tremonton today for 160 kilometres on flat roads, except for a difficult three kilometre steep climb which could be decisive with 30 kilometres to go. A break of five broke away after 30 kilometres including Daniel Eaton (Axeon Cycling), Pierrick Naud (Optum Kelly Benefits), Mackenzie Brennan (Hindcapie Racing), Ben Jacques Maynes (Jamis-Hagens Berman) and Jay Thomson (MTN Qhubecka). The most time they held over the peloton was four minutes, with the gap being well marshalled by United Healthcare. After the poorly managed breakaway gap on yesterday's stage, UHC wanted a much easier and less stressful day in defending the leaders jersey of their sprinter Kiel Reijnen. At the first intermediate sprint after 35 kilometres in the start town of Tremonton, it was Thomson who crossed the line first, with Eaton in second, and Naud in third. At the second and final intermediate sprint after 61 kilometres in the town of Brighton City, it was again Jay Thomson who took the three points, only being challenged by Eaton who was in second, with Jacques-Maynes collecting the final point. As the peloton went through the sprint point, the gap was just over 3 minutes. With 55 kilometres to go, the gap was down to 2 minutes and 20 seconds, as the riders started to climb the false flat heading up to the climb of the North Ogden Divide. The climb itself was always going to be decisive. The climb is 3 kilometres at 9 percent, so it was always going to be interesting to see if a team, or individual riders wanted to attack to rip the race apart. As the riders hit the early slopes of the climb, the gap between the break and the peloton was around a minute. Surprisingly, there were no real attacks from the main peloton, except for the final hundred metres. Dan Eaton was the best of the breakaway on the climb, and was able to gap his compatriots, and took the points over the final climb. Brent Bookwalter from BMC was one of the riders to attack over the climb, and he managed to catch Eaton on the descent. However, the peloton kept them on a tight leash and with 20 kilometres to go, the leading two had only 45 seconds on the field, being led by Smartstop and Colombia. Smartstop worked extremely well, and with 15 kilometres to go, the two attackers were caught. As the riders hit the final circuits there were many attacks, especially from Ben King from Cannondale Garmin, but it would finish as a sprint, in which Smartstop would dominate. With 400 metres to go, the riders took the final 90 degree bend, with Kojcan's leadout man, Travis McCabe on the front. Brent Bookwalter went early, too early in fact, as Kojcan would come around the American easily to take the win ahead of Robin Carpenter.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Stage Results 01. Jure Kojcan (Smarstop) 02. Robin Carpenter (Hincapie Racing Team) 03. Brent Bookwalter (BMC) 04. Kiel Reijnen (United HealthCare) 05. Edwin Avila (Colombia) 06. Logan Owen (Axeon Cycling) 07. Alex Howes (Cannondale Garmin) 08. Dion Smith (Hincapie Racing) 09. Gavin Mannion (Jelly Belly) 10. Jay Thomson (MTN-Qhubeka)
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
1 - Kojcan 2 - Carpenter 3 - Bookwalter
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Kojcan gets it! Fabulous ride from him, and a great performance from the team to keep numbers over the climb to keep it as a sprint finish.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Smartstop now leading out. Kojcan the favourite.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
One kilometre to go. BMC on the front form Schar.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Janez Brajkovic now on the front for Reinjen setting a high pace to reduce the amount of attacks off the front.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Reijnen stopping attacks himself. This is a very strong ride. Doubt he will feature in the sprint because of this.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Smartstop now close to the front gaining control.
Brendon Vella
Roar Guru
Smartstop have four or five riders, but they are positioned at the back.