Tour of Utah: Britton wins overall

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Marco Canola gave Nippo-Vini Fantini its first stage win of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah with a beautifully timed acceleration on the uphill finish of the race's final stage in Salt Lake City.

The Italian burst out of the peloton in the final 300m to take the victory - his first on US soil - over Brent Bookwalter (BMC), who won the sprint for second over Gavin Mannion (UnitedHealthcare).

Rob Britton (Rally Cycling), having led the race since the time trial on stage 3, held on to the attack-riddled chaotic stage to claim his first Tour of Utah overall victory. His final margin was 26 seconds on Mannion, with Jelly Belly's Serghei Tvetcov in third at 35.

Canola's burst of speed left everyone behind, including sprint leader Travis McCabe (UnitedHealthcare), who couldn't hold his wheel throughout he final corner.

"I had legs. I knew that, so I just tried to stay in the bunch and my teammates covered the attacks," Canola said. "Everything went good in the end. It was also the perfect finish for my power. Because I am really good in the uphill finish. It was our goal to take the win today, and everything went good.

"In the last kilometre we were all together, so it was really the legs to see who was the winner," he said. "I’m really, really happy because we arrived in Salt Lake City and it was one of my favourite stages when I started the Tour of Utah before. In the end, we are so proud of our job. Now we go to Colorado to take another good results. It’s really important for Nippo-Vini Fantini."

Britton, 32, registered the biggest win of is career after a long week of first earning the jersey and then defending it through four difficult stages. The soft-spoken Canadian thanked his team for the opportunity to take the win in the 2.HC race after several years of knocking on the door. 

"By and large this group of guys has been together for every race more or less this year," he said. "We changed one guy for this race out of the eight. Otherwise I’ve raced with the same seven guys this year. So we know each other really well. We’ve all ridden for each other at some point or another all year.

"So we’re very, very tight knit. I have a lot of confidence in them, and they have a lt of confidence in me. I’ve been doing this for awhile, and I know that there’s a lot of pressure that comes with that, but it’s something that I kind of thrive on. I’m just very grateful to have such a fantastic team, because without them I wouldn’t be where I am."

How it unfolded

The final circuit race in downtown Salt Lake City took the peloton past the Utah state capitol over 11 laps of a 10.8-kilometre course that included a punchy climb through the start/finish.

Racing was fast from the start, and a group of 17 riders formed off the front in the opening laps.

Among the escapees were Gus Morton (Jelly Belly-Maxxis), Joey Rosskopf (BMC Racing), Manuel Senni (BMC Racing), Daniel Jaramillo (UnitedHealthcare), Lorenzo Rota and Simone Sterbini (Bardiani CSF), Ivan Santamorita (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Damiano Cima (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Kyle Murphy (Cylance), Eder Frayre (Elevate-KHS), Erik Slack (Hangar 15), Francisco Mancebo (Hangar 15), Chad Beyer (Hangar 15), Marco Bernardinetti (Amore & Vita), William Barta (Axeon Hagens Berman), Oscar Clark (Holowesko-Citadel), Stephen Bassett (Silber Pro Cycling) and Nigel Ellsay (Silber Pro Cycling).

The leaders had a gap of 1:05 when they went through the start-finish with eight laps to go, and with no threats to the general classification in the move, the leash continued to go out. A crash with 80km to go split the field, but things were back together quickly

Rosskopf supplied a lot of the power for the breakaway, while Israel Cycling Academy sent riders to the front of the group to keep the break in check. With the gap hovering at about a minute, the temptation to bridge to the group was high, but as the leaders went through the start/finish with six to go there numbers were down to just 16 riders and the makeup had changed. Following close behind were several small groups trying to bridge.

In the newly formed group past the start/finish were were Antonio Molina (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), who was just 4:39 down, Travis McCabe (UnitedHealthcare, Silvan Dillier (BMC), Rosskopf, Senni, Kyle Murphy (Cylance), Jaramillo, Rota, Sterbini, Mihkel Raim (Cycling Academy), Santomorita, Cima, Barta, Jhonatan Narvaez (Axeon Hagens Berman), Frayer, Beyer, Mancebo, Slack, Clark and Bassett.

The yellow jersey group with race leader Britton and the other GC contenders dangled just 1:05 behind, with Rally taking up the chase and holding the gap in check.

Slack dropped from the lead group, but his Hangar 15 teammates hot the front and pressed the pace, dislodging Barta from the group, which was down to 20 with four laps to go.

A split in the break left Clark, Rosskopf, Senni, Sterbini and Santomorita in front, but that group quickly dissolved as Sterbini attacked again and only Senni could follow this time. Meanwhile, in the chase, the gap to the peloton was just 45 seconds.

Sterbini and Senni continued on in front with a 25-second gap to the remnants of the break, and 55 seconds to the field. The chasers lost their impetus on the fast, hilly course, however, and the field was quickly upon them. In front, Murphy and Molina were the only previous breakaway riders to bridge to the leaders, forming a new group of four up front.

Four riders rode into no-man’s land, but the peloton was encroaching at just 40 seconds behind the leaders. Jaramillo, Mancebo and Rota joined James Piccoli (Elevate-KHS) in the chase, and they slowly worked their way back up the leaders with just over two laps to go.

The peloton was breathing down the break’s neck as the leaders went through the start/finish with two to go, and Murphy set off on a solo flyer. He was soon joined by a handful of riders, including Jaramillo, Senni, Rota, Manuel Sola Arjona (Caja Rural), Redi Halilaj (Amore & Vita) and Janier Acevedo (UnitedHealthcare).

The new lead group quickly built a 30-second gap to the field with just over one lap to go, but Halilaj wasn’t happy with the status quo and jumped away. Murphy bridged up, and the two leaders set off with their former breakaway companion in hot pursuit

As the field was about to catch the chase, Halilaj attacked Murphy and dropped the Cylance rider. As Halilaj, Murphy and Acevedo went through the finish separated by seconds, the field was just 30 seconds behind and champing at the bit for the finale.

Senni bridged across as they crossed the line, joining Murphy in chasing down the Albanian ahead. The BMC rider managed to get to him with 7.5km to go but the peloton had all of the escapees in sight. Murphy was finally caught over the top of the climb with 5km to go, but Senni and Halilaj, the latter riding in an enormous gear, persisted.

Caja Rural-Seguros RGA hammered the breakaway back, but Senni refusing to give up kept attacking, drawing out three riders - two from the Spanish team and Halilaj. The four riders had 10 seconds with 3km to go, but the peloton swept past as the lead-out trains assembled with 2km left to race.

Israel Cycling Academy and Holowesko-Citadel kept the pace high, but it was Axeon Hagens Berman who drove the pace into the base of the final climb.

Britton stayed safely near the front but Benito (Caja Rural) opened a gap which Canola wisely followed. Canola succeeded and gave Vini fantini its sole success of the race.

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