Tour of Utah 2018 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

August 08, 2018

Tour of Utah 2018 – Stage 2 – Payson City – Payson City : 142,6 km

The 2018 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah will take place August 6-12. Host venues for 2018 include St. George, Cedar City, Payson City, Antelope Island State Park, Layton City, Salt Lake City, Canyons Village, Snowbird Resort and Park City. After moving the race back one week from its traditional dates, allowing European teams a full week of travel following the Tour de France, organisers secured five WorldTour teams for 2018, including BMC Racing, Trek-Segafredo, Mitchelton-Scott, EF Education First-Drapac and LottoNL-Jumbo. The route for the seven-day 2.HC race starts in the southern end of the state with the prologue time trial in St. George, and then makes its way north for the final day in Park City, which returns to the race after a one-year absence. A newly configured circuit in Salt Lake City is also on tap for 2018.

An incredible solo break from Sepp Kuss (LottoNL-Jumbo) saw the young American rider claim stage 2 of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. The 23-year-old attacked with over 50km of the stage remaining and built a lead of more than a minute on the final climb, and despite a chase group containing several WorldTour rivals, including race leader Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing), Kuss was able to hang on and win by 29 seconds.

Neilson Powless made it an even better day for LottoNL-Jumbo with a late attack to take second on the stage. Kyle Murphy (Rally Cycling) finished third in a group that contained overnight leader van Gardern and several other GC contenders.

Kuss came into the stage 17 seconds down on van Garderen’s yellow jersey but now leads the race by 21 seconds from his teammate Powless, with van Garderen third at 25 seconds.

“This is pretty awesome,” Kuss told Cyclingnews shortly after crossing the line. “I felt good in the months leading up to this, and I knew maybe I could do something. When I attacked I thought, ‘I hope like one or two guys come with me.’ And I kind of waited a little bit, and then I thought, ‘Why not.’

“It was a headwind pretty much a headwind the whole time, so to win like that is pretty special for me and the team. Whatever happens for the rest of the race, personally I can be happy to win a stage. The team was great today. We’ve all got super energy and every day we’re racing. Honestly, I think we’ve taken a lot from watching the guys in the Tour give it everything every day, so it just caused us to go out there and have fun.”

The race was marked by the final main climb and then the long descent to the finish. Kuss was consistent throughout the climb and then held his lead at just over a minute for most of the remaining 52km. EF Education first-Drapac looked to attack from the yellow jersey group but made no inroads in Kuss’ advantage.

On the descent, the chase group fragmented several times, with Hugh Carthy (EF Education First-Drapac), Murphy and Luis Villalobos (Aevolo) at one point putting 30 seconds into the yellow jersey. However, Brent Bookwalter came to van Garderen’s aid and chased down several late attacks. At the finish a delighted Kuss took the win, while several other GC hopefuls saw their chances of winning take a major dent.

How it unfolded

Stage 2 started in Payson and also finished there after 142.6km and one whopper of a climb over Mt. Nebo, a 21.7km category 1 ascent that topped out at 3,627 metres of elevation just 42km from the finish. A highly technical descent off the climb led back the finish. The stage also included two intermediate sprint with time bonuses of three, two and one second. The first came back in Payson at 17.2km, and the second came in Nephi at 73.2km.

Although attacks flew consistently over the opening kilometres, none of the moves was able to stick and the pack approached the first sprint together. Stage 1 winner Travis McCabe, who started the day two seconds behind van Garderen, took the sprint and the three-second time bonus, briefly making him the virtual leader on the road.

That honour disappeared quickly for McCabe when a six-rider break that included Evan Huffman (Rally Cycling), who started the day fifth overall, just 10 second behind van Garderen, went up the road. Also in the group were Edward Anderson (Hagens Berman Axeon), Sam Bassetti (Elevate-KHS), Cormac McGeough (Jelly Belly-Maxxis), Michael Hernandez (Aevolo) and Griffin Easter (303 Project).

The escapees’ advantage quickly ballooned up to 4:30, and with 90km remaining Huffman was once again the virtual leader, as he was when he made it into the stage 1 breakaway the day before. Bassetti collected the maximum points and bonus at the second sprint in Nephi, where the leaders’ advantage held solid at four minutes.

As Mt. Nebo approached, Holowesko-Citadel sent some riders to the front to help BMC with the chase, and the gap slowly started coming down. The leaders started the climb with just 2:50 over the peloton, prompting Aevolo’s Hernandez to jump away from the group solo. McGeough joined him to form a new lead duo on the front, but McGeough soon lost contact with Hernandez and Hagens Berman Axeon’s Edward Anderson successfully bridged up to the lone leader but couldn’t hold his pace.

The 303 Project’s Easter bridged to Hernandez at the front of the race and then dropped the Aevolo rider, taking on Nebo alone from about a third of the way up the climb.

Back in the field, Jelly Belly’s Keegan Swirbul countered a move by EF Education First-Drapac’s Nathan Brown and gained a small gap on the field, which had been reduced to about 40 riders by this point. Kuss jumped out of the field next and quickly gained a gap as he went in search of Easter.

Kuss, who started the day 17 seconds off the overall lead, caught Easter with 52km to go and then dropped the 303 Project rider to assume the front position in the race. EF Education First-Drapac’s Mike Woods bolted out of the peloton next, sweeping up Easter and setting off for Kuss. Van Garderen remained in the much-reduced peloton, paced up the climb by loyal lieutenant Brent Bookwalter.

With 50km remaining, Kuss had 15 seconds on Woods and EF Education First-Drapac’s Joe Dombrowski, who had bridged to Woods out of the now-13-rider peloton. Van Garderen’s group was 40 seconds back.

Dombrowski buried himself for Woods, but Kuss extended his gap over the EF-Drapac riders to 25 seconds.

Dombrowski’s effort eventually shed Woods, who faded back to the yellow jersey group as the two young Americans continued to battle up front.

Riders in the chasing GC group included BMC’s van Garderen and Bookwalter, EF Education First-Drapac’s Woods and Hugh Carthy, LottoNL-Jumbo’s Neilson Powless, Israel Cycling Academy’s Ben Hermans, Mitchelton-Scott’s Jack Haig, UnitedHealthcare’s Gavin Mannion, Rally Cycling’s Kyle Murphy, Jelly Belly’s Swirbul and Aevolos Luis Villalobos.
Kuss contined to extend his lead over Dombrwoski, with his gap going up to 45 seconds with 44km remaining. The yellow jersey group was 1:15 in arrears.

Kuss crossed the KOM with a minute on Dombrowksi and 1:15 on the yellow jersey group. He faced a few minor rises before hitting the technical descent. While Dombrowski started to fade and lose more ground, his EF-Drapac teammate Carthy jumped out of the yellow jersey group and bridged to Dombrowski to form a two-man chase of the leader.

In the yellow jersey group, Rally’s Murphy attacked just before the KOM, and the acceleration briefly distanced van Garderen, but the yellow jersey latched back on during the descent with Bookwalter’s help.

Results :
1 Sepp Kuss (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 3:25:58
2 Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:29
3 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling
4 Luis Ricardo Villalobos Hernandez (Mex) Aevolo 0:00:32
5 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
6 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
7 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
8 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
9 Gavin Mannion (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
10 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
11 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
12 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
13 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
14 Sean Bennett (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:01:27
15 Robert Britton (Can) Rally Cycling 0:01:49
16 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
17 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
18 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
19 Alex Hoehn (USA) Aevolo 0:03:34
20 Freddy Ovett (Aus) BMC Racing Team
21 Angus Lyons (Aus) Mobius Bridgelane
22 Eder Frayre Moctezuma (Mex) Elevate-KHS
24 TJ Eisenhart (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
25 Daniel Jaramillo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
26 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
27 Ed Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
28 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
29 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
30 Jack Burke (Can) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
31 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
32 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling
33 Thomas Revard (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:09:58
35 Isaiah Newkirk (USA) 303 Project 0:10:13
36 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling
37 Cullen Easter (USA) 303 Project
38 Peter Livingstone (Aus) Mobius Bridgelane
39 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team
40 Gage Hecht (USA) Aevolo 0:12:04
41 Nicolas Masbourian (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
42 Brayan Stiven Sanchez Vergara (Col) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
43 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy
44 Flavio De Luna (Mex) 303 Project
45 Bernat Font Mas (Spa) 303 Project
46 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
47 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:13:03
48 Edwin Avila (Col) Israel Cycling Academy
49 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
50 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Hagens Berman Axeon
51 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
53 Lionel Mawditt (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:16:27
54 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
55 Brendan Canty (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
56 Connor Brown (USA) Mobius Bridgelane
57 Simone Ponzi (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
58 Adam Roberge (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
59 Damiano Cima (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
60 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
61 Russell Finsterwald (USA) Mobius Bridgelane
62 Maikel Zijlaard (Ned) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:20:02
63 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
64 Imerio Cima (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
65 William Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
66 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
67 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
68 Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
69 Jonathan Brown (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
70 Lance Haidet (USA) Aevolo
71 Michael Hernandez (USA) Aevolo
72 Janier Alexis Acevedo Calle (Col) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
73 Travis McCabe (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
74 Tony Baca (Mex) 303 Project
75 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
76 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
77 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy
78 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
79 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
80 Jan Maas (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
81 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
82 Brian McCulloch (USA) Elevate-KHS
83 Danick Vandale (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
84 Joseph Lewis (Aus) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
85 Koen Bouwmam (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
86 Tyler Williams (USA) Israel Cycling Academy
87 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
88 Alexander Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
89 Laurent Gervais (Can) Aevolo
90 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Elevate-KHS
91 Tyler Magner (USA) Rally Cycling
92 Charles Etienne Chretien (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
93 Daan Olivier (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
94 Emile Jean (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
95 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
96 Pier-André Côté (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
97 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling
98 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Rally Cycling
99 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
100 Taylor Shelden (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
101 Andrei Krasilnikau (Blr) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
102 Brayan Chaves Rubio (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
103 Samuel Bassetti (USA) Elevate-KHS
104 Morgan Schmitt (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
105 Benjamin Wolfe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
106 Ruben Companioni (Cub) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
107 Luis Lemus (Mex) Israel Cycling Academy
108 Cormac McGeough (Irl) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
109 Jesse Coyle (Aus) Mobius Bridgelane 0:20:15
110 George Simpson (USA) Elevate-KHS 0:20:02
DSQ Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Sepp Kuss (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 7:49:37
2 Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:21
3 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:25
4 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling 0:00:37
5 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:38
6 Gavin Mannion (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
7 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
8 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:39
9 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:40
10 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
11 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:00:42
12 Luis Ricardo Villalobos Hernandez (Mex) Aevolo 0:00:50
13 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:00:52
14 Sean Bennett (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:01:43
15 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:01:46
16 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:01:53
17 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:59
18 Robert Britton (Can) Rally Cycling 0:02:00
19 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling 0:03:37
20 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:03:38
21 Daniel Jaramillo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:03:41
22 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:45
23 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:03:48
24 Alex Hoehn (USA) Aevolo 0:03:49
25 Angus Lyons (Aus) Mobius Bridgelane 0:03:50
26 Jack Burke (Can) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:03:52
27 Eder Frayre Moctezuma (Mex) Elevate-KHS 0:03:53
28 TJ Eisenhart (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:03:54
29 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:03:55
30 Ed Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:03:58
31 Griffin Easter (USA) 303 Project 0:05:08
32 Thomas Revard (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:10:10
33 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:10:27
34 Isaiah Newkirk (USA) 303 Project 0:10:40
35 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling 0:10:44
36 Peter Livingstone (Aus) Mobius Bridgelane 0:10:49
37 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
38 Cullen Easter (USA) 303 Project 0:10:54
39 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy 0:12:14
40 Gage Hecht (USA) Aevolo 0:12:17
41 Nicolas Masbourian (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:12:18
42 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:12:21
43 Brayan Stiven Sanchez Vergara (Col) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:12:28
44 Flavio De Luna (Mex) 303 Project 0:12:35
45 Bernat Font Mas (Spa) 303 Project 0:12:38
46 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:13:07
47 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:13:40
48 Edwin Avila (Col) Israel Cycling Academy 0:13:42
49 Brendan Canty (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:16:35
50 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:16:46
51 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:16:47
52 Damiano Cima (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:16:55
53 Connor Brown (USA) Mobius Bridgelane 0:16:59
54 Russell Finsterwald (USA) Mobius Bridgelane 0:17:09
55 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:17:17
56 Travis McCabe (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:19:54
57 Koen Bouwmam (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:20:08
58 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:20:10
59 Jan Maas (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:20:12
60 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Rally Cycling 0:20:15
61 Janier Alexis Acevedo Calle (Col) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:20:16
62 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
63 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:20:19
64 Ruben Companioni (Cub) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
65 Freddy Ovett (Aus) BMC Racing Team
66 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:20:22
67 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Elevate-KHS
68 Daan Olivier (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:20:24
69 Charles Etienne Chretien (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:20:25
70 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:20:26
71 William Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:20:27
72 Samuel Bassetti (USA) Elevate-KHS
73 Danick Vandale (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:20:29
74 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
75 Tony Baca (Mex) 303 Project 0:20:31
76 Alexander Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
77 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy 0:20:32
78 Jonathan Brown (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:20:33
79 Imerio Cima (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:20:41
80 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:20:43
81 George Simpson (USA) Elevate-KHS 0:21:38
82 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:21:40
83 Benjamin Wolfe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:22:23
84 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
85 Luis Lemus (Mex) Israel Cycling Academy 0:22:24
86 Taylor Shelden (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:22:26
87 Brayan Chaves Rubio (Col) Mitchelton-Scott 0:22:57
88 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:29:34
89 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:30:02
90 Lionel Mawditt (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:31:35
91 Fernando Islas Lopez (Mex) Aevolo 0:32:02
92 Tyler Williams (USA) Israel Cycling Academy 0:36:33
93 Pier-André Côté (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:36:34
94 Emile Jean (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:36:37
95 Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
96 Cormac McGeough (Irl) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
97 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo 0:36:45
98 Andrei Krasilnikau (Blr) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:36:47
99 Michael Hernandez (USA) Aevolo 0:36:49
100 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:36:50
101 Lance Haidet (USA) Aevolo 0:37:00
102 Brian McCulloch (USA) Elevate-KHS 0:37:11
103 Adam Roberge (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:37:49
104 Morgan Schmitt (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:41:39
105 Tyler Magner (USA) Rally Cycling
106 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling 0:41:41
107 Maikel Zijlaard (Ned) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:41:42
108 Joseph Lewis (Aus) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:41:44
109 Laurent Gervais (Can) Aevolo 0:41:51
110 Jesse Coyle (Aus) Mobius Bridgelane 0:41:54