Colorado Classic: Tvetcov nabs stage 3

Serghei Tvetcov (Jelly Belly-Maxxis) claimed the third stage of the Colorado Classic on Saturday ahead of BMC's Manuel Senni after the duo attacked a much-reduced peloton before the final mountain sprint and then working together to hold off the chasers for more than 50 kilometres all the way to Denver.

Tvetcov has been an important rider for his Continental team - before moving to Androni for two seasons before returning, he earned plenty of TV time on the attack in the major races, and also finished third overall in the USA Pro Challenge in 2014. He's won several time trials, but it's been years since he last put his arms up in the air at the end of a road stage.

"A victory in cycling is so hard. You never know, you can prepare the whole year and crash once and the whole preparation is done," Tvetcov said. "I told my directors, I have good form, but I need luck. If I have luck then there are going to be results. So finally today I have good luck, it was a perfect scenario for both Manuel and me."

The pair latched onto a gutsy attack from third placed Peter Stetina (Trek-Segafredo), bridging across to an earlier breakaway. But after the first mountain sprint, Stetina, 11 seconds behind on GC, had become enough of a threat that Cannondale-Drapac had to pull back the move.

Tvetcov, who lives near Denver and trains regularly on these roads, attacked before the second mountain sprint, knowing that his intimate knowledge of the descent would give him an advantage. Senni joined him, and proved equally formidable going downhill. The pair gained more than a minute on the chasing group on the descent.

Thanks to their cooperation, the pair were able to parlay a friendly tailwind into a 54-second advantage at the line, where Senni sportingly allowed Tvetcov to lead over the line for the stage victory. Senni took over control of the overall race lead, lifting the jersey off the shoulders of TJ Eisenhart (Holowesko-Citadel).

"It's something special - it's my first time in a press conference," Senni said after donning the blue leader's jersey and meeting the press. "I have been working for the team, and now I am trying to get some results while I have a chance. I went to Tour of Utah and worked for the team, and here they gave me a chance to play my cards. And today, I have in my DNA to attack, attack, attack - and it was a good day.

"I also found a very strong guy, who was really good in the descent and on the flat he really helped a lot. I'm happy for him he gets this victory today."

Thanks to his breakaway on stage 2, Tvetcov also claimed the mountains jersey to add to his title of Best Colorado Rider, while Jhonatan Narvaez (Axeon Hagens Berman) remains best young rider.

UnitedHealthcare's Travis McCabe won the sprint for third among the chasers ahead Marco Canola (Nippo - Vini Fantini), adding enough points to take the points jersey.

"It should have come back together, but sometimes it doesn't go the way you planned. Serghei and Senni were incredibly strong today," McCabe said. "They attacked over the last KOM and held it at about a minute the entire way.

"Today was a sleeper. Everyone was expecting it to be hard, but they weren't expecting it to be that hard. And with the rain and the way the race played out it was such a small field in the end and that's when those breakaways succeed. Got to give it to Serghei and Senni, they're incredibly strong riders. I'm pleased with third." 

How it unfolded

The 91 remaining riders in the Colorado Classic departed the RiNo district of Denver under sunny skies and in summery conditions. But with only 127.8 kilometres ahead of them, two mountains to climb, and a general classification with the top three within 11 seconds of each other, the peloton was attentive to any attack. There were numerous attempts to form a breakaway, including a kilometer zero attack and subsequent abandon by Tour of Utah podium finisher James Piccoli (Elevate-KHS), but it wasn’t until the base of the Gap Road climb that a group could get an advantage.

The intermediate sprint that came 9.4 kilometres in could have been a point for Alex Howes and Eisenhart to battle for time bonuses, but Travis McCabe (UHC) took the top spot over Jhonatan Narváez (Axeon Hagens Berman) and John Murphy (Holowesko-Citadel).

There were 13 riders in an attack that finally went clear on Coal Creek Canyon Road, including Silvan Dillier (BMC Racing Team), Gregory Daniel (Trek-Segafredo), Seid Lizde and Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates), Christopher Butler and Gonzalo Serrano Rodríguez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Gavin Mannion and Jonathan Clarke (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling), Danny Pate (Rally Cycling), Nigel Ellsay (Silber Pro Cycling), Alex Hoehn (Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling), Jean Claude Uwizeye (Team Rwanda Cycling) and Yuma Koishi (Nippo-Vini Fantini), but the latter crashed as the gap was being established and was picked up by the peloton as he remounted.

They were allowed a 20-second lead, but the group was too big to cooperate, and soon Conti, Clarke and Ellsay attacked and created a three-rider move that would stay clear as the rest were absorbed by the field. Marco Canola (Nippo-Vini Fantini) bridged across from the peloton before the climb kicked in, and joined up to make four leaders.

As the pack hit five kilometres to the top, a group attacked that included third-placed Peter Stetina (Trek-Segafredo), with Sepp Kuss (Rally), Manuel Senni (BMC), and Serghei Tvetcov (Jelly Belly), and before they reached the dirt section of the summit they joined up with the four ahead. The move from Stetina put pressure on Cannondale-Drapac and Holowesko-Citadel on the climb.

Dark clouds amassed over the summit, and light rain began to fall as winds whipped across the pass, creating a sketchy situation for the race on the dirt. Kuss, Senni and Ellsay were dropped before the summit, leaving only five in the front group, Stetina, Conti, Canola, Clarke and Tvetcov.

Canola nabbed the maximum points over the crest on Gap Road, followed by Tvetcov, Stetina, Clarke and Conti. The rain picked up in earnest on the descent to the feed zone, and with lightning cracking in the distance, Senni bridged across to the leaders over over the top. But Cannondale-Drapac were keen to keep Stetina from threatening Howes' position and reeled the leaders in before the second KOM.

Senni and Tvetcov attacked before the second climb and gained a sizeable lead on the tricky descent, which was wet from the rain storm that had blown through.

A large group of pursuers continued to chase both the two leaders and the thunderstorm into Denver, splashing through puddles en route to the second sprint in Wheat Ridge with 13.4 kilometres to go. The pair had more than a minute as they reached the bottom of the descent, and despite the sizable chase group, that would be more than enough for Tvetcov to nab the day and Senni the race lead.

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