Zirbel commands in Utah TT

Image 1 of 17

Tom Zirbel (Bissell) again turned on his diesel engine at the Miller Motorsport Park raceway to score a duplicate victory at the Tour of Utah's individual time trial. The man known as ‘Thor' because of his 6'4" and nearly 200lbs frame blasted through the finish line 14 seconds ahead of BMC teammates Ian McKissick and Brent Bookwalter who placed second and third respectively.

"I don't think my time will hold," said a modest Zirbel - a little prematurely - who started his time trial inside the first two-thirds of the line up. "I haven't been feeling very good this week. I'm feeling tired which is nothing out of the ordinary in a stage race. My legs just don't have much, endurance-wise. My training was good this week and I just think it's a funk. I think that some of the other guys here will ride faster times today."

There were no changes in the overall classification and Francisco Mancebo (Rock Racing) will lead the Tour of Utah into stage four's 160-kilometre road race that finishes atop Snow Bird Ski Resort. Runner up, Darren Lill (Team Type 1) proved his climbing strength when he won stage two atop Mount Nebo yesterday. Third placed, Jeff Louder (BMC) won the stage last year and will no doubt be looking at stage four as an opportunity to move into the overall lead.

"It's nice to be able to come out and do a good ride and get two guys on the podium," said Bookwalter. "We are all very motivated and we are still confident and optimistic. Tomorrow is Jeff's stage, he showed that last year when he did a really inspiring ride. We all have 100 percent confidence that he can do it again. We are really excited. We are all going to go to bed hungry and come out fighting tomorrow."

Gentlemen, start your engines!

Zirbel waited patiently and some-what anxiously for the 85 riders lined up after his start to complete the Miller Motorsport Park's 14km circuit. To his delight no one unseeded his best time of 17:00. Runner-up McKissick noted that he was not the least bit surprised by Zirbel's winning time.

"He's been riding so well all year," said McKissick. "I've tried to come close to his time trial times this year but I haven't quite been able to get there. We are really happy with placing two riders on the podium.

McKissick was pleased with his second place, finishing fifth last year after riding off the road in one of the raceway's tight corners. "I kept my eyes on the road this time," McKissick said. "The course was nice and I was feeling really good, especially after not feeling so good yesterday."

Zirbel used the event as a final test for the US professional time trial championships held next weekend in Greenville, SC. Defending time trial champion, Dave Zabriskie rode in with a respectable time of 17:23, good enough for fifth place. "It's a good gauge to see how Zabriskie does," said Zirbel.

"But, I'm not going to have three days of racing before Saturday's race," he continued. "We are both going to be fresh and it's going to be even keeled, a bit of a longer course and probably better for both of us. It's not just between Zabriskie and myself, I think Ben Jacques-Maynes is going to have a great time trial. He's really fit here and I think he's going to be a contender there."

The riders arrived to the raceway and were treated to an open track training session for local F3 drivers. Several Ford Cobras were parked on display in the team parking area, an added motivation of speed before the time trial's late afternoon start.

When asked if his time trial felt as fast as the F3 warm-up Bookwalter said, "I don't think so. Unfortunately the banked corners aren't really that much fun on the bike. Maybe if we got swung into them off the bumper of one of those cars, that would be fun. Maybe that can be stage seven next year!"

The parcours measured two kilometres longer than last year's event. According to Bookwalter the added length did not seem to affect the outcome of the time trial. "The extra length was really not noticeable, it was just an extra two kilometres," he said.

"For me, I feel like time trials are sorted into brackets; the short prologues, mid-distance and then the long ones. I rode it the same as I would have if it was shorter. I think this distance is the best for me but I need a few hills and some rhythm change. I hope to improve on that as I spend more time on the time trial bike," Bookwalter said.

Results