Tour of Utah 2017 – Stage 6 [FULL STAGE]

August 05, 2017

Tour of Utah 2017 – Stage 6 – Heber Valley – Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort : 99 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.

Bardiani-CSF may not have made an impression on the overall classification at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, but the Italian team managed to stamp its authority on the queen stage, taking the two top spots with cagey team tactics on the climb to Snowbird Resort.

Giulio Ciccone soloed to the stage win, with teammate Simone Sterbini leaving the top four riders on the GC behind to take second place.

“At just under 5km, about 4km to go, I made a little attack to see how the others might react,” Ciccone said through a translator. “My goal was – one a saw I had a little gap – to really just regulate and pace myself well. I knew that the last 2km were a little bit easy, so my goal was to regulate until then and give everything I could to the finish.”

Neilson Powless (Axeon Hagens Berman) waited until the final kilometer’s approach to push in his chips, and managed to chip away a pair of seconds on race leader Rob Britton (Rally Cycling), but more importantly, he briefly threatened the podium positions of Gavin Mannion (UnitedHealthcare) and Serghei Tvetcov (Jelly Belly).

Mannion’s final push to the line almost reeled Powless in, and with no time bonuses Powless remained fourth overall, with BMC’s Brent Bookwalter fading further behind, 2:07 in fifth.

In the post-stage press conference, Ciccone said Saturday was a very important day for the team.

“We feel like as the days have gone on we’ve gotten stronger as a team, and we felt better,” he said. “Yesterday we really controlled the race and worked hard, but we are just missing a little bit the results for our hard work. So today was really important to show ourselves and win the race.”

The day started with a flurry of attacks, and soon an 18-rider breakaway separated from the field with no real GC threats included. But with a category 1 climb up American Fork Canyon coming in the first half of the 97.8km stage, they didn’t get far.

BMC drove the pace in the peloton on the climb, sending Bookwalter into a move with teammate Kilian Frankiny, TJ Eisenhart (Holowesko-Citadel), and Jonathan Brown (Axeon Hagens Berman) that went in pursuit of the leaders. Up ahead, Ruben Campanioni (Holowesko-Citadel) had soloed away from the early move.

Bookwalter’s group joined up with most of the early move, but the peloton was bearing down full speed into the climb and was soon on them.

“We miscalculated a little bit, both TJ and I, using our teammates before the climb, Bookwalter said. “I think we forgot to tell our teammates that the final approach was really steep, and me and TJ ended up along in the last 5km just riding into the climb. We lost an important 30 seconds there. And when those GC guys caught us they were obviously a little fresher, and it was just survival mode to the top.”

Britton said he never panicked when Eisenhart and Bookwalter were up the road. Instead he said it was a favourable situation.

“Once our guys caught back up and we had some help from Caja Rural, which was fantastic, because it allowed us to save our bullets while two of the strongest guys in the race were riding full gas just to get a 15-second lead at the base of the climb,” Britton said. “It actually kind of worked out in our favour. I couldn’t have asked for a better situation. Those two guys are huge threats, and their aggression kind of worked against them today.”

Bardiani sent five riders to the front at the bottom of the climb and started drilling the pace, quickly separating the wheat from chaff and establishing the lead group that would battle to the top.

After the move was established, it contained the top four on the general classification: Rob Britton (Rally Cycling), Serghei Tvetcov (Jelly Belly), Gavin Mannion (UnitedHealthcare), Nielson Powless (Axeon Hagens Berman), and also Manuel Senni (BMC) marking the move and the two opportunistic Bardiani-CSF riders seeking a stage win.

Behind, fifth-placed Bookwalter was stuck chasing with Sepp Kuss sitting on for Rally, and they could not quite shut down the gap.

With 5km to go, Ciccone attacked and opened up a 200m lead. Soon Senni followed suit and was joined by Sterbini in trying to put pressure on Britton, but the gambit failed, leaving six chasing once Powless worked his way back up.

Sterbini attacked again, then Senni tried to go across inside 3km to go. Tvetcov attempted to leap across,but Britton promptly shut down the move, leading to a stalemate between the top four overall.

With 2km to go, it was Ciccone with 15 seconds on his teammate, Senni at 30 seconds and the top GC quartet at 50 seconds. Powless seemed to be struggling, dropping off the back, but it was a ruse, and the Axeon rider attacked with 1.5km to go and opened up a gap – threatening the position of Tvetcov and Mannion on the podium.

Powless bridged across to Senni then left him behind in pursuit of the overall podium, but the pace from Mannion and Britton proved too much.

Results :
1 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF 2:45:38
2 Simone Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:00:35
3 Neilson Powless (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:00:41
4 Gavin Mannion (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:00:44
5 Robert Britton (Can) Rally Cycling
6 Serghei Tvetcov (Rou) Jelly Belly-Maxxis 0:00:48
7 Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:01:14
8 James Piccoli (Can) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling 0:01:19
9 Chris Butler (USA) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 0:01:27
10 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:02:06
11 Luis Lemus (Mex) Israel Cycling Academy 0:02:09
12 Jonny Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:02:12
13 Sepp Kuss (USA) Rally Cycling 0:02:37
14 Pierpaolo Ficara (Ita) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest 0:02:42
15 Taylor Eisenhart (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear 0:02:49
16 Chris Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:02:52
17 Rob Squire (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles 0:03:18
18 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:03:25
19 Martin Elmiger (Swi) BMC Racing Team
20 Kyle Murphy (USA) Cylance Cycling 0:04:03
21 Miguel Angel Benito Diez (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
22 Antonio Molina Canet (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
23 Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:04:05
24 Eder Frayre Moctezuma (Mex) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling 0:04:11
25 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:05:13
26 Ruben Companioni (Cub) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear 0:06:40
27 Connor Brown (USA) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling 0:07:07
28 Daniel Jaramillo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:07:36
29 Bryan Lewis (USA) Cylance Cycling
30 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:08:10
31 Marco Zamparella (Ita) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest 0:09:03
32 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
33 Dennis van Winden (Ned) Israel Cycling Academy 0:10:14
34 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:10:57
35 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF
36 Alexander Hoehn (USA) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling 0:11:01
37 Chris Winn (Aus) Hangar 15 Bicycles 0:11:11
38 David Galarreta (Spa) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest
39 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:11:28
40 Erik Slack (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles 0:11:30
41 Jacob Rathe (USA) Jelly Belly-Maxxis 0:11:37
42 Redi Halilaj (Alb) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest 0:12:33
43 Travis McCabe (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:13:02
44 Lachlan Norris (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
45 Simone Velasco (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:14:24
46 Rui Oliveira (Por) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:14:28
47 Marc Antoine Soucy (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:15:16
48 Jonny Brown (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:15:25
49 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:16:09
50 Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
51 Steve Fisher (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles
52 Janier Acevedo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
53 Chad Beyer (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles
54 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Hangar 15 Bicycles
55 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:17:21
56 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling
57 Tyler Williams (USA) Israel Cycling Academy 0:17:28
58 Angus Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly-Maxxis 0:17:40
59 Adam Roberge (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:19:01
60 Manuel Sola Arjona (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 0:19:19
61 Kaler Marshall (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles 0:19:37
62 Patrick Mueller (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:19:42
63 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling 0:20:16
64 Andrei Krasilnikau (Bel) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear 0:20:20
65 Ty Magner (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear
66 John Murphy (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear
67 Oscar Clark (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear
68 Will Barta (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
69 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Jelly Belly-Maxxis 0:21:06
70 Damiano Cima (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:21:26
71 Joshua Berry (USA) Jelly Belly-Maxxis
72 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling
73 Pier-Andre Cote (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
74 Andres Diaz (Col) Cylance Cycling
75 Giacomo Berlato (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
76 Cortlan Brown (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles
77 Fabio Calabria (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
78 Logan Owen (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
79 Michael Rice (Aus) Axeon Hagens Berman
80 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Jelly Belly-Maxxis
81 Besmir Banushi (Alb) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest
82 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
83 Mihkel Raim (Est) Israel Cycling Academy
84 Justin Oien (USA) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
85 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
86 Marco Bernardinetti (Ita) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest
87 Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
88 Julien Gagne (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
89 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
90 Alex Aranburu Deva (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
91 Eric Marcotte (USA) Cylance Cycling
92 Reid McClure (Can) Team Novo Nordisk
93 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling
94 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
95 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear
96 Joseph Schmaltz (USA) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling
97 Sebastian Haedo (Arg) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
98 Cory Lockwood (USA) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling
99 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk
100 Ulises Alfredo Castillo (Mex) Jelly Belly-Maxxis
101 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF
102 Taylor Sheldon (USA) Jelly Belly-Maxxis
103 Stephen Bassett (USA) Silber Pro Cycling
104 Orlando Garibay (Mex) Cylance Cycling
105 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling
106 Eric Young (USA) Rally Cycling
107 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF
108 Rik Van Ijzendoorn (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 0:22:24
109 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:23:37
110 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:24:00
111 Aviv Yechezkel (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:24:03
112 Daniel Turek (Cze) Israel Cycling Academy 0:24:32
OTL Brian McCulloch (USA) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling
OTL Uri Martins Sandoval (Mex) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest
OTL Karl Menzies (Aus) Cylance Cycling
OTL Alfredo Rodriguez Victoria (Mex) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling
OTL Yuma Koishi (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Gerd Keijzer (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Chris Lawless (GBr) Axeon Hagens Berman
DNF Scott Law (Aus) Cylance Cycling
DNF Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
DNS Robin Carpenter (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear
DNS Emile Jean (Can) Silber Pro Cycling

General Classification after Stage 6 :
1 Robert Britton (Can) Rally Cycling 20:07:43
2 Gavin Mannion (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:00:26
3 Serghei Tvetcov (Rou) Jelly Belly-Maxxis 0:00:32
4 Neilson Powless (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:00:35
5 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:02:06
6 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:02:16
7 Jonny Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:02:28
8 Chris Butler (USA) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 0:02:34
9 James Piccoli (Can) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling 0:02:38
10 Sepp Kuss (USA) Rally Cycling 0:02:55
11 Taylor Eisenhart (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear 0:03:03
12 Pierpaolo Ficara (Ita) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest 0:03:11
13 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:04:39
14 Antonio Molina Canet (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
15 Kyle Murphy (USA) Cylance Cycling 0:05:28
16 Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:05:51
17 Eder Frayre Moctezuma (Mex) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling 0:07:09
18 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:10:24
19 Daniel Jaramillo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:11:58
20 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:12:17
21 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:12:41
22 Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:14:54
23 Marco Zamparella (Ita) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest 0:15:54
24 Martin Elmiger (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:16:04
25 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Hangar 15 Bicycles 0:17:31
26 Rob Squire (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles 0:17:41
27 Manuel Sola Arjona (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 0:21:21
28 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:21:35
29 Ruben Companioni (Cub) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear 0:21:40
30 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling 0:22:11
31 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Jelly Belly-Maxxis 0:22:18
32 Dennis van Winden (Ned) Israel Cycling Academy 0:22:55
33 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling 0:24:03
34 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:24:33
35 Luis Lemus (Mex) Israel Cycling Academy 0:24:40
36 Lachlan Norris (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:24:49
37 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:27:11
38 Alexander Hoehn (USA) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling 0:29:04
39 Alex Aranburu Deva (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 0:29:44
40 Travis McCabe (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:32:06
41 Cory Lockwood (USA) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling 0:34:57
42 Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 0:35:17
43 Chad Beyer (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles 0:35:21
44 Patrick Mueller (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:35:34
45 Simone Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:35:56
46 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:36:38
47 Miguel Angel Benito Diez (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 0:37:22
48 Redi Halilaj (Alb) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest 0:37:50
49 Chris Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:38:01
50 Logan Owen (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:40:38
51 Jacob Rathe (USA) Jelly Belly-Maxxis 0:41:13
52 David Galarreta (Spa) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest 0:41:19
53 Will Barta (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:42:10
54 Simone Velasco (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:42:51
55 Rui Oliveira (Por) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:43:01
56 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy 0:44:03
57 Stephen Bassett (USA) Silber Pro Cycling 0:44:20
58 Connor Brown (USA) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling 0:44:51
59 Steve Fisher (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles 0:45:59
60 Erik Slack (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles 0:46:12
61 Andrei Krasilnikau (Bel) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear 0:46:26
62 Chris Winn (Aus) Hangar 15 Bicycles 0:46:48
63 Orlando Garibay (Mex) Cylance Cycling 0:47:38
64 Adam Roberge (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:47:51
65 Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 0:48:02
66 Giacomo Berlato (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:48:09
67 Jonny Brown (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:48:56
68 Kaler Marshall (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles 0:49:07
69 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:49:08
70 Janier Acevedo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:49:39
71 Marco Bernardinetti (Ita) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest 0:49:56
72 Tyler Williams (USA) Israel Cycling Academy 0:50:51
73 Justin Oien (USA) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 0:50:52
74 Eric Marcotte (USA) Cylance Cycling 0:51:17
75 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear 0:51:33
76 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 0:51:41
77 Ulises Alfredo Castillo (Mex) Jelly Belly-Maxxis 0:51:50
78 Fabio Calabria (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
79 Mihkel Raim (Est) Israel Cycling Academy 0:51:54
80 Michael Rice (Aus) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:51:57
81 Joshua Berry (USA) Jelly Belly-Maxxis 0:52:04
82 Besmir Banushi (Alb) Amore & Vita – SelleSMP p/b Fondriest 0:52:46
83 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:53:06
84 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:53:07
85 Bryan Lewis (USA) Cylance Cycling 0:53:29
86 Cortlan Brown (USA) Hangar 15 Bicycles 0:53:39
87 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling
88 Taylor Sheldon (USA) Jelly Belly-Maxxis 0:54:50
89 Oscar Clark (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear 0:55:04
90 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:56:18
91 John Murphy (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear 0:56:20
92 Ty Magner (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear 0:56:34
93 Andres Diaz (Col) Cylance Cycling 0:57:18
94 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:57:59
95 Sebastian Haedo (Arg) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:58:03
96 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling 0:58:07
97 Eric Young (USA) Rally Cycling 0:59:44
98 Angus Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly-Maxxis 1:01:59
99 Daniel Turek (Cze) Israel Cycling Academy 1:02:41
100 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk 1:03:55
101 Rik Van Ijzendoorn (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 1:04:31
102 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Jelly Belly-Maxxis 1:05:17
103 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 1:05:22
104 Damiano Cima (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 1:08:56
105 Joseph Schmaltz (USA) Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling
106 Pier-Andre Cote (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 1:09:08
107 Julien Gagne (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 1:09:34
108 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk 1:10:21
109 Reid McClure (Can) Team Novo Nordisk 1:11:04
110 Marc Antoine Soucy (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 1:12:38
111 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling 1:13:31
112 Aviv Yechezkel (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 1:23:28