Colorado Classic 2018 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE]

August 19, 2018

Colorado Classic 2018 – Stage 4 – Denver – Denver : 114 km

The 2018 Colorado Classic will take place August 16-19 with two stages in Vail and two in Denver. The four-day 2.HC race starts with a 103.2km circuit race on Thursday, followed on Friday by the 15.8km Vail Pass Time Trial. Saturday sees the peloton tackle the ‘queen’ stage, a 161.9km test that traverses Lookout Mountain, Cragmont Drive and Indian Hills before the finish back in Denver. The final stage is a 114km circuit race in downtown Denver.

UnitedHealthcare’s Travis McCabe won the fourth and final stage of the Colorado Classic in Denver on Sunday, out-sprinting Rally Cycling’s Ty Magner and Holowesko-Citadel’s Joe Lewis to take top honours.

McCabe’s second stage win of the race completed a winning week for UnitedHealthcare as Gavin Mannion sealed the overall victory, finishing the four-day 2.HC race 15 seconds ahead of teammate Serghei Tvetkov and 22 seconds ahead of Hugh Carthy (EF Education First-Drapac).

The peloton started organising their lead-out trains in the closing 10km, picking up solo breakaway rider Nickolas Zukowsky (Silber Pro Cycling) after he had launched himself from the field on the penultimate lap. Teams Rally Cycling, UnitedHealthcare, Holowesko-Citadel, Jelly Belly-Maxxis and LottoNL-Jumbo were the dominant trains at the front of the field as they rounded the final 14.7km circuit in downtown Denver.

A crash upset the peloton with eight kilometres to go, affecting Neilson Powless (LottoNL-Jumbo), but the teams with strong sprinters continued on in their pursuit of a stage victory. Hagens Berman Axeon took matters into their own hands with one kilometre to go, but UnitedHealthcare’s McCabe proved fastest once again on the day.

“Best sprinter in the race, best team in the race,” a jubilant McCabe told Cyclingnews in the finishing straight.

“It’s almost easier when you’re the guy to beat, because then everyone is sitting behind you and you’re not fighting as much as you would be if everyone is going for you,” the stage winner said. “I just kind of sat behind Ty [Magner]. I could tell by the way he was spinning his legs he was going to be strong. It was a tailwind finish so I knew it was going to be fast. I just kind of bided my time, waited until the right moment when the door opened up. I was patient, and just as soon as it came I knew that I had it.”

UnitedHealthcare could very likely be racing in the team’s final race in the US, and, if so, the Pro Continental team is going out in style with first and second overall, three stage wins in four days and the top team in GC. For Mannion, who is rumoured to be moving to Rally Cycling next year, the win marks the biggest victory of his career to date.

“This is incredible,” Mannion said. “We couldn’t have asked for anything more. It’s the best day of my cycling career, for sure. These guys rode amazing all week. Travis rode the front and won the sprint, and I took the overall. Yesterday was the best I’ve ever seen the team ride, so I couldn’t be happier. That was the craziest ride I’ve ever seen. I’m super stoked for the team. It was just an awesome week.”

How it unfolded

The final stage of the 2018 Colorado Classic took place on 14.7km circuit in downtown Denver, with the start/finish in the shadow of Coors Field. Riders circled the route eight times for a total of 114.6km. The circuit had no KOMs, but three intermediate sprints at the end of laps two, four and six offered points and time bonuses of three, two and one second kept the pints jersey in play.

Stage 1 winner Gage Hecht (Aevolo) was the first to attack out of the peloton, but his move was quickly countered by EF Education First-Drapac’s Taylor Phinney, who brought James Piccoli (Elevate-KHS) along with him. By the end of the first lap Phinney and Piccoli had 30 seconds on the bunch.

The duo up front got some company over the next lap as Luis Villalobos (Aevolo) and Edward Anderson (Hagens Berman Axeon) bridged to the leaders to form a new four-rider group up front with 30 seconds on the field. With Piccoli the best-placed escapee at 46 seconds back on GC, the move was never going to get much leash.

With five laps to go, the leaders increased their advantage to 55 seconds, and Piccoli was the virtual race leader on the road. The gap went up over a minute briefly, but it was back down to 40 seconds at the midway point.

UnitedHealthcare brought the gap down to 35 seconds at kept it pegged there, while Phinney stopped contributing to the move, possibly in an effort to preserve Hugh Carthy’s GC podium spot from the Piccoli threat.

At the beginning of lap six a trio of riders jumped out of the pack. In the group were Hecht, Trek-Segafredo’s Greg Daniel and Holowesko-Citadel’s Andrei Kasilnikau. The trio linked up to form a new seven-rider lead group, but by the time they made contact the gap was down to just 10 seconds, and the race was about to reshuffle.

Several counter attacks went off the front, but none of the moves stuck as UnitedHealthcare put a clamp on the race. Damien Howson sneaked off the front to take maximum point and time bonus in the intermediate sprint at the end of lap six, lifting him to fourth overall past EF-Drapac’s Joe Dombrowski.

The peloton started the penultimate lap together before Silber Pro Cycling’s Nickolas Zukowsky peeled off the front and set out on a lone adventure. Rally Cycling came to the front to help with the chase during the lap, and Zukowsky had just 10 seconds on the bunch as they took the bell for one lap to go.

The Rally-led bunch pulled back Zukowsky with less than 9km remaining, and the battle for the stage win was on from there.

Results :
1 Travis McCabe (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 2:24:04
2 Tyler Magner (USA) Rally Cycling
3 Joseph Lewis (Aus) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
4 Edwin Alcibiades Avila Vanegas (Col) Israel Cycling Academy
5 Samuel Bassetti (USA) Elevate-KHS
6 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
7 Sean Bennett (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
8 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
9 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
10 Michael Hernandez (USA) Aevolo
11 Gavin Mannion (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
12 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:01
13 Gage Hecht (USA) Aevolo
14 Christopher Winn (Aus) 303 Project
15 Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:02
16 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
17 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
18 Tyler Williams (USA) Israel Cycling Academy
19 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:03
20 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
21 Jack Burke (Can) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
22 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
23 Christopher Blevins (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:00:04
24 Brayan Stiven Sanchez Vergara (Col) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
25 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
26 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
27 Travis Samuel (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:00:05
28 Koen Bouwmam (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
29 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
30 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:00:06
31 Lance Haidet (USA) Aevolo
32 Ryan Roth (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
33 Alex Hoehn (USA) Aevolo
34 Alexander Cataford (Can) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
35 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:07
36 Jan Maas (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
37 TJ Eisenhart (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
38 James Piccoli (Can) Elevate-KHS
39 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
40 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling
41 Luis Ricardo Villalobos Hernandez (Mex) Aevolo
42 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy 0:00:08
43 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Rally Cycling
44 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:09
45 Robert Britton (Can) Rally Cycling
46 Griffin Easter (USA) 303 Project 0:00:10
47 Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:24
48 Gregory Daniel (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:25
49 Ed Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
50 Daan Olivier (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
51 Eder Frayre Moctezuma (Mex) Elevate-KHS
52 Cullen Easter (USA) 303 Project 0:00:26
53 Brayan Chaves Rubio (Col) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:36
54 Andrei Krasilnikau (Blr) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:00:42
55 Thomas Revard (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:00:51
56 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
57 Austin Stephens (USA) 303 Project 0:00:55
58 Daniel Alexander Jaramillo Diez (Col) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
59 Jose Neves (Por) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:01:00
60 Luis Lemus (Mex) Israel Cycling Academy
61 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling 0:01:18
62 Kevin Girkins (USA) Elevate-KHS 0:01:23
63 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:01:44
64 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling
65 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Elevate-KHS 0:01:55
66 Lachlan Norris (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:01:59
67 Ruben Companioni (Cub) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:02:00
68 Taylor Shelden (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:02:14
69 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:02:21
70 Isaiah Newkirk (USA) 303 Project 0:04:45
71 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:05:30
DNF Pier Andre Cote (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
DNS Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
DNS Stephen Bassett (USA) Silber Pro Cycling

Final General Classification :
1 Gavin Mannion (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 9:05:37
2 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:00:15
3 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:22
4 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:27
5 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:29
6 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:33
7 James Piccoli (Can) Elevate-KHS 0:00:42
8 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:52
9 Robert Britton (Can) Rally Cycling
10 Alexander Cataford (Can) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:00:53
11 TJ Eisenhart (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:01:02
12 Jack Burke (Can) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:01:03
13 Luis Ricardo Villalobos Hernandez (Mex) Aevolo 0:01:10
14 Gage Hecht (USA) Aevolo 0:01:12
15 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:14
16 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
17 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:23
18 Brayan Stiven Sanchez Vergara (Col) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:01:27
19 Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:01:28
20 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:01:38
21 Koen Bouwmam (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:01:41
22 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Rally Cycling 0:01:44
23 Griffin Easter (USA) 303 Project 0:01:53
24 Sean Bennett (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:02:02
25 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:21
26 Jan Maas (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:02:22
27 Daan Olivier (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:02:24
28 Joseph Lewis (Aus) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:02:30
29 Ryan Roth (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:02:32
30 Alex Hoehn (USA) Aevolo 0:02:38
31 Travis McCabe (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:02:58
32 Christopher Blevins (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:03:24
33 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:03:25
34 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:03:37
35 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy 0:03:53
36 Edwin Alcibiades Avila Vanegas (Col) Israel Cycling Academy 0:03:54
37 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:04:13
38 Ed Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:04:34
39 Cullen Easter (USA) 303 Project 0:05:06
40 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling 0:05:27
41 Ruben Companioni (Cub) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:08:00
42 Tyler Magner (USA) Rally Cycling 0:08:34
43 Eder Frayre Moctezuma (Mex) Elevate-KHS 0:10:03
44 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:10:34
45 Luis Lemus (Mex) Israel Cycling Academy 0:12:18
46 Daniel Alexander Jaramillo Diez (Col) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:14:57
47 Travis Samuel (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:15:13
48 Jose Neves (Por) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:15:19
49 Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
50 Michael Hernandez (USA) Aevolo 0:15:59
51 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling 0:16:59
52 Christopher Winn (Aus) 303 Project 0:17:06
53 Tyler Williams (USA) Israel Cycling Academy 0:17:18
54 Taylor Shelden (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:17:47
55 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling 0:18:08
56 Andrei Krasilnikau (Blr) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:18:18
57 Thomas Revard (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:18:48
58 Lachlan Norris (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:18:59
59 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:19:17
60 Lance Haidet (USA) Aevolo 0:19:37
61 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:19:47
62 Kevin Girkins (USA) Elevate-KHS 0:20:17
63 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:20:20
64 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:20:34
65 Isaiah Newkirk (USA) 303 Project 0:21:12
66 Gregory Daniel (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:22:01
67 Austin Stephens (USA) 303 Project 0:23:13
68 Samuel Bassetti (USA) Elevate-KHS 0:24:03
69 Brayan Chaves Rubio (Col) Mitchelton-Scott 0:24:13
70 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Elevate-KHS 0:25:41
71 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:28:38