The noise in Tour of Utah's getting Louder

Jeff Louder put all of his effort in taking it away.

In the end, Salt Lake City's Louder — riding for BMC Pro Cycling — came out victorious in what is described at America's most challenging day of professional cycling, but he is still seven seconds away from wearing the coveted jersey.

"It was really an epic stage," said Louder, still gasping to catch his breath after racing for 98.6 miles and nearly 15,000 feet of uphill pedaling. "But this is what we prepared for. My team is a stage racing team. We came here to train just for this — I had that in mind, and I couldn't let them down."

Louder did anything but let his team — or the throng of cycling fans gathered at the mountaintop finish — down.

Race leader Blake Caldwell, with three Garmin-Chipotle teammates shielding him and helping him conserve energy, jumped out to a 20-second lead shortly after the group of about 20 cyclists turned up the canyon.

Patiently waiting until just the right moment, though, Louder used his intimate knowledge of Little Cottonwood Canyon to pounce on Caldwell as they approached the Tanner's Flat area of the canyon and slowly pulled away over the final mile or two of the race — crossing the line with a semi-comfortable 13-second advantage on Caldwell.

"The last five Ks seemed like forever," Caldwell said. "I guess he had more in the tank at the end."

The Tour of Utah now turns its attention to today's time trial at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele. While many thought the signature queen stage of the race beginning in Park City and ending at Snowbird would likely decide the ultimate winner, all it did was set up what will be an exciting finish as the contenders try to squeeze every second out of their legs in a 7.5-mile race against the clock.

Acknowledging he is probably a better time trialist, Louder said he is not taking anything for granted.

"I don't have the yellow jersey on," Louder said. "And he's obviously riding very well. If I don't beat him, he deserves to win. It's not a done deal by any means."

The other hopefuls for spots in the final podium include Team Type 1's Glen Chadwick — a former New Zealand national time trial champion and a 2008 Olympian — who is just 42 seconds off the lead, and Salt Lake City's Burke Swindlehurst.

The Bissel climbing specialist came in fourth Saturday afternoon and sits 1:02 off the overall pace, but only 20 seconds away from the podium.

Saturday's drama didn't limit itself to the finish line, though.

After a small group of cyclists broke away from the pack heading out of Kamas toward the Jordanelle Reservoir, the Heber Creeper train cut between the break and the peloton, forcing the larger group to stop and wait for the road to clear.

Recent comments

Add your comment