August 4/17 20:15 pm - Tour of Utah: Britton Still in Yellow Jersey after Stage 5

Posted by Editoress on 08/4/17
 

Britton Retains Yellow Jersey at Utah

Travis McCabe of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team blasted from a select group of riders to win Stage 5 at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. McCabe, who finished third on Stage 1 presented by America First Credit Union, climbed on the top step of the podium in a time of 4 hours, 5 minutes and 26 seconds.

Travis McCabe wins

"It was a pretty fast finish with that slight downhill and the tailwind coming into the finish. I was just patient, waited for 250 meters to go, opened up (the sprint) and I was the fastest one today. Pretty proud," said McCabe, who also won stage 4 at the 2016 Tour of Utah. After the win Friday, he took over the Utah Sports Commission Sprint jersey. "This is a stage that I've been targeting all year long. I love Utah, and I've done this now for the third year. I know just how hard it is, so to get a win is pretty emotional. I'm quite happy."

In the group of 26 lead riders, Marco Canola of Nippo-Vini Fantini was second at the line. American Logan Owen of Axeon Hagens Berman Cycling Team, who won Stage 3 in Bountiful at 2015 Tour of Utah, finished third.

"I felt good, so that's why I wanted to take a win. It was an effort at the front in the last climb. McCabe was fast, he won well. Now we are focused for the last stage (in Salt Lake City)," said Canola, whose Italian team is competing in Utah for a second consecutive year.

Rob Britton retains the Yellow Jersey

Overall race leader Rob Britton of Rally Cycling finished seventh on Friday's 115-mile stage and retained the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies Overall Leader jersey. With a few changes in the overall standings, Britton continues to hold a 26-second lead over Gavin Mannion (USA) of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team and a 28-second margin on Serghei Tvetcov (ROM) of Jelly Belly Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis.

Neilson Powless (USA) of Axeon Hagens Berman improved one position to fourth overall and Brent Bookwalter (USA) of BMC Racing Team moved to fifth overall. American Kyle Murphy of Cylance Cycling dropped 15 spots to 20th overall. Taylor "T.J." Eisenhart (USA) of Holowesko-Citadel presented by Hincapie Sportswear improved one spot, now in sixth overall.

Stage 5 presented by Zions Bank returned to Davis County for a third consecutive year, providing 4,200-feet of climbing. Once again, aggressive racing dominated the day from the start in Layton with the breakaway formed more than one hour into the race.

"I just sat back all day, tried to save energy. It was a stage I'd targeted because I've won this stage before, so I just wanted to save energy, try to be there at the finish and try to get another win. But these guys were a little bit faster than me today," Owen said about finishing third.

The escapees maintained a gap of three minutes, as they rolled through Hill Air Force Base for the first time in the race’s history. With the stage win on the line, cooperation ended in the breakaway and the final escapee was caught at the bottom of Bountiful Bench. Fans were treated to an action-packed finish along the flag-lined nine-mile finishing circuit in Bountiful. Attentive at the front, Britton's team protected the yellow jersey and covered all attacks.

"Being up front, I got to see a lot of it. Everyone else is trying to hold the wheel in front of them, but I'm like, wow, look at these planes next to us, this is sweet," said American Justin Oien of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA about F-35 fighter jets passing overhead when the peloton sped through Hill Air Force Base. Active in the breakaway, Oien was awarded the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Most Aggressive Rider jersey for his efforts.

"Caja Rural is typically a very aggressive team in terms of the way we race, we always want to be in the break," he said. "Today was no different. For me personally, I really wanted to be in the breakaway, because I thought that the climb here at the finish was right there on the edge something that I could make it over. It didn't end up working that way, but sometimes you got to give it a go. It feels great to be out there and race my bike."

Born and raised in Lehi, Utah, Eisenhart was voted the America First Credit Union Fan Favorite for Stage 5 presented by Zions Bank, in the category of Tour of Utah Legends. Jacob Rathe (USA) of Jelly Belly Cycling presented by Maxxis retained the Utah Office of Tourism King of the Mountain jersey and Powless continued in the WCF Insurance Best Young Rider jersey.

Saturday's Stage 6, the "Queen Stage" of the Tour of Utah, uses the original route over Alpine Loop that was introduced in 2006. At 61 miles in length, the course is much shorter than previous editions, but not easier. This stage begins for a second time in the Heber Valley at Soldier Hollow, in the shadow of Mount Timpanogos. The racers will tackle a Category 1 climb through American Fork Canyon early in the stage, passing Sundance Resort and Timpanogos Cave National Monument. The final fireworks will take place along Little Cottonwood Canyon on the Hors Category climb to Snowbird Resort, the signature six-mile ascent featuring 8-12 percent gradients.

"The team has been fantastic," said race leader Britton. "There a lot of guys that are still close on general classification, and others a little further back with nothing to lose, so there is a lot of work ahead. Tomorrow is key to winning the overall, and the team is ready. We have four guys to get us to the base of Sundance, and hopefully, Huffman can get us all the way to the base of Snowbird. For the final ascent, we have Emerson (Oronte), Adam (de Vos), Sepp (Kuss) and myself, four of the strongest climbers in the race. Our plan for the final climb - well that's a secret!"

"So far, so good," said Team Director Pat McCarty. "Our plan for defending is focused on being smart and applying pressure when needed. The guys have been doing an excellent job of making sure that general classification riders don’t go up the road. Tomorrow on Snowbird is going to be a throw down - it is the biggest day for the general classification. We have a fantastic team, four of the best climbers in the race, and the whole team is ready to lay it down for Rob."

Photo Gallery

Results from the fifth stage in Utah