Tour of Utah 2019 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE]

August 15, 2019

Tour of Utah 2019 – Stage 3 – Antelope Island State Park – North Salt Lake : 138,3 km

Much like the race profiles that have characterised its routes over the past 15 years, the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, which begins August 12 at Snowbird Resort, has had an up-and-down trajectory in its ability to attract UCI WorldTour teams. The 2.HC race has seen its roster rise to as many as seven top-tier teams, and then sink as low as two. This year appears to be one of the ebbs in that flow, as the 2019 race – no doubt affected by the loss of the Colorado Classic men’s race the following week – drew just EF Education First and Trek-Segafredo. Nevertheless, the race boasts three returning champions and a rider who wore the yellow jersey at the Tour de France for two days last month. The 2019 race route, although centered near the Salt Lake City hub at the north end of the state, should supply plenty of challenges, obstacles and drama on the way to crowing the 2019 winner, as well as showing off Utah’s famed natural beauty.

Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy) made it two for two in the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah on Thursday, attacking over the top of the final climb into North Salt Lake and dropping his GC rivals to win by seven seconds over Kyle Murphy (Rally UHC) and eight seconds over Niklas Eg (Trek-Segafredo).

The move gives Hermans 43 seconds over James Piccoli in the general classification and 1:05 over Eg.

“Our team was pressured, but we never lost control of the race, so the team was pretty strong,” Hermans said. “I didn’t have to do much until the last kilometre on the last climb. I just had to follow Piccoli, and in the last kilometre I had an attack for 30 seconds and I could make a good gap, and it was enough for the stage win.”

Hermans waited patiently as the lead group whittled itself down to a very select few. His move with 1km to go was devastating and not challenged by anyone in the group.

“Piccoli gave all he had on the first part of the climb, but he couldn’t drop me, so he didn’t have anything for the second part of the climb,” Hermans said. “I saw the guys on the front were very close, and so I attacked to try and catch them before the top of the climb. It was good timing. It was a good situation for us, and sometimes you can be lucky in these situations.”

Murphy had joined EF Education First’s Lawson Craddock up the road in an earlier move and was with Craddock when the Hermans-Piccoli group caught them. An acceleration from Craddock initially dropped him, but he was able to fight his way back to the group to take the reduced sprint for second.

“I was riding for time, and Lawson was riding for the stage,” Murphy said. “I was OK with that. I thought maybe I’d be able to surprise him. But when he saw Hermans coming, he panicked a little and attacked me. I was able to just barely catch on before the descent and just kind of caught my breath before the sprint.

“If we had started racing sooner, I think this could have been harder than Powder Mountain with the heat and how explosive some of the riders are in North America,” Murphy said, referencing the 94 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the day. “It was a brutal day, but I’m happy with that went down.”

Piccoli was obviously less happy with the day. Th 27-year-old Continental rider had tagged this stage early on as a potential GC day, and the race played out just as he anticipated. He got the GC battle he wanted on the final climbs in North Salt Lake, but Hermans proved himself stronger once again.

“I gave it all I had today and tried to attack the last time up the climb, because this finishing circuit was actually really hard,” he said. “This climb was brutal.

“I just went a little bit early hoping that Hermans would crack, but he was super strong today,” Piccoli said. “He just waited patiently in my draft, patiently, patiently, and then hit me over the top and rode away. Great ride by him.”

How it unfolded

The 138.3km stage from Antelope Island State Park to North Salt Lake started out fairly flat but got extremely lumpy on the finishing circuits in Bountiful, where the peloton faced five climbs up the short-but-steep Bountiful Bench, where the race finished.

A breakaway of seven riders initially pulled away while the peloton was still on the island just 25km into the day. In the move were Jonny Clarke (Worthy Por Cycling), Emerson Oronte (Rally UHC), Dylan Sunderland (Bridgelane), Scott McGill (Aevolo), Philip Mamos (Dauner-Akkon), Tony Baca (303 Project) and FilippoZaccanti (Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane).

That group swelled to 20 riders almost immediately, and a game of musical chairs started in the breakaway from there. The new group included dangerous riders like Dayer Quintana (Neri Sottoli Selle Italia KTM), Gavin Mannion (Rally UHC) and Sergei Tvetcov (Worthy Cycling).

The size of the group was prohibitive, and Israel Cycling Academy lined out the bunch to bring the move back. Rally immediately countered and inspired a new 16-rider move. At the first intermediate sprint in Layton at 65.4km, Matt Zimmer (DC Bank) took maximum points ahead of Flavio De Luna (303 Project) and Travis McCabe (Worthy Pro Cycling).

A new break formed from there. In the new move were Alex Howes (EF Education First), Nigel Ellsay (Rally UHC), Lorenzo Fortunato (Neri Sottoli Selle Italia KTM), Marco Canola (Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane) and Travis McCabe (Worthy Pro Cycling).

McCabe won the second sprint in Fruit Heights, as the new moved appeared to meet with the peloton’s approval, and the gap started going up. Hayden McCormick (Team Bridgelane) was the final rider to join the group, and the advantage was up to two minutes with 50km remaining.

Howes took maximum points on the first KOM at 90.8km as the riders went over Bountiful Bench for the first time.

With three finishing circuits remaining, the leaders still held 1:45 over the bunch, which was being led by Elevate-KHS for Piccoli. The third time up the climb Canola and McCabe lost contact with the leaders, but the duo was able to return on the corresponding descent. McCabe lost contact again the next time up the climb and faded back the field.

Howes was together with McCormick, Canola and Forunato as attacks started coming from the field. Lawson Craddock (EF Education First) jumped away first, and he was quickly marked by Rally UHC’s Kyle Murphy. The chasing duo caught the leaders with 12.3km to go, and the breakaway had fresh engines to power the move. Fortunato soon lost contact.

The field behind them started to split as the climb was taking its toll. Trek-Segafredo took up the chase with 5km to go, bringing the gap down to 25 seconds. On the final climb, Murphy and Craddock were the only riders left out front, with just 20 seconds over a small group with leader Hermans, James Piccoli (Elevate-KHS), Keegan Swirbul (Worth), Niklas Eg (Trek-Segafredo) and Joe Dombrowski (EF Education First). The rest of the peloton was scattered along the road around 1:35 behind.

Piccoli nearly reeled in the leaders with 1.5km to go, dropping Swirbul with a surge, and sensing the catch, Craddock attacked to drop Murphy. Hermans then attacked from the field just before the crest, passing Craddock and flying down the other side with 1.2km to go, holding off the chase to win by seven seconds.

Results :
1 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
2 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
3 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
4 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling
5 James Piccoli (Can) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling
6 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First
7 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First
8 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Israel Cycling Academy
9 Scott Bowden (Aus) Team Bridgelane
10 João Almeida (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon
11 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
12 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM
13 Efren Santos Moreno (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized
14 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Worthy Pro Cycling
15 Hayden McCormick (NZl) Team Bridgelane
16 Rob Britton (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
17 Juan Pedro Lopez Perez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
18 Eder Frayre (Mex) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team
19 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM
20 Griffin Easter (USA) 303 Project
21 Edward Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
22 Edwin Avila (Col) Israel Cycling Academy
23 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM
24 Alex Hoehn (USA) Aevolo
25 Andrew Vollmer (USA) Aevolo
26 Simone Velasco (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM
27 Dayer Quintana (Col) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM
28 Dominik Bauer (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon
29 Bernat Font Mas (Spa) 303 Project
30 Gabriel Francisco Rojas Campos (CRc) Aevolo
31 TJ Eisenhart (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC
32 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
33 Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
34 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM
35 Gregory Daniel (USA) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team
36 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First
37 Travis McCabe (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling
38 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First
39 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
40 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
41 Pablo Andrés Alarcon Cares (Chi) Canel’s-Specialized
42 Oscar Eduardo Sanchez Guarin (Col) Canel’s-Specialized
43 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
44 Flavio de Luna (Mex) 303 Project
45 Nathan Earle (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy
46 Benjamin Wolfe (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC
47 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
48 Tyler Lindorff (Aus) Team Bridgelane
49 Cullen Easter (USA) 303 Project
50 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling
51 Samuel Boardman (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis
52 Conor Schunk (USA) Aevolo
53 James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First
54 Alexander Cowan (Can) Worthy Pro Cycling
55 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
56 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
57 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
58 Filippo Zaccanti (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
59 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
60 Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
61 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM
62 Brendan Rhim (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC
63 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling
64 Camden Vodicka (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis
65 Matthew Zimmer (USA) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team
66 Finn Gullickson (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis
67 Sven Thurau (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon
68 Tony Baca (Mex) 303 Project
69 Scott McGill (USA) Aevolo
70 Cade Bickmore (USA) Aevolo
71 Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane
72 Jean-Denis Thibault (Can) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team
73 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Bridgelane
74 Emile Jean (Can) Worthy Pro Cycling
75 Noah Granigan (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling
76 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
77 Justin Oien (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC
78 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
79 Thomas Revard (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
80 Kent Ross (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis
81 George Simpson (USA) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling
82 Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
83 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
84 Isaiah Newkirk (USA) 303 Project
85 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC
86 Tanner Putt (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC
87 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy
88 Jose Alfredo Rodriguez Victoria (Mex) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling
89 Eric Young (USA) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling
90 Oliver Flautt (USA) Team Dauner-Akkon
91 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
92 Antoine Leplingard (Fra) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team
93 Tyler Magner (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
94 Austin Stephens (USA) 303 Project
95 Maxx Chance (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis
96 Philipp Mamos (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon
97 Stephen Bassett (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis
98 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) Worthy Pro Cycling
99 Miguel Bryon (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC
100 Eric Brunner (USA) Aevolo
101 Francisco Lara Carbajal (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized
102 Leonel Palma Dajui (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized

General Classification after Stage 3 :
1 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 10:30:24
2 James Piccoli (Can) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:00:44
3 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:06
4 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:01:46
5 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:02
6 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First 0:02:04
7 João Almeida (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:02:38
8 Rob Britton (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:03:12
9 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First 0:03:17
10 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Israel Cycling Academy 0:03:44
11 Scott Bowden (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:03:54
12 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:04:34
13 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:05:06
14 Griffin Easter (USA) 303 Project 0:06:09
15 Dayer Quintana (Col) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:07:09
16 Alex Hoehn (USA) Aevolo 0:07:53
17 Juan Pedro Lopez Perez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:08:29
18 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:08:30
19 Efren Santos Moreno (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized 0:08:49
20 Eder Frayre (Mex) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:09:04
21 Hayden McCormick (NZl) Team Bridgelane 0:09:40
22 Andrew Vollmer (USA) Aevolo 0:10:25
23 Edward Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:10:26
24 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:11:44
25 Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:12:02
26 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First 0:12:22
27 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:12:31
28 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy 0:12:54
29 Dominik Bauer (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:13:16
30 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:13:43
31 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:13:51
32 Simone Velasco (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:13:52
33 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:14:56
34 Gregory Daniel (USA) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:15:24
35 Pablo Andrés Alarcon Cares (Chi) Canel’s-Specialized 0:16:12
36 Bernat Font Mas (Spa) 303 Project 0:16:27
37 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:17:31
38 Oscar Eduardo Sanchez Guarin (Col) Canel’s-Specialized 0:18:55
39 Flavio de Luna (Mex) 303 Project 0:19:45
40 Nathan Earle (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy 0:20:09
41 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First 0:22:21
42 Edwin Avila (Col) Israel Cycling Academy 0:22:57
43 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:23:08
44 Travis McCabe (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:23:10
45 Gabriel Francisco Rojas Campos (CRc) Aevolo 0:23:25
46 Conor Schunk (USA) Aevolo 0:23:28
47 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:23:55
48 Alexander Cowan (Can) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:24:15
49 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:25:03
50 Filippo Zaccanti (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:25:44
51 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:26:45
52 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:27:04
53 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:27:13
54 TJ Eisenhart (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC
55 Tyler Lindorff (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:28:12
56 Benjamin Wolfe (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:29:01
57 Cullen Easter (USA) 303 Project 0:30:31
58 Cade Bickmore (USA) Aevolo 0:31:05
59 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:31:51
60 Brendan Rhim (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:33:17
61 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:33:29
62 Thomas Revard (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:33:57
63 Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:34:04
64 Matthew Zimmer (USA) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:34:41
65 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:35:36
66 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:36:02
67 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:36:33
68 Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane
69 James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First 0:36:44
70 Tyler Magner (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:36:45
71 Isaiah Newkirk (USA) 303 Project 0:36:49
72 Tony Baca (Mex) 303 Project 0:37:20
73 Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:38:00
74 Stephen Bassett (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:38:49
75 Tanner Putt (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:38:51
76 Justin Oien (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:38:53
77 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:39:28
78 Camden Vodicka (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:39:30
79 Scott McGill (USA) Aevolo 0:40:08
80 Noah Granigan (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:40:14
81 Samuel Boardman (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:40:34
82 George Simpson (USA) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:40:37
83 Jean-Denis Thibault (Can) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:40:40
84 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:40:43
85 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy 0:40:54
86 Sven Thurau (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:41:56
87 Oliver Flautt (USA) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:43:55
88 Philipp Mamos (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:43:57
89 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:44:53
90 Kent Ross (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:45:28
91 Emile Jean (Can) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:47:04
92 Antoine Leplingard (Fra) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:47:18
93 Eric Brunner (USA) Aevolo 0:48:31
94 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:48:34
95 Maxx Chance (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:49:00
96 Jose Alfredo Rodriguez Victoria (Mex) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:49:16
97 Eric Young (USA) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:50:06
98 Francisco Lara Carbajal (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized 0:50:12
99 Austin Stephens (USA) 303 Project 0:50:40
100 Miguel Bryon (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:51:44
101 Leonel Palma Dajui (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized 0:52:56
102 Finn Gullickson (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:54:18