Tour of Utah 2017 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE]

August 03, 2017

Tour of Utah 2017 – Stage 4 – South Jordan – South Jordan : 201,1 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.

John Murphy gave Holowesko-Citadel its second stage win of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, winning the sprint in South Jordan on stage 4 over Alfredo Rodriguez (Elevate-KHS) and Mihkel Räim (Israel Cycling Academy).

With several teams willing to contribute to pace-setting in the peloton, breakaway riders Gonzalo Serrano (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) and Lorenzo Rota (Bardiani CSF) were swept up inside the final 10 kilometres. A few short-lived late fliers were quickly brought to heel as well, setting up the field sprint.

UnitedHealthcare led the peloton into the final few hundred metres for sprinter Travis McCabe, but the Pro Continental team’s final lead-out man pulled off the front too early for McCabe to make his move, allowing Axeon Hagens Berman to take over at the front for Chris Lawless.

The Axeon rider launched with around 300 metres still to go and McCabe jumped onto his wheel before surging past, but both riders faded as a swarm of rivals came around in the final hundred metres. Murphy pulled into the lead 50 metres from the line and held on to win.

Rob Britton (Rally Cycling) finished safely in the peloton to keep his lead of 26 seconds on Gavin Mannion (UnitedHealthcare), with Serghei Tvetcov (Jelly Belly) remaining in third at 28 seconds.

How it unfolded

The 199km stage 4 route started and finished in South Jordan City. After two days of climbing at altitude, the relatively flat stage included no categorised climbs and only two intermediate sprints, the first at at 38.5km and the second at 141km.

Heat was the biggest challenges on the stage, which took riders into the high desert in Rush Valley for a short loop and then back on the same roads to South Jordan City. Organizers cut the planned 10km gravel section because road conditions changed and it was no longer passable by bike.

Despite the heat and wind, the peloton endured repeated attacks in the early going, but none of the moves could stick for the first 90 minutes of racing. Rally was marking any dangerous GC riders while also making sure the teams with sprinters didn’t put a rider in the break.

A brief drama played out at the first intermediate sprint as points leader Christopher Lawless crossed the line first but was relegated for deviating from his line. Maximum points went to Mikhel Raim (Israel Cycling Academy) but Lawless maintained his lead over Ty Magner.

Caja Rural-Seguros RGA rider Gonzalo Serrano and Bardiani CSF’s Lorenzo Rota eventually slipped away about 60km into the day. They were quickly joined by Marco Zamparella (Amore & Vita), Taylor Sheldon (Jelly Belly-Maxxis), Daniel Turek (Israel Cycling Academy) and Brian McCulloch (Elevate-KHS).

Happy with the composition of the move, the Rally-led bunch finally slowed enough to let the leaders build a gap, which went up to 4:05 with 95km to go. Rota was the best-placed rider in the break at 5:43 down, and when the gap went up to five minutes he was less than a minute out of the virtual lead.

Rally put the brakes on the break from there, slowly drawing down the advantage as the race made its way back to South Jordan. When the gap was down to just 4:40 with 47km to go, Rota attacked the breakaway while McCulloch and Turek were sitting on. The move caused consternation among the escapees after he opened a gap, and Sheldon dragged the others up to Rota, shutting down the move.

When the break reformed, Serrano and Rota jumped away again, this time separating themselves form the rest and cooperating well with each other. In the chase behind, Turek bumped wheels with Zamparella and went down hard. The remnants of the break chased the two leaders solo, split up by seconds on the road, while the field pulled within two minutes with just 30km to go.

Teams with sprint ambitions took up the pace from there, and the remnants of the breakaway were all swept up with 20km to go. The gap to Serrano and Rota was down to 30 seconds with 13km remaining, and it appeared that the sprinters would have their day.

As the leaders hit the finish line to start to closing circuits, the pack was breathing down their necks. They were reeled in before long.

There were a couple of unsuccessful attacks on the closing kilometers, with separate attacks from BMC’s Silvan Dillier and Joey Rosskopf being quickly marked.

UnitedHealthcare led into the final metres for McCabe, but Axeon Hagens Berman came blasting up the right side, swarming McCabe as his lead-out pulled over. But it was all too soon. Murphy watched the drama from behind, then chose his moment when the road cleared to blast up the center to victory.

Results :
1 John Murphy (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear 4:22:23
2 Alfredo Rodriguez Victoria (Mex) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling
3 Mihkel Raim (Est) Israel Cycling Academy
4 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling
5 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF
6 Travis McCabe (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
7 Ulises Alfredo Castillo (Mex) Jelly Belly-Maxxis
8 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
9 Pier-Andre Cote (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
10 Fabio Calabria (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
11 Steve Fisher (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles
12 Tyler Williams (USA) Israel Cycling Academy
13 Serghei Tvetcov (Rou) Jelly Belly-Maxxis
14 Ty Magner (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear
15 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Bardiani CSF
16 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling
17 Justin Oien (USA) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
18 Pierpaolo Ficara (Ita) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest
19 Chris Lawless (GBr) Axeon Hagens Berman
20 Emile Jean (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
21 Gavin Mannion (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
22 Scott Law (Aus) Cylance Cycling
23 Erik Slack (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles
24 Eric Young (USA) Rally Cycling
25 Joshua Berry (USA) Jelly Belly-Maxxis
26 Connor Brown (USA) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling
27 Martin Elmiger (Swi) BMC Racing Team
28 Sepp Kuss (USA) Rally Cycling
29 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
30 Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
31 Stephen Bassett (USA) Silber Pro Cycling
32 Chad Beyer (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles
33 Neilson Powless (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
34 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
35 Simone Velasco (Ita) Bardiani CSF
36 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team
37 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
38 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team
39 Michael Rice (Aus) Axeon Hagens Berman
40 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
41 Kyle Murphy (USA) Cylance Cycling
42 Taylor Eisenhart (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear
43 Jonny Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
44 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
45 Orlando Garibay (Mex) Cylance Cycling
46 Ruben Companioni (Cub) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear
47 Alex Aranburu Deva (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
48 Patrick Mueller (Swi) BMC Racing Team
49 Robert Britton (Can) Rally Cycling
50 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling
51 Antonio Molina Canet (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
52 Chris Butler (USA) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
53 Cory Lockwood (USA) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling
54 James Piccoli (Can) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling
55 Alexander Hoehn (USA) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling
56 Logan Owen (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
57 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
58 Redi Halilaj (Alb) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest
59 Marco Bernardinetti (Ita) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest
60 Jacob Rathe (USA) Jelly Belly-Maxxis
61 Kaler Marshall (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles
62 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk
63 Damiano Cima (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
64 Robin Carpenter (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear
65 Bryan Lewis (USA) Cylance Cycling
66 Andrei Krasilnikau (Bel) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear
67 Chris Winn (Aus) Hangar 15 Bicycles
68 Daniel Jaramillo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
69 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF
70 Sebastian Haedo (Arg) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
71 Eder Frayre Moctezuma (Mex) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling
72 Lachlan Norris (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
73 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team
74 Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team
75 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Hangar 15 Bicycles
76 Manuel Sola Arjona (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
77 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Jelly Belly-Maxxis
78 Will Barta (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:00:12
79 Cortlan Brown (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles
80 Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) Axeon Hagens Berman
81 Besmir Banushi (Alb) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest
82 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF
83 Rik Van Ijzendoorn (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
84 Adam Roberge (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
85 Hunter Grove (USA) Cylance Cycling
86 Reid McClure (Can) Team Novo Nordisk
87 Rob Squire (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles
88 Miguel Angel Benito Diez (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
89 Uri Martins Sandoval (Mex) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest
90 Eric Marcotte (USA) Cylance Cycling
91 Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
92 David Galarreta (Spa) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest
93 Rui Oliveira (Por) Axeon Hagens Berman
94 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
95 Giacomo Berlato (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
96 Andres Diaz (Col) Cylance Cycling
97 Marco Zamparella (Ita) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest 0:00:18
98 Karl Menzies (Aus) Cylance Cycling
99 Dennis van Winden (Ned) Israel Cycling Academy
100 Gerd Keijzer (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 0:00:20
101 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk 0:00:23
102 Yuma Koishi (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini
103 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
104 Julien Gagne (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
105 Brian McCulloch (USA) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling
106 Jonny Brown (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
107 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
108 Joseph Schmaltz (USA) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling
109 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear 0:00:26
110 Marc Antoine Soucy (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:00:28
111 Angus Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly-Maxxis 0:00:30
112 Luis Lemus (Mex) Israel Cycling Academy
113 Simone Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:00:37
114 Daniel Turek (Cze) Israel Cycling Academy
115 Janier Acevedo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:00:45
116 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:00:55
117 Oscar Clark (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear 0:01:08
118 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling
119 Aviv Yechezkel (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:01:25
120 Chris Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:01:54
121 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling 0:03:02
122 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Jelly Belly-Maxxis 0:03:36
123 Taylor Sheldon (USA) Jelly Belly-Maxxis 0:03:46
124 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:04:07

General Classification after Stage 4 :
1 Robert Britton (Can) Rally Cycling 13:15:56
2 Gavin Mannion (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:00:26
3 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:00:28
4 Kyle Murphy (USA) Cylance Cycling 0:00:34
5 Neilson Powless (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:00:38
6 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:44
7 Taylor Eisenhart (USA) Holowesko / Citadel Racing p/b Hincapie Sportswear 0:00:58
8 Robin Carpenter (USA) Holowesko / Citadel Racing p/b Hincapie Sportswear 0:00:59
9 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:01:00
10 Sepp Kuss (USA) Rally Cycling 0:01:02