Antelope Island, the largest island within the Great Salt Lake, hosted the start of Stage 3.
Photo gallery: 2018 Tour of Utah
Now in its 14th year, the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah bills itself as America’s Toughest Stage Race, with three big mountain days over six stages plus a prologue. At the 2018 edition, American Sepp Kuss (LottoNL-Jumbo) won all three mountain stages, two while wearing the leader’s jersey, and won the overall by over two minutes, earning himself a slot at the Vuelta a España to make his Grand Tour debut.
BMC Racing looked to be in the driver’s seat after sweeping the opening prologue, won by Tejay van Garderen. But Kuss, a talented young climber from Durango, Colorado, attacked up and over Mt. Nebo on Stage 3, holding off the GC favorites for over an hour to win the stage by 32 seconds. The former mountain biker took the race lead and would never look back, only gaining time on his rivals on the two GC days that remained.
American Travis McCabe, a sprinter who can also climb, won the difficult Stage 1 in Cedar City, and backed it up with another victory on Stage 3 into Layton City, becoming the first four-stage winner in the race’s history. After being beaten by McCabe on Stage 4, young Belgian Jasper Philipsen (Hagens Berman Axeon) got it just right the following day, edging out the American to take a photo finish in Salt Lake City.
The final two days of the race were back into the high mountains, and while Kuss could have ridden defensively to preserve the jersey, that just wasn’t his style. Kuss countered attacks from the GC group on a hot Stage 5 and sprung clear on the climb to Snowbird Resort, finishing 39 seconds ahead of Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy) and 1:18 ahead of Peter Stetina (Trek-Segafredo), building what looked to be an insurmountable GC lead.
Stage 6 started and finished in Park City, featuring a final, steep climb up Empire Pass before a fast 8km descent to the finish. Kuss attacked on the climb, caught and passed the remnants of the day’s breakaway, rode carefully down the wet descent, and just held off a hard-charging Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing) and Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) to take his third stage win, also sealing the KOM competition.
“This week has been really incredible,” Kuss said. “I knew I was in a good form going into the race and I was pretty confident, too. But to win three stages and the overall ranking is really special. The team was once again very strong. I can’t thank my teammates enough for what they have done for me. Halfway through the stage I felt my legs were good. So I decided to play my cards on the final climb and take it safe on the descent. This victory is one for the whole team because without riders and staff this would never have been possible.”
- Evan Huffman attempted to get as aerodynamic as possible on the descent into the finish during the 5km prologue, won by Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing).
- Jose Acala prepares Aevelo bikes before the prologue. To reduce the shipping and workload for teams traveling from abroad, Tour of Utah organizers dictated that the prologue would contested on regular road bikes with conventional handlebars.
- While his teammate and national time trial champion Joey Rosskopf was in the hot seat, Tejay van Garderen proceeded to set the fastest times at the midpoint as well as the finish.
- With no general classification yet established. teams could choose rider start time order within their assigned rotation. Many team leaders started as early as possible to avoid the heat, but BMC decided to start Tejay van Garderen in the last slot available.
- Sepp Kuss (LottoNL-Jumbo) in the prologue start house. Kuss placed 25th in the short time trial, but soon erased his 17-second deficit to Tejay van Garderen.
- Defending Tour of Utah champion Rob Britton (Rally Cycling) pinned on his numbers before Stage 1. Britton had his work cut out for him; as well as being a marked rider, this year’s edition of Tour of Utah featured five UCI World Tour teams.
- Starting and finishing in Cedar City, Stage 1 featured iconic Utah scenery.
- The peloton shed nearly a third of its riders on Stage 1 before the race’s highest summit, above Brian Head Ski Resort
- Tom Bohli (BMC Racing) overheated en route to the race’s highest summit of 10,600 feet. He was able to resume riding after cooling intervention from team staff.
- The long, fast descent into Cedar City allowed most of the riders to regroup, and despite the stage’s tough climb, the day ended in a field sprint.
- Post-stage bike prep is a race against the sun, and it is made more difficult by long transfers. Stage 1 ended with a three-hour drive to Provo, pitting mechanics, such as EF-Drapac’s Tom Hopper, against approaching darkness and the team’s scheduled dinner.
- Utah native TJ Eisenhart (Holowesko-Citadel) had a following every stage, and received the Fan Favorite award jersey at the race’s conclusion in Park City.
- Tejay Van Garderen went to sign-in on Stage 2 in yellow, but would end the day back in team colors after ceding 25 seconds to Sepp Kuss, who soloed to victory up and over Mt. Nebo.
- The laughing group, halfway up Mt. Nebo.
- Sepp Kuss won Stage 2 in Payson after a solo breakaway halfway up the Mt. Nebo climb.
- Stage 2 featured a single, brutal climb, preceded by an unremarkable approach and followed by a fast, technical descent back into town, all in just 86 miles. Afterward, Rally Cycling’s Emerson Oronte, who finished in a large group that gave up nearly 10 minutes on the leader, said “I just can’t figure this one out.”
- Riders and team staff at Tour of Utah eat well, thanks to the Michelin star chef Matt Accarrino. An accomplished master’s racer, Accarrino creates the menu for breakfast and dinner each day for 300 hungry mouths, and then partners with the host venue kitchens and staff to make sure everything is prepared correctly, including the 250 pounds of Acquerello risotto he ordered directly from Italy.
- Trek-Segafredo team leader Peter Stetina pins up in a team minivan before Stage 3 after the team RV had a mechanical issue. Teams headquartered outside the US made worked with a mix of race-issue vehicles and rented or borrowed team busses.
- Antelope Island, the largest island within the Great Salt Lake, hosted the start of Stage 3.
- Stage 3’s only KOM wasn’t in the mountains. The Bountiful Benches climb started outside of a refinery zone and ascended a steep road through the neighborhoods of Bountiful located in the Wasatch foothills.
- Sepp Kuss stayed safely in the shelter of his teammates during the finishing circuits in Layton on Stage 3.
- Stage 3 started at Antelope Island but T-Rex was the only creature in sight.
- Travis McCabe (UnitedHealthcare) edged out Jasper Phillipsen Hagens Berman Axeon) in the sprint on Stage 3, a relatively flat day in the valley.
- The Salt Lake City circuit race, a crowd favorite that offers plenty of opportunity to see the riders, utilized a new layout this year featuring an uphill start/finish straight for Stage 4.
- Maarten Wynants had pace-making duty for team LottoNL-Jumbo during the Salt Lake City circuit race, keeping race leader Sepp Kuss within range of the leaders.
- The world headquarters for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a prominent landmark of the Salt Lake City circuit race.
- The peloton approached the finish climb together with two laps to go in the Salt Lake City circuit race. The downtown stage rides and looks like a very hard criterium, and is both a signtaure of the Tour of Utah and an icon of American-style race venues.
- Same sprinters, different result: Jasper Philipsen squeaked past Travis McCabe to win the uphill sprint in Salt Lake City circuit race.
- Jasper Philipsen (Hagens Berman Axeon) celebrated the win in Park City with a teammate.
- Stage 5 was the queen stage, from Canyons Village to Snowbird Resort, and featured a two-mile gravel section.
- The peloton approached the summit of Guardsman’s Pass with Sepp Kuss at the front on Stage 5.
- Sepp Kuss attacked the lead riders with about a mile to go before the finish atop Snowbird to win again on Stage 5.
- Neilson Powless, in Best Young Rider jersey, congratulates Sepp Kuss on his Stage 5 victory.
- Afternoon rain showers fell in Park City before the Stage 6 finish, reducing temperatures but not crowd size.
- Sepp Kuss apprached the finish of the final stage in Park City in yellow and as a solo winner, his third stage win and second in the leader’s jersey.
- Team EF Education First-Drapac celebrated its team general classification win, with three riders in the top nine overall.