Tour of Utah in photos
The Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah is billed as “America’s toughest stage race”, and with challenging mountains every day, there’s no doubt the organisers take that tagline seriously. In 2014 the seven-day tour featured two tough mountain-top finishes and plenty more big climbs besides, and for the second year in a row it was Garmin-Sharp’s Tom Danielson who took out the overall title. Here’s a gallery of photos from the race and a brief explanation of how the race unfolded.
The Tour of Utah began in the south west of the state with a 183km stage starting and finishing in Cedar City. The day featured two challenging climbs but ended with a long descent off Bristlecone and then three, flatter circuits around Cedar City. Moreno Hofland (Belkin) took victory in a sprint and would wear the yellow leader’s jersey the following day.
Stage 2 saw the riders head 210km east then north from Panguitch to Torrey via four categorised climbs. Again the stage finished with a descent and a flatter run-in to the finish and it was Michael Schar (BMC) who took a memorable victory, attacking from a six-man breakaway and holding off the peloton by just two seconds. Team SmartStop’s Jure Kocjan moved into the overall lead with his second-placed finish.
Stage 3 began just south of Salt Lake City in the town of Lehi before heading south over the Eureka climb en route to the finish at the Miller Motorsports Park. A breakaway was caught in the closing kilometres before Moreno Hofland took his second win in three stages. Kocjan held on to the overall lead.
On stage 4 the general classification got its first real shake-up thanks to the North Ogden Divide climb and the brutally tough Powder Mountain climb (10km at 10%) to end the stage. Tom Danielson and Chris Horner (Lampre-Merida) climbed to the front of the race on the final ascent before Danielson rode away with 5km to go, winning the stage by nearly a minute and putting himself in the overall lead ahead of Chris Horner and Ben Hermans (BMC).
Stage 5 began across the border in Evanston, Wyoming, before heading south into Utah and on to the long climb to Bald Mountain. The closing kilometres into Kamas were considerably flatter though, with Eric Young (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) taking a sprint victory. Danielson held on to his overall lead.
The following day, with the race finishing with a climb to the Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, Cadel Evans (BMC) put on a masterclass. He escaped from the peloton early in the day to join the breakaway, working hard with his fellow escapees for the rest of the stage. On the final climb the break looked doomed, but he and Joey Rosskopf (Hincapie Development Team) held on. Rosskopf attacked late but was marked by Evans who punched past to take a thrilling victory. The GC remained unchanged with Danielson finishing sixth on the stage.
And on the final day of racing, Cadel Evans again used his experience and talent to secure back-to-back stage wins. On the climb up to Empire Pass Evans was behind a lead group of four (which included Danielson and Horner) and on the descent toward the finish Evans put on a descending clinic and joined the front of the race. He sat at the back of the lead group until the final corner before the finish, swooping around to take the lead then sprinting to victory.
Tom Danielson finished fifth on the stage, securing back-to-back wins in the Tour of Utah. Chris Horner was second overall (as he was last year) while his teammate Winner Anacona rounded out the podium.
We hope you enjoy some of the many great photos from the race below.
- Moreno Hofland won stage 1 in a bunch sprint, his first of two victories for the week.
- Moreno Hofland wore the leader’s yellow jersey on stage 2 after winning the opening stage.
- In what is likely to have been his second-last bike race as a professional, Jens Voigt (Trek) was as aggressive as ever, getting in a number of breakaways throughout the race.
- On the third KOM on stage 2, Joey Rosskopf (pictured) escaped from the breakaway with Michael Schar (BMC), the two building a handy lead together. Rosskopf would be left to fend for himself and was eventually caught by the bunch …
- … after Schar dropped Rosskopf on the final climb of the day and powered away to a thrilling victory, just seconds ahead of the surging peloton.
- Stage 3 saw the riders head to the Miller Motorsport Park for laps of the racing circuit to end the stage …
- … where Belkin set Moreno Hofland up perfectly for his second victory in three days.
- The final climb of stage 4, the tough ascent of Powder Mountain, saw the lead group whittled right down until just Tom Danielson (Garmin-Sharp) and Chris Horner (Lampre-Merida) remained.
- Tom Danielson attacked Horner with roughly 5km to go …
- … powering to victory by nearly a minute and, ultimately, sealing overall victory.
- Wilco Kelderman fought gallantly on the steep climb, coming in sixth, 2:07 behind Danielson.
- The main breakaway on stage 5 featured BMC’s Brent Bookwalter, Trek Factory Racing’s Jens Voigt, Belkin’s Maarten Tjallingii, UnitedHealthcare’s Jeff Louder, Optum Pro Cycling’s Alex Candelario, Jelly Belly’s Serghei Tvetcov and Hincapie Sportswear’s Joey Rosskopf and Oscar Clark.
- It all came back to a sprint with Eric Young (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) beating Jure Kocjan (SmartStop) and Kiel Reijnen (UnitedHealthcare).
- Cadel Evans was part of a four rider breakaway that formed early in the day and survived to the final climb.
- With the GC leaders bearing down, Joey Rosskopf put in a huge attack in the closing stages, and only Evans could catch him. The wily veteran then punched right past the American, taking a thrilling stage win.
- Tom Danielson finished sixth, holding on to his overall lead; a lead he would carry all the way to the finish of stage 7.
- The riders set off for the start of the final stage.
- Cadel Evans took back to back stage wins after a descending masterclass to join the leaders then roll past them at the finish. Tom Danielson celebrates overall victory in the background.
- Cadel Evans won stage 7 ahead of Wilco Kelderman and Winner Anacona.
- A second consecutive Tour of Utah victory for Tom Danielson, with Chris Horner second again and Winner Anacona third overall.