Tour of Utah: Leipheimer repeats title, Henao wins queen stage
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Sunday, August 14, 2011

Tour of Utah: Leipheimer repeats title, Henao wins queen stage

by Kyle Moore at 6:35 PM EST   comments
Categories: Pro Cycling
 
Brajkovic third on stage and in overall standings

Levi LeipheimerLevi Leipheimer (Radioshack) won the 2011 Tour of Utah after covering an onslaught of attacks made by Sergio Henao (Gobernacion de Antioquia-Indeportes Antioquia) on the slopes of the Snowbird climb. Leipheimer didn’t provide a challenge for the stage victory, and the American pumped his fist as he crossed the line, allowing Henao to win his second stage. The young Columbian, who will ride for Sky Procycling next season, also won the prologue.

Henao turned in a brutal series of accelerations on the decisive final climb, but Leipheimer never appeared to be in trouble as he calmly countered each one. Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) and Janez Brajkovic (Radioshack) yo-yoed off the back of the duo before Brajkovic pulled away to take third on the stage and seal his third place overall. Danielson was fourth, and Henao’s teammate Oscar Sevilla was fifth.

“I’m really proud of this,” Leipheimer proclaimed after the stage. “I lived here for a few years and I know the roads so it was very special today, especially coming up the last climb. It was like riding in the Tour de France. The fans were awesome.”

The queen stage of the Tour of Utah spanned 162 kilometers from Park City to Snowbird Ski Resort. There were three climbs on order that offered points, culminating with the summit finish at Snowbird. Two sprint points featured before the first climb, and the placement of these would factor heavily into the first hour of racing.

A hectic start made more so by PureBlack Racing

The two sprint points would settle the competition for the sprinter’s jersey. Heading into the stage, the standings were led by Javier Acevedo (Gobernacion) with 21 points. Sitting just behind were Roman Van Uden (PureBlack Racing) and Jack Bauer (Endura Racing) with 16 and 15 points respectively.

The peloton covered nearly 50 kilometers in the first hour of racing, and while a number of riders tried to accelerate off the front, no breakway was established. Van Uden was first across the intermediate sprint, tying him with Acevedo. PureBlack and Bissell Pro Cycling continued to push a difficult pace at the front, not allowing any moves to stick. Marcel Wyss (Geox-TMC) and Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis) enjoyed a bit of success, briefly taking out 20 seconds, before being hauled back in.

For the second time, PureBlack massed at the front leading into the second sprint point at 69 kilometers, and Van Uden took it uncontested to lock up the sprinter’s jersey. Halfway through the stage as PureBlack drifted contently to the back of the bunch, the average speed was still nearly 50 kilometers per hour.

Gobernacion starts throwing punches


All were together as the peloton blazed toward the base of the day’s first climb, to the actor Robert Redford’s Sundance Resort. Oscar Sevilla (Gobernacion) made the first move and was quickly covered by Danielson, and the two moved away. Sevilla did most of the work in the break as Radioshack used three riders to control behind, and the pace was high enough to shed Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad). Sevilla and Danielson built a maximum lead of 45 seconds before being joined by Leipheimer, Brajkovic, Henao and Acevedo.

“The Colombian team threw everything at us today,” Leipheimer explained. “At one moment it was just Janez and I against four of them and Janez was pulling the entire way. Then some of my other teammates came back and showed their true fighting spirit. They got me to the bottom of the climb and then it was all up to me. Fortunately I felt great today.”

Five kilometers from the top, Acevedo went solo, gained 30 seconds, and hit the summit first. On the descent, he sat up to wait for the Leipheimer group, which swelled to 15 by the time they hit the valley floor.

Best Utah rider Jeff Louder (BMC Racing Team), Tim Duggan (Liquigas-Cannondale), and Lucas Euser (Team Spidertech-C10) were among a host of riders who rejoined the lead group, but it was Giampaolo Cheula (Geox-TMC) who was able to attack the bunch. He gained 55 seconds and took maximum points on the second climb before being joined by Acevedo, who had accelerated again.

Little Cottonwood Canyon – “Utah’s Alpe d’Huez”

Radioshack and Gobernacion were set for a proper showdown as the peloton approached Little Cottonwood Canyon and the Snowbird climb. With just under 15 kilometers to go, Cheula and Acevedo were back in the dwindling bunch when Gobernacion fired another shot. Oscar Alvarez pushed away, but his thoughts of winning were short lived. With 9 kilometers to race, Henao stamped on the gas for the first time. Leipheimer was quickly in his wheel as the two sped away.

“We had to beat [Gobernacion] in their own territories: altitude, uphill and heat,” Radioshack director Alain Gallopin said.

“Philip Deignan and Ben King did a tremendous job today and our young stagaires surprised us here every day. This result is a result of the work of the whole team. In the end it was up to Levi to stay in the wheels of Sergio Henao. He succeeded.”

Danielson rode within himself, and as the pace of the two protagonists ahead began to slow, the confident American pulled himself, Brajkovic and Sevilla back to the front. Danielson briefly put in his own move before Henao unleashed another searing attack. Leipheimer again held his wheel, and several kilometers later, Henao’s shoulders began to rock as the Columbian started to tire.

Down the road, Brajkovic eventually moved away from Danielson as Leipheimer and Henao rode to the finish together. Henao zipped up his jersey and prepared for a sprint, but Leipheimer wasn’t interested in taking the stage win from the young rider. Henao celebrated his second win of the week and Leipheimer celebrated his second overall victory in as many years.

They may be two completely different riders on opposite ends of their careers. But at the end of “America’s Toughest Stage Race,” both had cause for joy.

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Tour of Utah (2.1) Stage 5 Result: Kimball Junction to Snowbird Lodge (161 km)

  Click on the arrowsat the top of the column to sort the race results.
Country Result Name Team Time
col COL 1 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Gobernacion de Antioquia-Indeportes Antioquia) 04:20:13
usa USA 2 Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack) s.t.
slo SLO 3 Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack) 00:00:18
usa USA 4 Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:00:50
esp ESP 5 Oscar Sevilla Ribera (Gobernacion de Antioquia-Indeportes Antioquia) 00:01:25
usa USA 6 Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:02:33
usa USA 7 Jonathan Patrick Mccarty (SpiderTech powered by C10) s.t.
usa USA 8 Christopher Butler (BMC Racing) s.t.
usa USA 9 Timothy Duggan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 00:02:38
usa USA 10 Lucas Euser (SpiderTech powered by C10) s.t.
usa USA 11 Max Jenkins (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) 00:03:46
usa USA 12 Jeff Louder (BMC Racing) s.t.
usa USA 13 Peter Stetina (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:04:01
usa USA 14 Andrew Bajadali (Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optum Health) 00:04:37
col COL 15 Cesar Augusto Grajales Calle (RealCyclist.com) s.t.
usa USA 16 Chad Beyer (BMC Racing) 00:05:02
nzl NZL 17 Glen Alan Chadwick (PureBlack Racing) 00:05:26
usa USA 18 Tyler Wren (Jamis-Sutter Home) 00:05:34
col COL 19 Rafael Anibal Montiel Cuellar (Gobernacion de Antioquia-Indeportes Antioquia) 00:05:42
usa USA 20 Benjamin King (RadioShack) 00:05:46
Final general classification:
Country Result Name Team Time
usa USA 1 Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack) 15:53:12
col COL 2 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Gobernacion de Antioquia-Indeportes Antioquia) 00:00:23
slo SLO 3 Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack) 00:00:45
esp ESP 4 Oscar Sevilla Ribera (Gobernacion de Antioquia-Indeportes Antioquia) 00:01:54
usa USA 5 Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:03:49
usa USA 6 Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:03:51
usa USA 7 Timothy Duggan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 00:04:44
usa USA 8 Jonathan Patrick Mccarty (SpiderTech powered by C10) 00:05:03
usa USA 9 Lucas Euser (SpiderTech powered by C10) 00:05:34
usa USA 10 Jeff Louder (BMC Racing) 00:07:31
esp ESP 11 Francisco Mancebo Perez (RealCyclist.com) 00:07:55
usa USA 12 Andrew Bajadali (Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optum Health) 00:07:59
col COL 13 Cesar Augusto Grajales Calle (RealCyclist.com) 00:08:17
usa USA 14 Max Jenkins (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) 00:08:20
col COL 15 Rafael Anibal Montiel Cuellar (Gobernacion de Antioquia-Indeportes Antioquia) 00:09:21
nzl NZL 16 Glen Alan Chadwick (PureBlack Racing) 00:09:52
usa USA 17 Tyler Wren (Jamis-Sutter Home) 00:10:11
usa USA 18 Peter Stetina (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:10:47
est EST 19 René Mandri (Endura Racing) 00:11:07
col COL 20 Janier Alexis Acevedo Calle (Gobernacion de Antioquia-Indeportes Antioquia) 00:12:20
usa USA 21 Christopher Baldwin (Bissell Pro Cycling) 00:12:37
col COL 22 Cristhian Montoya Giraldo (Gobernacion de Antioquia-Indeportes Antioquia) 00:12:44
esp ESP 23 Iker Camaño Ortuzar (Endura Racing) 00:13:28
usa USA 24 Christopher Butler (BMC Racing) 00:13:30
nzl NZL 25 Jack Bauer (Endura Racing) 00:14:25
rus RUS 26 Alexander Efimkin (Team Type 1-sanofi aventis) 00:14:51
col COL 27 Oscar Mauricio Alvarez Paniagua (Gobernacion de Antioquia-Indeportes Antioquia) 00:15:36
ita ITA 28 Giampaolo Cheula (Geox-TMC) 00:15:44
irl IRL 29 Philip Deignan (RadioShack) 00:16:32
mex MEX 30 Flavio De Luna Davila (SpiderTech powered by C10) 00:17:24
usa USA 31 Chad Beyer (BMC Racing) 00:17:35
ita ITA 32 Paolo Longo Borghini (Liquigas-Cannondale) 00:17:47
usa USA 33 Paul Mach (Bissell Pro Cycling) 00:18:13
usa USA 34 Benjamin King (RadioShack) 00:19:58
col COL 35 Alejandro Ramirez Calderon (Gobernacion de Antioquia-Indeportes Antioquia) 00:20:39
usa USA 36 Christopher Jones (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) 00:21:07
usa USA 37 Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing) 00:22:10
ger GER 38 Paul Voss (Endura Racing) 00:22:37
usa USA 39 Chase Pinkham (Bissell Pro Cycling) 00:26:36
nzl NZL 40 George Bennett (RadioShack) 00:27:17
usa USA 41 William Dugan (Team Type 1-sanofi aventis) 00:27:48
usa USA 42 Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad) 00:27:53
usa USA 43 Jamey Driscoll (Jamis-Sutter Home) 00:28:00
sui SUI 44 Marcel Wyss (Geox-TMC) 00:28:58
usa USA 45 Jason Donald (Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optum Health) 00:29:27
aus AUS 46 Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) 00:29:28
ukr UKR 47 Valery Kobzarenko (Team Type 1-sanofi aventis) 00:29:51
usa USA 48 Danny Pate (HTC-Highroad) 00:31:35
esp ESP 49 David Gutierrez Gutierrez (Geox-TMC) 00:31:38
can CAN 50 Rob Britton (Bissell Pro Cycling) 00:32:24
usa USA 51 Tom Zirbel (Jamis-Sutter Home) 00:32:55
ita ITA 52 Davide Frattini (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) 00:33:56
usa USA 53 Daniel Summerhill (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:34:00
swe SWE 54 Alexander Wetterhall (Endura Racing) 00:35:13
ita ITA 55 Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale) 00:35:14
gbr GBR 56 Robert Partridge (Endura Racing) 00:35:16
ita ITA 57 Maurizio Gorato (Geox-TMC) 00:35:22
usa USA 58 Edward King (Liquigas-Cannondale) 00:36:07
sui SUI 59 Rubens Bertogliati (Team Type 1-sanofi aventis) 00:36:40
aus AUS 60 Lachlan Norris (HTC-Highroad) 00:36:46
esp ESP 61 Javier Megias Leal (Team Type 1-sanofi aventis) 00:39:18
usa USA 62 Alex Candelario (Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optum Health) 00:39:26
usa USA 63 Josh Berry (RealCyclist.com) 00:39:49
usa USA 64 Jonathan Reid Mumford (Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optum Health) 00:40:38
aus AUS 65 Dale Parker (RadioShack) 00:41:08
can CAN 66 Marsh Cooper (Kelly Benefit Strategies-Optum Health) 00:41:15
nzl NZL 67 Michael Northey (PureBlack Racing) 00:41:55
nzl NZL 68 Roman Van Uden (PureBlack Racing) 00:41:57
rus RUS 69 Vladimir Efimkin (Team Type 1-sanofi aventis) 00:44:01
ger GER 70 Patrick Gretsch (HTC-Highroad) 00:45:16
ita ITA 71 Davide Cimolai (Liquigas-Cannondale) 00:45:54
nzl NZL 72 Jeremy Vennell (Bissell Pro Cycling) 00:46:19
rsa RSA 73 Jay Robert Thomson (Bissell Pro Cycling) 00:46:38
usa USA 74 Evan Hyde (RealCyclist.com) 00:47:31
nzl NZL 75 Timothy Gudsell (PureBlack Racing) 00:48:06
gbr GBR 76 Scott Thwaites (Endura Racing) 00:48:32
aus AUS 77 Fabio Calabria (Team Type 1-sanofi aventis) 00:49:16
aus AUS 78 Jack Anderson (Endura Racing) 00:49:25
col COL 79 Carlos Alberto Ospina Hernandez (Gobernacion de Antioquia-Indeportes Antioquia) 00:49:39
svk SVK 80 Juraj Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) s.t.
usa USA 81 Ian Burnett (RealCyclist.com) 00:49:42
can CAN 82 Bruno Langlois (SpiderTech powered by C10) 00:50:21
ned NED 83 Thomas Rabou (RealCyclist.com) 00:51:53
nzl NZL 84 Daniel Barry (PureBlack Racing) 00:53:36
aus AUS 85 Zakkari Dempster (HTC-Highroad) 00:54:37
esp ESP 86 Albert Torres Barcelo (Geox-TMC) 00:57:24
nzl NZL 87 Scott Lyttle (PureBlack Racing) 00:58:52
aus AUS 88 Tommy Nankervis (RealCyclist.com) 01:01:19

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