Tour of Utah 2016 – Stage 7 [FULL STAGE]

August 07, 2016
Tour of Utah 2016 – Stage 7 – Park City – Park City – 125,5 km

The Tour of Utah, officially the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, is an annual multiday road cycling race; traversing the states of Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Since the 2011 edition, the tour holds UCI classification (2.1). Between five and six UCI ProTeams compete annually. Due to its altitude, distance, and weather conditions, the tour is nicknamed: “America’s Toughest Stage Race”. In 2010, only 71 of the initial 140 riders finished. After receiving 2.1 status in 2011, a stronger field participated; 88 of the initial 120 competitors finished. In September 2014, it was announced that the race was promoted to 2.HC status.

After losing the race lead on the penultimate stage to Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, Lachlan Morton (Jelly Belly-Maxxis) got his revenge on the final Tour of Utah stage, escaping solo over Empire Pass and descending into Park City to claim the stage win and gain enough time to steal the overall victory from Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Drapac), who slipped to third.

Adrien Costa (Axeon Hagens Berman) came in second on the stage at 31 seconds from Morton and moved into second overall, while Darwin Atapuma (BMC Racing) finished third at 50 seconds but was not able to leapfrog Talansky, who finished fourth on the day, 1:55 down

Morton, who started the day second 22 seconds back from Talansky, held his cards close to his chest throughout the stage, despite an attack on the first climb of the day from BMC’s Joey Rosskopf, Talansky and third-placed Costa. The trio built a gap and began to swallow remnants of an earlier breakaway, but Morton bided his time in the bunch and relied on the race coming back together before the final climb up Empire Pass. When things did come back together, Morton jumped away from the yellow jersey group at the base of the climb and soloed away to the finish

“We had one card to play today, and that was to go all in on the last climb,” Morton said. “So BMC kind of turned the race on its head in the middle there. And credit to them, they blew it apart on the middle climb. I saw Andrew pull out and then Adrien went across. That as the moment of making a decision, and sometimes you just have to stick to your guns. I knew if I went with those guys there’s no chance I’d have any teammates, so I just stuck with the group.

“I knew there were 10 or 15 fast kilometres before the climb, so the chances of us coming back were pretty high. For sure there was some concern but to win any race you have to be willing to lose it first. So we just stuck to our guns and road our race and let them ride theirs.”

For Talansky’s part, he said jumping into the early move played well into the day’s strategy, despite the possibility of using up energy he’d need later.

“I just saw Joey going, and I thought by following it I’d neutralise it, and I ended up with Adrien and Joey,” Talansky said at the post-stage press conference. “It was pretty ideal really; my team didn’t have to ride behind. I just sat on, and Joey, he’s not here but credit to him because he was incredibly strong today. I was really impressed. And Adrien had a teammate in the break, so the responsibility to make the race fell to Joey, and he 100 percent did that. It didn’t really cost me anything and it didn’t play into how I fared in the end. But props to Joey for that ride.

How it unfolded

Sunday’s final stage at the Tour of Utah was no parade to the final sprint. The traditional 125.5km route started in Park City with two neutral laps through town before riders traversed more than 2,400 metres of climbing.

The first climb of the day, the relatively modest category 2 climb through the gated community of Wolf Creek Ranch, topped out 67km from the finish. But the day’s main obstacle is the final out-of-category ascent of Empire Pass, which started about 24km from the finish and topped out with 8.6km to go.

Next the riders faced a technical descent off the pass and into Park City for one final circuit in town and a long, slightly uphill straightaway to the finish.

After a long bout of attacking and counter-attacking a group of 10 formed off the front to animate the day’s racing. In the group were Tao Geogheagn Hart (Axeon Hagens Berman), Robin Carpenter (Holowesko-Citadel), Larry Warbasse (IAM Cycling), Angus Morton (Jelly Belly-Maxxis), Janier Acevedo (Team Jamis), Matthew Busche (UnitedHealthcare), Jacapo Mosco (Trek-Segafredo), Evan Huffman (Rally Cycling), Bryan Lewis (Lupus Racing) and Richard Handley (ONE Pro Cycling).

The group built a gap of more than two minutes, but the short stage and difficult finish meant the peloton was never going to let the escapees get too far away.

BMC went on the attack when the race reached Wolf Creek Ranch, sending Joey Rosskopf up the road on the early slopes of the climb. Rosskopf started the day sixth overall, 2:35 down, and the dangerous move was immediately marked by Talansky and Costa.

The breakaway started to come apart on the descent out of Wolf Creek Ranch, with Geoghegan Hart, Carpenter, Lewis and Warbasse dropping the rest. Behind the leaders, the chasing trio started picking up remnants of the breakaway and the group was reinvigorated.

On the flat roads leading to the final intermediate sprint in Midway, the quartet up front had 55 seconds on Rosskopf, Talansky, Costa, Acevedo, Busche, Mosca and Handley.

Rosskopf took advantage of the crosswinds on the flats to pin his fellow riders in the gutter, while in the peloton Rally Cycling took up the chase to protect Rob Britton’s fifth-place position. The concerted chase brought the first chase group back into the peloton with 24km to go.

Morton, who had been quiet to this point, played his cards at the base of the climb. Attacking from the group and gaining a slight advantage. Up the road among the leaders, Morton started pulling back ad passing the breakaway riders as they faded out of the group.

Lewis was the first to succumb, followed by Carpenter and Geoghegan Hart. Morton reeled the final breakaway survivor in and took over the head of the race.

As the rest of the GC riders chased Morton, Talansky began to lose contact with the group. Last year’s winner Joe Dombrowski paced Talansky up the slope, but the Cannondale leader was obviously suffering.

Costa was able to drop Talansky and ride up to Geoghegan Hart with Darwin Atapuma (BMC Racing) to form the second group on the road, while Dombrowski continued to pace Talansky and Britton in tow. With 13km to go, Morton had 1:05 on Costa and Atapuma and 1:10 to Talansky, Dombrowski and Britton.

Morton went over the top of the climb with 1:20 on Costa and Atapuma, and 1:50 to Talansky, Dombrowski and Britton.

With Morton already freefalling off the climb, Atapuma attacked Costa over the summit, but the Axeon rider countered immediately, got back on terms with the Colombian and then dropped him.

“I was kind of surprised that he jumped over the top,” Costa told Cyclingnews in the finishing straight. “I thought he would just give me the points for the KOM. But I saw that I was descending fast than he was, so I decided to give it a shot. I knew that I descend pretty well, so I was able have some fun down there.”

That set up the finishing order, as Morton crossed the line solo 33 seconds ahead of Costa, 49 seconds ahead of Atapuma and 1:50 ahead of Talansky to take the final overall lead.

Results :
1 Lachlan David Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 3:08:07
2 Adrien Costa (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:00:31
3 Darwin Atapuma (Col) BMC Racing Team 0:00:50
4 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:01:51
5 Joe Dombrowski (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:01:53
6 Rob Britton (Can) Rally Cycling 0:02:03
7 Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:02:35
8 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:15
9 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:03:36
10 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:03:49
11 Robbie Squire (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 0:03:51
12 Taylor Eisenhart (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:04:02
13 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:08
14 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:04:12
15 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:04:59
16 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
17 Hayden Mccormick (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling 0:06:08
18 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:06:30
19 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
20 Frederic Brun (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:06:32
21 Julien Loubet (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:06:34
22 Christopher Horner (USA) Lupus Racing Team 0:06:38
23 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
24 Eddie Dunbar (Irl) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:07:07
25 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) IAM Cycling 0:09:11
26 Brayan Stiven Sanchez Vergara (Col) Team Jamis 0:09:29
27 Benjamin King (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:09:37
28 Bryan Lewis (USA) Lupus Racing Team
29 Joseph Chavarria (CRc) Lupus Racing Team 0:09:39
30 Nicolae Tanovitchii (Mda) Lupus Racing Team 0:09:46
31 Javier Megias (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk 0:10:08
32 David Drouin (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:10:11
33 Christopher Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:10:54
34 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:11:15
35 Dion Smith (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling 0:12:53
36 Chad Beyer (USA) Lupus Racing Team
37 Robin Carpenter (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 0:13:06
38 Simon Pellaud (Swi) IAM Cycling 0:13:30
39 Marcel Aregger (Swi) IAM Cycling
40 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac 0:13:57
41 Jean-Marc Bideau (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:14:22
42 Thomas Vaubourzeix (Fra) Lupus Racing Team
43 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:14:33
44 Matthew Busche (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:14:39
45 Janier Alexis Acevedo Colle (Col) Team Jamis 0:16:02
46 Krists Neilands (Lat) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:17:42
47 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
48 Neilson Powless (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
49 Andrei Krasilnikau (Blr) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
50 Ruben Companioni (Cub) Team Jamis
51 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
52 Marco Canola (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
53 Nicolas Masbourian (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
54 Alexander Cataford (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
55 Steven Tronet (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
56 Jonathan Fumeaux (Swi) IAM Cycling
57 Angus Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:18:52
58 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
59 Logan Owen (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
60 Matthieu Jeannes (Fra) Lupus Racing Team 0:19:18
61 Rick Zabel (Ger) BMC Racing Team 0:22:10
62 Iuri Filosi (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
63 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team
64 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) BMC Racing Team
65 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
66 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
67 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling
68 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
69 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling
70 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Team Jamis
71 Colin Joyce (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:22:20
72 Francis Mourey (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:22:24
73 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling 0:23:07
74 Barry Miller (USA) Lupus Racing Team 0:23:19
75 James Oram (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling 0:25:01
76 Richard Handley (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
77 Phillip Gaimon (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
78 Taylor Sheldon (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
79 Pierrick Naud (Can) Rally Cycling
80 Alexandr Braico (Mda) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:25:13
81 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk 0:25:45
82 Stephen Bassett (USA) Team Jamis 0:25:55
83 Daniel Eaton (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:26:05
84 Keijzer Gerd De (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 0:26:09
85 Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
86 Travis McCabe (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 0:26:16
87 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:26:26
88 Eric Young (USA) Rally Cycling 0:26:27
89 Kyle Murphy (USA) Team Jamis
90 Daniel Jaramillo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:26:32
91 David Gaona Vazquez (Mex) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:26:44
DNF David Tanner (Aus) IAM Cycling
DNF Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
DNF Joseph Lewis (Aus) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
DNF Eric Marcotte (USA) Team Jamis
DNF Luis Romero Amaran (Cub) Team Jamis
DNF Jordan Cheyne (Can) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
DNF Joshua Berry (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
DNF Jacob Rathe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
DNF Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling
DNF Kristofer Dahl (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
DNF Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
DNF Ryan Roth (Can) Silber Pro Cycling

Final General classification :
1 Lachlan David Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 27:12:49
2 Adrien Costa (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:01:09
3 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:01:39
4 Darwin Atapuma (Col) BMC Racing Team 0:01:57
5 Rob Britton (Can) Rally Cycling 0:04:00
6 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:05:59
7 Taylor Eisenhart (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:06:52
8 Joe Dombrowski (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:07:16
9 Robbie Squire (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 0:08:38
10 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
11 Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:09:00
12 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:10:36
13 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:10:57
14 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:13:18
15 Christopher Horner (USA) Lupus Racing Team 0:14:01
16 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:14:10
17 Julien Loubet (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:15:07
18 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo 0:17:36
19 Eddie Dunbar (Irl) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:17:46
20 Nicolae Tanovitchii (Mda) Lupus Racing Team 0:19:01
21 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:19:29
22 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:19:53
23 Hayden Mccormick (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling 0:21:27
24 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) IAM Cycling 0:22:39
25 Joseph Chavarria (CRc) Lupus Racing Team 0:24:04
26 Robin Carpenter (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 0:24:23
27 Chad Beyer (USA) Lupus Racing Team 0:28:06
28 Benjamin King (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:28:36
29 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:32:06
30 Angus Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:34:03
31 David Drouin (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:34:19
32 Janier Alexis Acevedo Colle (Col) Team Jamis 0:36:40
33 Neilson Powless (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:38:49
34 Matthew Busche (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:40:31
35 Simon Pellaud (Swi) IAM Cycling 0:40:53
36 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:43:21
37 Javier Megias (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk 0:44:35
38 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:45:02
39 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:46:53
40 Brayan Stiven Sanchez Vergara (Col) Team Jamis 0:48:28
41 Jean-Marc Bideau (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:49:23
42 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling 0:50:22
43 Daniel Jaramillo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
44 Alexander Cataford (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:51:05
45 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:51:08
46 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling 0:53:35
47 Christopher Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:54:32
48 Taylor Sheldon (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:57:19
49 Logan Owen (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:58:11
50 Jonathan Fumeaux (Swi) IAM Cycling 0:58:20
51 Marco Canola (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:58:47
52 Bryan Lewis (USA) Lupus Racing Team 0:59:32
53 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 1:00:30
54 Rick Zabel (Ger) BMC Racing Team 1:01:53
55 Frederic Brun (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 1:05:07
56 Andrei Krasilnikau (Blr) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 1:06:02
57 Krists Neilands (Lat) Axeon Hagens Berman 1:06:48
58 Dion Smith (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling 1:07:13
59 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 1:08:07
60 Ruben Companioni (Cub) Team Jamis 1:09:07
61 Marcel Aregger (Swi) IAM Cycling 1:12:41
62 Barry Miller (USA) Lupus Racing Team 1:13:15
63 Travis McCabe (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 1:13:37
64 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 1:16:11
65 Thomas Vaubourzeix (Fra) Lupus Racing Team 1:16:29
66 Daniel Eaton (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 1:17:51
67 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) BMC Racing Team 1:19:48
68 Colin Joyce (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 1:20:30
69 Steven Tronet (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 1:20:49
70 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Team Jamis 1:20:52
71 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 1:21:30
72 Matthieu Jeannes (Fra) Lupus Racing Team 1:22:44
73 Francis Mourey (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 1:23:01
74 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team 1:23:36
75 Stephen Bassett (USA) Team Jamis 1:24:21
76 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac 1:24:34
77 Phillip Gaimon (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 1:25:30
78 Nicolas Masbourian (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 1:28:36
79 Iuri Filosi (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 1:30:11
80 Alexandr Braico (Mda) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 1:33:19
81 Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 1:35:45
82 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling 1:36:43
83 David Gaona Vazquez (Mex) Nippo – Vini Fantini 1:36:48
84 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 1:37:03
85 Pierrick Naud (Can) Rally Cycling 1:40:35
86 James Oram (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling 1:41:04
87 Richard Handley (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling 1:41:05
88 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk 1:55:35
89 Kyle Murphy (USA) Team Jamis 1:56:01
90 Eric Young (USA) Rally Cycling 1:58:43
91 Keijzer Gerd De (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 2:02:05