Tour of Utah 2018 – Stage 6 [FULL STAGE]

August 12, 2018

Tour of Utah 2018 – Stage 6 – Park City – Park City : 123,4 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) took no mercy on his rivals at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah on Sunday, claiming his third stage win of the race and cementing his overall victory in Park City.

Kuss dropped the race’s best climbers on the ascent of Empire Pass, and then railed the descent into Park City to finish alone ahead of all chasers, appearing to chuckle as he rode up Main Street Park City to the line.

Kuss had to dig deep one more time on the finishing straight, as Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing) led Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) across the line eight seconds later to claim second and third, respectively, while Hugh Carthy (EF Education First-Drapac) beat Keegan Swibul (Jelly Belly-Maxxis) for fourth.

Kuss jumped away from Haig on Empire Pass as the duo tried to chase down leader Nathan Brown (EF Education First-Drapac), who had survived from the early breakaway.

“When Jack went I was feeling OK, but he definitely had me on the ropes there,” Kuss said in the post-stage press conference. “I was just kind of pulling through with him to keep pace on the climbs; it’s kind of pitchy.

“Then when I could see Nate up ahead I thought maybe I could go again for the stage win, and it broke my heart a little bit to pass him because he’s one of the good guys,” Kuss said. “But I just had the idea to go again for the win. I’ve never ridden that descent before, so I didn’t really know what to expect from the corners. It was a bit wet as well, so I didn’t want to take any chances at all. I knew the guys behind, especially Brent, would probably take some chances, so I just tried to ride a safe descent and try to make it to the finish line.”

Bookwalter had joined Haig on the descent, and they nearly caught Kuss on the uphill finishing straight on Main Street in Park City, but the 23-year-old overall leader dug deep once more to hold them off and take his third stage win of the week.

“After that descent in the cold rain, my legs just totally locked up,” Kuss said. “The fans were so loud that I couldn’t really hear anything behind me, like anybody switching gears or anything, so I thought if they passed me I wouldn’t even know because it’s just so loud. I was just trying to drive all the way to the line. It was really something.”

How it unfolded

The traditional final stage in Park City returned to the Tour of Utah after a one-year absence, and as typical with the short-but-difficult stage, it delivered an exciting finale.

The 126km route featured two intermediate sprints, the first coming 31.9km into the day in Kamas, and the second at 99.7km in Midway. The real racing for the GC contenders started with the category 2 climb through the affluent gated community of Wolf Creek Ranch with 67km remaining.

The final obstacle came in the form of the hors category Empire Pass climb, a 16km ascent with multiple switchbacks through massive Aspen groves. A technical 8.8km descent to the finish crowned the overall winner.

The peloton was feeling stingy in the opening kilometres, and despite multiple attacks a few moves that looked like they would go, the breakaway was not established until just before the first sprint at 31.9km, where Ulises Castillo (Jelly Belly-Maxxis) took maximum point from the break.

In the 15-rider group were Castillo, Evan Huffman (Rally Cycling), Sam Bewley (Mitchelton-Scott), Rob Power (Mitchelton-Scott), Nathan Brown (EF Education First-Drapac), Daniel Jaramillo (UnitedHealthcare), Gavin Mannion (UnitedHealthcare), Brayan Sanchez (Holowesko-Citadel), Jordan Cheyne (Elevate-KHS), Lionel Mawditt (Jelly Belly-Maxxis), Emile Jean (Silber), Griffin Easter (303 Project), Tony Baca (303 Project), Niccola Conti (Trek-Segafredo) and Damiano Cima (Nippo-Vini Fantini).

The leaders built a gap of more than two minutes with about 90km remaining, and the chase was on as LottoNL-Jumbo led the peloton. With no threat to Kuss’ GC lead in the breakaway, the escapees were given plenty of leash, and the gap went up to four minutes with 75km remaining.

Wolf Creek Ranch

The escapees reached the Wolf Creek Ranch climb, a 4.1km ascent with an average grade of 8.2 per cent, with their four-minute gap intact. Jaramillo took maximum points at the KOM to cinch his hold on the snowflake mountains jersey, and the escapees’ gap was down to just above three minutes.

Huffman dropped out of the breakaway and faded back to help teammate Kyle Murphy, who jumped away from the group on the climb. Murphy started the day 13th overall, 4:08 behind Kuss. Huffman and Murphy joined forces with 303 Project’s Isaiah Newkirk and were soon within a minute of the break as the gap from the break to the peloton hovered at three minutes.

Huffman slayed himself to get Murphy up to the breakaway, and the gap from the chasing trio to the leaders continued to come down precipitously. Huffman pulled Murphy and Newkirk within 10 seconds of the leaders, and then he ran out of gas. Murphy went on alone as both Huffman lost the pace and Newkirk flatted, but the timing for Murphy was unfortunate as the escapees were picking up the pace ahead of the intermediate sprint. Murphy endeavoured persevered, however, and made contact just after the sprint.

Empire Pass

At 12.3km and reaching pitches of nearly 23 percent, the Empire Pass climb has played the role of kingmaker at the Tour of Utah in the past. The leaders started the climb with 2:35 on the peloton, and the breakaway immediately started coming apart. Castillo was the first to come off, followed by Bewley, Jean, Cheyne and all but a quintet of climbers that included Power, Brown, Conci, Jaramillo and Mannion.

EF-Drapac’s Brown attacked the leaders and opened up a small gap as the Kuss-led yellow jersey group lingered 1:45 back. Mitchelton-Scott’s Haig attacked the GC group and was quickly matched by Kuss as the pair rode away together.

With 18km remaining, Brown had 15 seconds on Conci, Jaramillo and Mannion. Overall runner-up Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy), Luis Villalobos and Carthy were another 15 seconds adrift, while Kuss, Haig and Power were 1:05 behind the leaders.

Kuss took over the pace-setting in his group and quickly dropped Power. Kuss and Haig swept past Jaramillo and Mannion as they went after Brown, who had just 25 seconds on them with 16.5km remaining. Conci was able to stick with Kuss and Haig to form a first chase group of three.

As the riders battled up Empire Pass, rain started falling in Park City.

Kuss wasn’t worried about the precipitation, however, as he dispatched Haig and Conci, and then caught Brown before the KOM with 14km to go. Haig and continued to chase with Carthy, but Kuss proved too strong and continued to open up the gap.

Carthy dropped Haig and set off after Kuss alone. The race leader claimed the Empire Pass KOM, while Carthy went over the top 40 second behind. Precipitation was falling on the other side of the pass, and Kuss had to ease is bike through the technical corners near the top.

Another five seconds back, Jelly Belly’s Swirbul joined Haig over the top and onto the descent. Bookwalter caught Haig and Swirbul on the descent, and they swept up Carthy as well.

Meanwhile, Kuss railed the descent and rode into Park City alone to stomp his authority on the 2018 race.

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

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