Tour of Alberta: Wippert wins bunch sprint in Spruce Grove

Wouter Wippert (Cannondale-Drapac) took the bunch sprint win at the end of stage 2 at the ATB Tour of Alberta on Saturday, slipping past Holowesko-Citadel’s John Murphy at the line after Murphy jumped with 250 metres to go. Murphy hung on for second, followed by Ryan MacAnally (H&R Block) in third.

Overnight leader Evan Huffman (Rally Cycling) took the final intermediate sprint of the day and added another three seconds to his general classification advantage.

Wippert said later that the victory comes at a good time for both him and the team.

"At the moment, everyone knows about the situation with the team," Wippert said. "So every exposure of getting good results is a good thing, and I'm very happy for that. Personally, it's a big relief. The season was really not good until nationals, and after that it started rolling, so this is good."

After the peloton reeled in the day's breakaway on the outskirts of Spruce Grove, Holowesko-Citadel went to the front to set up Murphy, pressing the pace through the second of three closing circuits. Silber Pro Cycling and Rally massed on the front as they took the bell for the final lap, but the fight for position saw several teams take the front over the final 5km.

Cannondale eventually seized control in the final kilometre, with Tom Jelte-Slagter and then Kristijan Koren dropping off Wippert with about 500 metres to go.

Murphy jumped and took the lead, but Wippert stayed near the barriers on the left-hand side of the road, and as the route curved slightly just before the finish, his inside line proved the difference as he slipped past Murphy for the win.

"The guys did a perfect lead out," Wippert said. "Kristijan Koren started pretty early with, I think, 650 metres out. He was the last guy, so I was a little bit worried. Then with 250 to go, Murphy came on the right, and I was like, 'This is just perfect. I'll just dig in and try to go over him.' It went almost wrong, but I found a little gap on the left.”

UnitedHealthcare's Travis McCabe was positioned in the top five near the end but crashed hard. McCabe was able to finish and will likely take the start tomorrow.

Huffman, always alert and in the moment, was able to sneak another three seconds onto his advantage by slipping off the front and taking the final intermediate bonus sprint on the first of three closing laps in Spruce Grove.

"I knew that that sprint was there, and we caught the breakaway a couple K out from it," Huffman said. "The UHC rider Lachlan Norris jumped, and I was in good position to follow him, so I figured I might as well take advantage of a few seconds while I can."

How it unfolded

The 133km second stage started in Spruce Grove about 30 minutes west of Edmonton. The course made its way north for a counter-clockwise loop before heading back into Spruce Grove for three 5km closing circuits. Along the way, the peloton contested two KOMs, at 7.8km and 95.9 km, and two intermediate sprints at 71.2km and 118.2km.

With the first KOM coming so close to the start, there was little time for warming up, as opportunists tried repeatedly in vain to jump from the field. Eventually the group contested the KOM together, with Tom Jelte-Slagter (Cannondale-Drapac) taking maximum points ahead of Rally Cycling's Sepp Kuss and Cannondale's Alex Howes.

UnitedHealthcare's Daniel Eaton slipped off the front and built a gap of 20 seconds, but every attempt to bridge up to him as quickly shut down. Eaton dangled ahead of the bunch for several kilometres before he too was soon back in the fold.

Two riders were the next to try their luck off the front, when Ryan Roth (Silber Pro Cycling) and Travis Samuel (H&R Block) got a slight advantage. That move was also short-lived as the peloton was apparently feeling stingy on the flat, relatively short stage. After the first hour of racing, the peloton had covered 50km.

UnitedHealthcare was intent on making the break and sent Alex Cataford up the road next. He was soon joined by Eduardo Estrada (Medellin-Inder) and Bruno Langois (Garneau-Quebecor).

The lead trio built a maximum gap of 1:55, but the Rally-led field soon started whittling into the gap, and it as down to a minute with about 40km remaining.

As the kilometres counted down, Silber, Holowesko and Cannondale came to the front to help Rally with the chase, and the gap was down to 45 seconds with 20km to go.

The lead trio made it into Spruce Grove with the field bearing down in earnest, and the catch was made before the peloton crossed the start/finish for the first time.

Huffman took the intermediate sprint at the start of the first loop, adding another three seconds to his overall lead. He was joined off the front with a small gap by Oscar Sevilla (Medellin-Inder) and Lachlan Norris (UnitedHealthcare).

The trio cooperated well, and their advantage grew quickly until Cannondale massed on the front and shut down the move, setting up the bunch sprint.

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