Click to Enlarge

The Tour of Utah kicked off today with Stage 1 that started and finished in Nelphi City Park. This opening stage was 102 miles in length and contained 4,800 feet of climbing. There were four intermediate sprints at miles 40, 72, and 87. With only one climb counting towards the King of the Mountains competition, riders will have had to work hard to collect maximum points as I expected these early KOM points to be hotly contested.

The early report is that Jason Donald of Garmin-Chipotle is the winner of Stage 1 of the Tour of Utah. He apparently found his way into an early breakaway group and managed to take the stage victory by distancing himself with 400 meters to go. Along with the early GC lead, Jason has also taken the lead in the King of the Mountains race.

The final results of Stage 1 are out. Here’s the top ten:

1. Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) 4:07:09.04
2. Sheldon Denny (The Fan Sports Network) + 0:00:00.7
3. Bradley White (Team SuccessfulLiving.com) + 0:00:01.8
4. Ricardo Escuela (Team SuccessfulLiving.com) +0:00:19.7
5. Jonnie Clarke (Toyota-United) +0:00:20.0
6. Frank Pipp (Team Health Net) +0:00:20.1
7. Ryan Anderson (Land Rover-Orbea) +0:00:20.1
8. Alessandro Bazzana (Team SuccessfulLiving.com) +0:00:20.2
9. Bryson Perry (American R.A.D.D.) +0:00:20.2
10. Michael Grabinger (Team SuccessfulLiving.com) +0:00:20.3

Other Notables:

14. Fred Rodriguez (Rock Racing) +00:00:20.4
25. Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing) +00:00:21.4
61. Tyler Hamilton (Rock Racing) +00:00:22.0
112. Danny Pate (Garmin-Chipotle) +00:00:22.9

Two riders did not finish. They are:

Logan Hunn (Land Rover-Orbea)
Kevin Rowe (Team Bobs-Bicycles.com)

The full Stage 1 results can be found over on the Tour of Utah site.

Those are some seriously small time gaps in the top ten. I hope there’s some video that surfaces that shows the final sprint. Looking at the overall time gaps, it looks like most of the field finished together no more than 25 seconds behind the stage winner.

How about the showing of the SuccessfulLiving.com riders in the top ten. That’s a great showing for them and has got to leave them feeling confident after this opening stage.

As soon as pics and video are available, I’ll get it posted.

Over on the right side of the blog, under the categories section, you should be able to see a Tour of Utah Standings widget will show you at a glance who the leaders are in each of the categories. Images were provided by Blackbottoms Cyclewear. Coding provided by yours truly.

2008 Tour of Utah Jerseys

The five stage Tour of Utah starts tomorrow with seventeen professional teams battling it out over five days. Encompassing more than 330 miles and containing more than 30,000 feet of climbing, the Tour of Utah is poised to beat even the strongest riders into submission. For those that are able to conquer the grueling climbs, the blistering sprints, and the individual time trial, they’ll be able to show it off with some great looking jerseys.

You can get the same jerseys worn by the leaders. Blackbottoms Cyclewear has the official Tour of Utah leaders jerseys available on their website. All five are made from 100% microfiber polyester for superb moisture control properties. Here are the jerseys available:

• Yellow – Commemorative 2008 Jersey and overall leaders jersey
• Green – Sprinters Jersey
• Red – Best Utah Rider
• Polka Dot – King of the Mountains
• Blue – Best Young Rider

Images of the jerseys graciously provided by Blackbottoms Cyclewear.

The Tour of Utah (ToU) is set for August 13th-17th. Positioned along the Rocky Mountain’s Wasatch Front mountain range, the ToU is a 5-day, 5-stage, 336 mile road race that includes 30,000 feet of climbing. All racing takes place within a 100-mile radius that encompasses Salt Lake City, Nephi, and Ogden, Utah.

Teams

The teams participating in the 2008 ToU is impressive. They are:

American R.A.D.D.
Bissell Pro Cycling Team
BMC Racing Team
Bobs-Bicycles.com
California Giant Team
The Fan Sports Network Team
Garmin-Chipotle
Hagens Berman Cycling Team
Health Net Pro Cycling
Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
Ride Clean
Rock Racing
Team Rubicon
Symmetrics Pro Cycling Team
Successful Living Pro Cycling Team
Team Type 1
Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team
Utah All Stars

Stages

Stage 1 starts and ends in Nelphi City Park and contains 4,851 feet of climbing over 101.8 miles. Stage 2 starts at Ogden Pioneer Stadium and ends in Salt Lake City. It’s 85 miles in length with 10,585 feet of climbing. Stage 3 is the Toyota Downtown Criterium in Pioneer Park. It will consist of 60 minutes plus 3 laps of riding over a flat course. Stage 4 is set to be the crux of the race with 14,778 feet of climbing over 98 miles. It starts at The Lodge at Park city and finishes at Snowbird Ski Resort. Stage 5 is a 7.5 mile individual time trial at Miller Motor Sport Park.

Overall it looks to be a very, very tough race and looks like it may live up to its billing as “America’s toughest stage race.”

Notable Riders

With this many teams riding there are some notables that will be pumping the cranks. They are: Scott Nydam (BMC), Danny Pate (Garmin-Chipotle), Rory Sutherland (Health Net), Tyler Hamilton (Rock Racing), Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing), and Victor Hugo Pena (Rock Racing). I’m sure there are others that I didn’t mention so please forgive me if I left any obvious picks out.

I’ll do my best to keep you updated each day with a summary of the day’s stage and overall leaders. With no television coverage that I know of (except maybe some local news), updates will be gathered via the Internet.

Well, if you read Ride 24, you know that I’m way, way overdue for some new tires. My old tires have been on my bike 15 years and seen who knows how many miles. I by no means road all those years but I did ride some. I think dry rot was the biggest factor in their deterioration. Regardless, I had to have a new set.

Friday I had called around looking for a new set and getting some prices for comparison. I had been to a shop ‘A’ earlier in the week and they had some Bontrager Selects for $18 per tire. I called shop ‘B’ and they had the Bontrager Select K for $19. The difference between the Select and Select K is that the Select K has a kevlar belt to help with flat protection. While my gut told me to go to shop ‘A’ (because I liked that shop better, the people were nicer, and the prices good) I decided to go to shop ‘B’ to get the Ks. I was willing to pay the extra $1 for the kevlar belt.

I show up at shop ‘B’ and tell the guy at the counter I need a pair of Bontrager Select Ks in 700×23. The guy leaves and comes back a couple minutes later. He asks me again what I need. I tell him and he proceeds to look at me like I’ve got two heads. I tell him again. He leaves, can’t find’em and gets another employee to help. I walk over and they’re looking at tubular tires that are folded up on a rack. I think some of them are even MTB tires. They turn around and ask me again. I tell’em again and emphasize that it’s the one with the kevlar belt. The room immediately became brighter as two light bulbs came on. They turned around and headed to the back where the clinchers were hanging on the wall. While they’re gone I head over to look at the new Trek Madones and Cervelos. I’m sure I left a puddle of drool on the floor.

A few more minutes has gone by and one of the employees comes up to me with two tires. They’re the Selects not the Select Ks. He proceeds to explain to me that even though the computer says they have six in stock that, in fact, they don’t have any. He asks if I want the Selects or if I want them to order the Select Ks and I tell him, “No. Thanks.” I head over to Shop ‘A’ and pick up the Selects from them. I show up at Shop ‘A’, tell the guy what I want, he’s back less then a minute later with exactly what I need and I’m done. Amazing.

Why didn’t I just go ahead and buy the Selects from Shop ‘B’? Well, because this is the second time Shop ‘B’ has demonstrated themselves to not be organized or helpful. The first was a couple of months ago when I went in to have myself measured for a new saddle. The guy that came out to help made me feel like I was interrupting him, he couldn’t figure out how to make the sit bone fitting tool to work, and I left with having wasted 30 minutes. I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and gave them a chance at redemption with the tires. They again showed they weren’t ready for my business.

I’m now committed to shop ‘A’. Why? A few days ago I was in there and found CO2 cartridges that were half the price of another shop (call it Shop ‘C’), last week they treated my wife good when she was in there to surprise me with some new tubes, their customer service is good, and they have in stock what they say they have. They take care of the customer. That’s 99% of running a successful business in my book.

Well, now I have two new tires that I’ll install today and be ready to ride come Monday.

(Jaxgtr, Shop ‘A’ (my favorite) is the same one we talked about via email.)

I’d be interested in hearing your stories about choosing your favorite LBS.