Phinney claims Utah opener

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Taylor Phinney (Trek-Livestrong) has started the Tour of Utah with a smashing victory on the 4.48 kms prologue located at the Utah State Capitol. The world pursuit track champion outpaced his own teammate, Under 23 UK and European time trial champion Alex Dowsett while prologue specialist Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing) finished in third place.

“Sometimes in cycling you feel like you have a perfect day and today was not like that at all,” Phinney said. “I was in so much pain. It was a good course that suited me; a short prologue and coming off the track in the individual pursuit suited me. It definitely was not easy at all.”

Phinney’s winning time of 6:02.59 earned him the yellow jersey heading into the 136.31 kilometre stage one from Ogden to Salt Lake City. Dowsett trails his teammate by a mere three seconds, while Bookwalter is an additional eight seconds behind.

“There is a lot of climbing here and I’m not going to say that I’ll be over them in the front group every day,” Phinney said. “There are a lot of really good climbers here too. There are long climbs at altitude.

“I will do my best to stay in the race tomorrow and if something happens we have Tim Roe and Ben King who are solid climbers,” he added.

Pursuit specialists hone in on Utah prologue

It was a day well-suited for the track pursuit specialists amongst the professional men’s 143 rider peloton. At just under five kilometres the course was the perfect distance, with a predominantly uphill course and headwind on the way out, followed by a blazing downhill tailwind on the return to the Utah State Capitol.

Two-time USA pursuit champion Bobby Lea (On The Rivet) was the seventh rider down the start ramp and ended his time trial in the lead with 6:15.07. Lea is a seasoned track cyclist with nine USA Cycling championship titles held over six different track disciplines.

“It’s been five year’s now since I have done a pursuit, but it felt like what I remembered,” Lea said. “It feels good to finally do a ride where I feel competitive. It was a surprise for me to get the time I got. I didn’t feel so good when I finished, but sometimes when it feels terrible that’s a good sign.”

His time held strong for nearly two-thirds of the prologue before being shattered by another former track pursuiter in Dowsett. He stole the hot seat with a time of 6:05.45.

“Some people said to ease up over the first climb because of the altitude but I figured it was only a short six minutes,” Dowsett said. “It’s only six minutes of my life, if I can’t hang on for that long I shouldn’t be in cycling.”

Defending prologue champion Bookwalter had high expectations coming into the event. with a series of impressive European prologue finishes under his belt including a second place at the Giro d’Italia opener. He rode in with a time of 6:13.79, good enough for third place.

“I did the same time today as I did last year when I won,” Bookwalter said. “I really didn’t know what to expect. I haven’t raced since the Tour. I thought if I could do a similar time that would be good enough. That thinking was a little bit to my demise. I was using my average speeds from last year on the way out so that I wouldn’t blow up and those guys went faster. That said, I feel like I went as fast as I could.”

Phinney stole the show with a winning performance of 6:02.59. He was a late-race entrant, only added to the start list the day before the prologue.

“To get one and two, with Alex Dowsett getting second; I feel bad for taking that win away from him because I just decided to come to Utah yesterday,” Phinney said. “It is a great win for the team and further solidifies our ranks amongst pro racing in the US.”

Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare-Maxxis) captured fourth place on the day with a time of 6:14.13, bumping Lea down to fifth place.

Three-time Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer (Mellow Johnny’s) is riding the Tour without the support of teammates and does not expect to win the overall title. He praised Phinney and Dowsett for their strong performances in the prologue.

“I’m looking forward to the race and having a good time,” said Leipheimer, who won the Leadville Trail 100 and broke the course record at the weekend. “It is unrealistic of me to think that I could win here by myself. Maybe I’ll go for a stage win.”

Leipheimer was impressed with the performance of Phinney and Dowsett, who ride for the feeder squad to Team Radioshack. “It is awesome. They are the junior team of Team Radioshack and those are the guys that are going to move up in the ranks and be the future stars of US Cycling,” he said. “I think they will be great ambassadors of the sport. I am happy to see that.”

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