Tour of Utah 2018 – Stage 5 [FULL STAGE]

August 11, 2018

Tour of Utah 2018 – Stage 5 – Canyons Village – Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort : 152,6 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.

Sepp Kuss (LottoNL-Jumbo) put an exclamation point on his Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah overall lead Saturday during the queen stage to Snowbird Resort, jumping away from the select GC group after countering several attacks and soloing to his second stage win of the race.

Kuss matched successive attacks from EF Education First-Drapac’s Mike Woods and Joe Dombrowski a few kilomteres into the final climb, then simply rode away from the GC group that also included BMC Racing’s Tejay van Garderen, who wore yellow for two days after the prologue time trial and started the day third overall.

“We got to the bottom of the climb and I just decided to ride my own pace,” Kuss said in the post-stage press conference. “It was easier than having to deal with jumping with everybody. I didn’t really know how many k were left in the climb, but I felt good, so I just decided to make a decisive move, put everybody on the back foot maybe and then just ride my own race. It ended up working out again today.”

Israel Cycling Academy’s Ben Hermans finished second, 39 seconds later, followed across the line by Trek-Segafredo’s Peter Stetina at 1:18 and 2017 champion Rob Britton (Rally Cycling) at 1:27. Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) finished fifth, also at 1:27.

Van Garderen, who wore yellow for two days after winning the prologue time trial, finished 31st, nearly seven minutes behind Kuss.

Kuss now leads Hermans in the overall by 1:29, with Dombrowski in third at 2:05, tied on time with fourth-placed Hugh Carthy (EF Education First-Drapac). Mitchelton-Scott’s Jack Haig is fifth at 2:07.

How it unfolded

The 154.8km queen stage from Park City to Snowbird Resort threw two long climbs at the peloton as they went over Guardsman Pass and up Little Cottonwood Canyon to Snowbird in the final 50km.

The stage started with a category 4 climb in Jordanelle, then took in two intermediate sprints in Wolf Creek Ranch at 42.2km and in Park City at 95.5km. The category 1 ascent of Guardsman topped out at 110.7km, followed by a wide-open descent down Big Cottonwood Canyon to the final challenge of the day, the hors category climb to the summit finish at Snowbird.

After many attempts and reconfigurations, a breakaway that met with the peloton’s approval finally got away, prompted by a Daniel Jaramillo (UnitedHealthcare) attack to take maximum points on the first KOM. Multiple groups bridged to the leaders until the breakaway swelled to 16 riders.

The large move was never able to get much of an advantage, and the make-up shifted as riders bridged and others dropped back. When the leaders went through the first intermediate sprint at 42km, the number of escapees was down to 10.

In the new group were Ruben Plaza (Israel Cycling Academy), Evan Huffman (Rally Cycling), Cam Meyer (Mitchelton-Scott), Kilian Frankiny (BMC Racing), Niklas Eg (Trek-Segafredo), Kiel Reijnen (Trek-Segafredo), Daniel Jaramillo (UnitedHealthcare), Jonny Clarke (UnitedHealthcare), Taylor Shelden (Jelly Belly-Maxxis) and Ivan Santaromita (Nippo-Vini Fantini).

Just 48km into the race, the leaders had 30 seconds on two chasers from Holowesko-Citadel and a minute on the field. Huffman was the best-placed escapee at 3:37 down, so LottoNL-Jumbo had room to play with as they led the chase.

The chasing duo eventually realised they weren’t going to make the break and sat up, while the escapees extended their advantage to three minutes with 76km remaining. The gap went up another 70 seconds over the next 16km to build the leaders’ advantage to 4:10 with 60km to go.

Guardsman Pass

Jaramillo took maximum points at the intermediate sprint in Park City, where the breakaway started the Guardsman climb with 4:05 on the field. Jelly Belly’s Shelden was the first to pop out of the break on the climb.

In the field, LottoNL-Jumbo continued on the front, setting a pace that quickly whittled the bunch down to about 20 riders. The gap fell to 3:15 as Kuss and the GC contenders pressed on over the lowers lopes of the 12km climb. The gap continued to go down, and the leaders had 2:55 about halfway up Guardsman.

Reijnen, Plaza and Meyer lost contact with the group near the top of the climb, and by the time Jaramillo took maximum points on the Guardsman KOM, the leaders’ gap was down to 1:50. Jaramillo’s effort earned him a lead in the mountains classification, but with 12 points on the line at Snowbird it was anything but secure.

Jaramillo, Clarke, Huffman, Plaza, Eg and Frankiny went over the top as a group of six, but the trailing trio re-joined the leaders on the descent, where they held a gap of 1:30. Behind them, the peloton swelled back to 40 riders as others re-joined the group on the descent.

Snowbird

The leaders started the Little Cottonwood Canyon climb, a 10.5km ascent with pitches of 7.8 per cent that topped out at 2,466m of elevation, with just 40 seconds over the peloton. EF Education First-Drapac took control of the field on the flat road that connected the descent to the Snowbird climb, driving the pace and trying to shed as many riders as possible before the final climb started.

Frankiny jumped away from the breakaway and quickly opened a gap, while EF-Drapac’s Nathan Brown set a pace at the bottom of the climb that immediately blew the peloton apart. Brown’s effort swept up all the breakaway riders except Frankiny, who started the day more than 10 minutes down and wasn’t a threat to the GC.

“I was thinking I need to try my luck now by my own,” Frankiny said. “I was feeling pretty god on the climb before. So I tried it, but after a while Sepp and the others passed me.”

EF-Drapac started pounding Kuss on the climb, with Woods attacking first and then Dombrowski countering. Kuss immediately marked Dombrowski, and the EF-Drapc rider sat up. Van Garderen (BMC Racing) latched onto Kuss’ wheel as the race overall leader continued to look like the strongest climber in the race.

Kuss poured on more power, distancing himself from Dombrowski and then van Garderen. Israel Cycling Academy’s Hermans set off in pursuit, but to no avail. Kuss sailed past Frankiny to take over the race lead, and Hermans dug deep to bring the young American back, but he was unable to make contact.

“I was having fun,” Kuss said of his early attack, “but when I got the gap and saw Ben Hermans was behind me, and he’s a really strong rider, I thought, ‘Oh no, that’s not really who I want chasing me right now because he’s a real engine.’ After that I was really hurting.”

Hermans continued ahead of Stetina, who was ahead of the group that contained Dombrowski, Carthy, Haig and Luis Villalobos (Aevolo). Further down the mountain, Neilson Powless (LottoNL-Jumbo) rode with Jack Burke (Jelly Belly-Maxxis), TJ Eisenhart (Holowesko-Citadel) and Michael Ries (Trek-Segafredo).

Van Garderen languished further down the climb in the fourth group on the road after having watched Kuss ride away.

Hermans got close to Kuss, but the 23-year-old American put in another surge that distanced the Belgian for good, then held his advantage to the line, slapping hands with spectators in the final metres before the finish.

Results :
1 Sepp Kuss (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 4:02:32
2 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:00:39
3 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:18
4 Robert Britton (Can) Rally Cycling 0:01:27
5 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
6 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
7 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
8 Luis Ricardo Villalobos Hernandez (Mex) Aevolo 0:01:43
9 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:01:47
10 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:02:04
11 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:02:09
12 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:02:17
13 Jack Burke (Can) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:02:32
14 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:54
15 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:03:05
16 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
17 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:03:13
18 TJ Eisenhart (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:03:20
19 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling 0:03:31
20 Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:03:40
21 Angus Lyons (Aus) Mobius Bridgelane 0:04:33
22 Alex Hoehn (USA) Aevolo 0:04:40
23 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:05:17
24 Brayan Stiven Sanchez Vergara (Col) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:05:33
25 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:45
26 Griffin Easter (USA) 303 Project 0:05:49
27 Alexander Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:06:03
28 Eder Frayre Moctezuma (Mex) Elevate-KHS 0:06:49
29 Ed Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:06:51
30 Sean Bennett (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
31 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:06:52
32 Daan Olivier (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:07:56
33 Gage Hecht (USA) Aevolo
34 Connor Brown (USA) Mobius Bridgelane 0:10:18
35 Daniel Jaramillo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:10:56
36 Peter Livingstone (Aus) Mobius Bridgelane 0:11:10
37 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy 0:12:20
38 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Elevate-KHS 0:12:26
39 Thomas Revard (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:13:57
40 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:13:58
41 Gavin Mannion (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:13:59
42 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
43 Cullen Easter (USA) 303 Project
44 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling 0:16:06
45 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling
46 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
47 Brendan Canty (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
48 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
49 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
50 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:16:33
51 Flavio De Luna (Mex) 303 Project 0:17:11
52 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:17:46
53 Isaiah Newkirk (USA) 303 Project 0:19:30
54 Lance Haidet (USA) Aevolo
55 Lionel Mawditt (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
56 Tony Baca (Mex) 303 Project 0:20:31
57 Adam Roberge (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:21:34
58 Emile Jean (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:21:38
59 Brayan Chaves Rubio (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
60 Simone Ponzi (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:24:17
61 Brian McCulloch (USA) Elevate-KHS
62 Damiano Cima (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
63 Imerio Cima (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
64 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Hagens Berman Axeon
65 Cormac McGeough (Irl) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
66 Andrei Krasilnikau (Blr) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
67 Tyler Williams (USA) Israel Cycling Academy
68 Danick Vandale (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
69 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
70 Nicolas Masbourian (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
71 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
72 Charles Etienne Chretien (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
73 Pier-André Côté (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
74 Morgan Schmitt (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
75 Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
76 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
77 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
78 Travis McCabe (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
79 Luis Lemus (Mex) Israel Cycling Academy
80 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
81 Ruben Companioni (Cub) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
82 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
83 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Rally Cycling
84 Bernat Font Mas (Spa) 303 Project
85 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
86 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
87 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling
88 Benjamin Wolfe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
89 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
90 Michael Hernandez (USA) Aevolo
91 Jan Maas (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
92 Koen Bouwmam (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
93 Jonathan Brown (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
94 Maikel Zijlaard (Ned) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:24:29
95 William Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:25:17
96 George Simpson (USA) Elevate-KHS 0:26:19
97 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy
98 Jesse Coyle (Aus) Mobius Bridgelane 0:26:22
99 Taylor Shelden (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:28:15
100 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:28:52
101 Samuel Bassetti (USA) Elevate-KHS 0:28:54
102 Laurent Gervais (Can) Aevolo 0:33:42
103 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:35:37
DNF Joseph Lewis (Aus) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources
DNS Tyler Magner (USA) Rally Cycling
DNS Edwin Avila (Col) Israel Cycling Academy

General Classification after Stage 5 :
1 Sepp Kuss (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 18:32:00
2 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:01:21
3 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:02:05
4 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
5 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:07
6 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:02:27
7 Luis Ricardo Villalobos Hernandez (Mex) Aevolo 0:02:33
8 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:02:40
9 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:03:01
10 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:17
11 Robert Britton (Can) Rally Cycling 0:03:27
12 Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:03:59
13 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling 0:04:08
14 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:04:58
15 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:05:52
16 Jack Burke (Can) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:06:24
17 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:06:39
18 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:07:17
19 Angus Lyons (Aus) Mobius Bridgelane 0:08:23
20 Alex Hoehn (USA) Aevolo 0:08:29
21 Sean Bennett (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:08:34
22 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:09:05
23 TJ Eisenhart (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:10:40
24 Eder Frayre Moctezuma (Mex) Elevate-KHS 0:10:42
25 Ed Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:10:45
26 Griffin Easter (USA) 303 Project 0:10:57
27 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:13:32
28 Daniel Jaramillo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:14:37
29 Gavin Mannion (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
30 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:14:43
31 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:15:51
32 Brayan Stiven Sanchez Vergara (Col) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:18:01
33 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally Cycling 0:19:43
34 Gage Hecht (USA) Aevolo 0:20:13
35 Peter Livingstone (Aus) Mobius Bridgelane 0:22:22
36 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:22:32
37 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy 0:24:34
38 Thomas Revard (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:25:48
39 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:26:20
40 Alexander Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:26:34
41 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:26:47
42 Daan Olivier (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:28:20
43 Cullen Easter (USA) 303 Project 0:28:51
44 Connor Brown (USA) Mobius Bridgelane 0:29:36
45 Flavio De Luna (Mex) 303 Project 0:30:06
46 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally Cycling 0:30:19
47 Isaiah Newkirk (USA) 303 Project 0:32:36
48 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:36:39
49 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:36:54
50 Bernat Font Mas (Spa) 303 Project 0:36:55
51 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Elevate-KHS 0:39:34
52 Simone Ponzi (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:41:34
53 Nicolas Masbourian (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:42:46
54 Travis McCabe (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:43:50
55 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:44:10
56 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:44:18
57 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Rally Cycling 0:44:30
58 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:44:35
59 Brendan Canty (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:44:41
60 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:45:00
61 Tony Baca (Mex) 303 Project 0:46:51
62 Charles Etienne Chretien (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:47:08
63 Jonathan Brown (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:47:54
64 Brayan Chaves Rubio (Col) Mitchelton-Scott 0:48:13
65 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:48:44
66 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:49:14
67 Samuel Bassetti (USA) Elevate-KHS 0:49:21
68 Imerio Cima (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:50:40
69 Lionel Mawditt (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:51:05
70 Damiano Cima (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:51:34
71 Danick Vandale (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:52:29
72 Luis Lemus (Mex) Israel Cycling Academy 0:52:52
73 Ruben Companioni (Cub) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 0:53:01
74 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:53:35
75 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:54:26
76 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:54:32
77 William Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:54:35
78 Koen Bouwmam (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:55:51
79 Jan Maas (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:55:55
80 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:56:02
81 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:56:05
82 Benjamin Wolfe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:56:29
83 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy 0:57:26
84 George Simpson (USA) Elevate-KHS 0:57:35
85 Taylor Shelden (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 0:57:47
86 Emile Jean (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:59:02
87 Tyler Williams (USA) Israel Cycling Academy 1:00:50
88 Pier-André Côté (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 1:00:51
89 Michael Hernandez (USA) Aevolo 1:01:06
90 Lance Haidet (USA) Aevolo 1:01:17
91 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo 1:01:43
92 Adam Roberge (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 1:01:49
93 Andrei Krasilnikau (Blr) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 1:03:30
94 Cormac McGeough (Irl) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 1:06:50
95 Maikel Zijlaard (Ned) Hagens Berman Axeon 1:07:15
96 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 1:07:53
97 Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 1:08:02
98 Morgan Schmitt (USA) Holowesko-Citadel p/b Arapahoe Resources 1:08:22
99 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling 1:08:24
100 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 1:08:43
101 Brian McCulloch (USA) Elevate-KHS 1:09:17
102 Jesse Coyle (Aus) Mobius Bridgelane 1:15:02
103 Laurent Gervais (Can) Aevolo 1:17:52