Howes wins USA Pro Challenge stage in Denver

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In a near repeat performance of the opening stage in Aspen, best friends Alex Howes (Garmin Sharp) and Kiel Reijnen (UnitedHealthcare) went head to head for the stage victory, but this time it was Howes who won the sprint by diving between the barriers and the green jersey winner to claim the team's only stage win of the race.

Howes said that a little luck and a little speed were factors in his being able to reverse the stage 1 result, but added "more than anything I couldn't lose. My teammates slayed themselves all day, and all week. To watch them do that was the extra bit I needed.

"This race means a lot to me, and it means a whole lot more now."

Tejay van Garderen (BMC) finished inside the top 10 of the reduced bunch sprint finish to bring home his second consecutive overall USA Pro Challenge victory. He finished the race with a 1:32 margin over Tom Danielson (Garmin Sharp) and 1:45 over Jelly Belly's Serghei Tvetcov.

"It was incredible, the crowds were huge in Boulder, and they just got bigger and louder in Denver. To come in here as defending champion and to actually be able to defend the title feels incredible - I had a lot of pressure this week. The boys showed a lot of poise, and we stayed in control. 

"It might have looked convincing, but there were a few moments of panic and some nervous times out there. It was a hard fought victory."

The mountains classification remained with Ben Jacques-Maynes (Jamis-Hagens Berman), Reijnen won the overall sprint classification and Clement Chevrier (Bissell) won the best young rider competition. Jens Voigt (Trek) was voted the race's most aggressive rider.

How it unfolded

The short 126.2km stage from Boulder to Denver started fast and furious, as had each day this week, and in the day's breakaway was  none other than Jens Voigt (Trek), riding his his last race before retirement. He was joined by Tiago Machado (NetApp-Endura), Michael Rogers (Tinkoff-Saxo), Caleb Fairly (Garmin-Sharp), Cameron Wurf (Cannondale), Adam Phelan (Drapac), Jonathan Clarke (UnitedHealthcare), Javier Megias (Novo Nordisk), Hugh Carthy (Rapha Condor), Jesse Anthony (Optum), Matt Cooke (Jamis-Hagens Berman), Jonathan Freter (Jelly Belly), Ruben Zepuntke (Bissell), but Freter was quickly dropped.

The next rider to drop off the pace was Wurf, who was ordered back to help Elia Viviani get over Lookout Mountain. The tactic would not end up working in the end, as the Cannondale sprinter would end up in the gruppetto that never rejoined the field.

The breakaway hovered about two minutes ahead of the peloton as it was split in two on the 6.9km climb to Lookout Mountain, with only Voigt, Rogers, Megias, Zepunkte and Machado surviving over the top.

Voigt led over the top, and took the intermediate sprints in Golden and Denver as the five riders stayed clear into the four finishing circuits, but the Garmin-Sharp led peloton kept their gap in check as they also kept the gas on just enough to keep the gruppetto containing Viviani from rejoining the peloton.

The breakaway worked well together until the hostilities began with 30km to go, when Voigt put in his signature attack. Only Megias could follow, and the two kept a 40 second lead on the peloton as the three others went back to the field.

With 15km to go, the duo had only 15 seconds and the bunch allowed Voigt to lead through the line with 1km to go before sweeping past. The move was then countered by Voigt's teammate Riccardo Zoidl, and followed by Pawel Poljanski (Tinkoff-Saxo). The two came together and had 15 seconds at one point, but they too were caught with 6km left to race.

BMC put its whole team on the front to lead out, with van Garderen in second wheel, but in the final 200m the sprinters pushed forward. Reijnen jumped hard on the left and looked set to bookend the race with a second stage victory, but Howes dove through on the inside and pipped him by a tire's width. BMC's Michael Schär had to settle for third.

Results