Tour of Utah – Stage 1 Won by Jason Donald of Garmin-Chipotle
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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.
Read MoreTour of Utah Standings Widget Added
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.
Read MoreOfficial Tour of Utah Leaders Jerseys by Blackbottoms Cyclewear
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.
Read MoreReturn to the saddle is imminent
Well, it’s been a while since I’ve posted and that’s just shear laziness. I’ve had lots of things going on but for me to just not post has been shameful. I’ve had a good excuse for not riding but not for posting.
Where have I been? Mainly recuperating. For those that missed it, I suffered a serious crash back on Ride 23 that left me hurting for a while. I was very lucky to not break my collar bone which would have kept me out longer. As it turns out, my knee is what has caused me the most problems. I must have hit it much, much harder than I remembered and it’s taken a full month for the soreness to go away. The scrapes on my knee and shin are still healing, and a little sore, but not preventing me from riding. I replaced both tubes yesterday (one needed it because of the patch I put on it back on Ride 21 and 1/3) and gave the bike a good look over in preps for rides this week. With that, I’m all out of excuses to get back in the saddle.
So, what’s gone on in the month I’ve been away?
Carlos Sastre wins the Tour De France. I watched most of the stages, as I always do, and found myself really cheering for the American teams Garmin-Chipotle and Columbia. While most of the riders on those two teams aren’t American, I’m glad to see American teams doing well. We did have American riders like George Hincappie, Christian Vandevelde, and Danny Pate ride well but the teams as a whole did very well. Mark Cavendish looked unbeatable in the finishing sprints. Even though there were six riders with a shot at the GC win with five stages to go, I found there to not be as much excitement and drama as in years past. That doesn’t seem right but that’s how I felt. I often wondered why there wasn’t a rider breaking the tour wide open in the mountains like we used to see. I think it’s because of the drug crackdown. With the increased testing and attention given to doping, I think we saw a leveling of the field this year that we haven’t seen in a while. Sure, there were 2 or 3 riders booted for doping, and there may have been some that weren’t caught, but I think the message may be finally getting through to the riders. No sport will ever be totally clean because there’s somebody out there with the low moral standards that will do anything to win but I think this year’s tour was a step in the right direction.
American Chris Horner and German Andreas Kloden sign with Astana. Following the exclusion of Astana from Le Tour this year, Team Manager Johann Bruyneel was hard at work re-signing riders for the 2009 season. The signing of Horner and Kloden puts nine of its current riders under contract for next year. Although they didn’t participate in the tour, Astana still racked up 28 victories this season and is the leader in the Pro Tour team classification.
Lance Armstrong registers for the Leadville 100. Apparently Lance Armstrong will race in the 100 mile mountain bike event on August 9th. The Leadville 100 is held in Leadville, Colorado and is a 50 mile out-and-back course that takes place entirely above 9,000 ft in elevation. The turnaround point, and highest point of the race, is the Columbine Mine Aid Station at 12,600 ft. Most of the course is back country dirt roads with some paved sections.
Cycle Pig starts his epic tour of Europe. Mr. and Mrs. Pig started their six week Tour of Europe through the Alps and Pyrenees. You can follow their progress by reading the posts and GPS tracker on his blog, CyclePig. Good luck Pigs and keep it safe.
Arlyn over at Adventures on a Bike wins Stage 19 of The Tour de France. No, it wasn’t the actual stage but he did win on the stage before the peloton rolled through. It’s a great story you should read.
Chris of The Tour de Chris wins the Chicago Criterium. Congrats Chris. This is a great post-race report on how he did it.
Bike Noob discusses CO2 versus Pumps. This was a good post that generated a lot of feedback from readers.
Exciting! Drama! On Your Left! Noah over at KC Bike Commuting flirts with danger while on a group ride and manages to introduce a rude motorist to the finer points of traffic laws.
That’s Hot. Mike over at Mike’s Bike Blog learns just how hot it can get in the Texas heat.
If I missed anyone out there I apologize. I just tried to do a quick recap from Google Reader of all the bike blogs I track.
I guess that’s it for today.
Read MoreI’m still around but healing
I tell you, the crash in Ride 23 has just ruined my ability to exercise. My shoulder is fine now. It was sore for a few days but is 100% good to go now. My knee is whats causing all my problems. I believe when I hit the sidewalk I bruised my knee pretty bad. It’s till tender around the edges and one of the scarpes I have is just below the knee cap. It hurts everytime I bend or move it. I’ve started icing the whole area twice a day and that seems to be doing some good. I do believe it’s getting better each day but it’s taking longer than I expected. It’s killing me to not be able to ride. This just sucks.
In the meantime, I’ve been making a huge push with my mortgage acceleration business. I sent out a bunch of marketing packages earlier this week to local realtors and will follow up today with phone calls. If you haven’t heard of this program, I invite you to check it out. I can show you how to own your home free and clear in one-half to one-third the time and potentially save tens of thousands in interest. All this without refinancing, without changing your monthly mortgage payment, and without adjusting your current living lifestyle. To find out if this program is right for you, and to see if you qualify, is free. Contact me if you want to know more.
Read MoreCONNECT WITH BTL
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