Jeff Louder (BMC) off on a rampage
By now you've seen the tweets.
@davidefrattini: Dear Park City Crit if you were on grass or mud you can be a good cross race
@taylorphinney Wow that was painful! Got in the break and managed to acquire 8 sprint points and am now just 1 point back... Got a jersey to steal tmrw! =)
@Benjm1: Holy crap the Park City crit rates at 8.0 on the pain scale! Course was like a steeper Nevada city, with a plastic bag over ...
In a nutshell, the pace was high. With a course that was equal parts climbing and descending,the field was reduced by a third in the first 20 minutes. A couple thousand lined the street, screaming and banging on the fencing. It was epic. Utah resident Jeff Louder (BMC) rose to the occasion treating the assembled masses to a one man show. At one point he held a full minute over a hard charging field powered by Fly V Australia, Jamis/Sutterhome and Trek/Livestrong. UHC was notably quiet today, as Rory Sutherland was reported to be ill. Marc de Maar put in a last minute dig that yielded nothing. Taylor Phinney went hard early then faded into the field.
Preliminary results have Louder on the top step, Fransisco Mancedo finished third behind Jai Crawford of Fly V . Levi Leipheimer remains in yellow. The mix of lapped and leading riders that completed the race created a massive headache for the judges to sort out. The end result is that the field is now down to 86 riders. The special category jersey's remain Leipheimer in yellow, David Tanner (Fly V) leads the sprints competion, Mancebo as top climber and 19 year old Ian Boswell is still the best young rider. Taylor Phinney is a mere 1 point away from unshirting Tanner in the sprinters competition. Tomorrow the race culminates with a 10k foot day of climbing over 101 miles, as the Queen Stage leaves Park City and loops around the Wasatch Back to end at the Snowbird Resort at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon.
The Top 15 GC:
1. |
190 | Levi LEIPHEIMER | Mellow Johnny's | MJS | USA | 8.12'36" | |
2. | 1 | Francisco MANCEBO PEREZ | Canyon Bicycles | CAN | ESP | 8.14'04" | 1'28" |
3. | 173 | Darren LILL | V Australia | VAU | RSA | 8.14'25" | 1'49" |
4. | 177 | Philip ZAJICEK | V Australia | VAU | USA | 8.14'43" | 2'07" |
5. | 11 | Ian BOSWELL | BISSELL Pro Cycling Team | BIS | USA | 8.15'05" | 2'29" |
6. | 21 | Brent BOOKWALTER | BMC Racing Team | BMC | USA | 8.15'16" | 2'40" |
7. | 112 | Cesar GRAJALES | On The Rivet p/b Ion Sports Nutrition | OTR | COL | 8.15'41" | 3'05" |
8. | 136 | Jonathan MCCARTY | Team Rio Grande | TRG | USA | 8.16'03" | 3'27" |
9. | 184 | Lachlan MORTON | Team Holowesko Partners | THP | AUS | 8.16'17" | 3'41" |
10. | 47 | Tyler WREN | Jamis/Sutter Home p/b Colavita | JAM | USA | 8.16'21" | 3'45" |
11. | 170 | Jai CRAWFORD | V Australia | VAU | AUS | 8.16'38" | 4'02" |
12. | 23 | Jeff LOUDER | BMC Racing Team | BMC | USA | 8.16'43" | 4'07" |
13. | 95 | Burke SWINDLEHURST | KFAN Composite p/b teamgive | KFA | USA | 8.17'12" | 4'36" |
14. | 113 | Alex HAGMAN | On The Rivet p/b Ion Sports Nutrition | OTR | USA | 8.17'18" | 4'42" |
15. | 162 | Maxim JENKINS | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis | UHC | USA | 8.17'54" | 5'18" |