Tour of Utah: Owen wins bunch sprint in Bountiful

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He's won numerous US national titles in cyclo-cross, but Logan Owen (Axeon Cycling) finally made a name for himself on the road as promised, taking out stage 3 of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah in Bountiful. In a high-speed downhill finish, Owen took the sprint by photo finish with Brent Bookwalter (BMC) in second and Colombian Edwin Avila in third.

Asked if he believed this win would help establish his reputation as a serious road racer, Owen said he hopes so.

“I don’t want to be known as just a cyclo-cross guy,” he said.

Kiel Reijnen was unable to get into the mix for the stage win, but his UnitedHealthcare team could be consoled in the fact that he kept the yellow jersey of the race leader, largely due to their efforts in closing down numerous attacks in the finale.

“They’ve been pulling it off and that’s really inspiring for me,” Reijnen said of his team’s efforts to defend his jersey so far this week.

Alex Howes (Cannondale-Garmin) stayed in second overall at four seconds, with stage 2 winner Jure Kocjan (Smartstop) missing out on the time bonuses and remaining third overall.

How it unfolded

Wednesday’s 176km stage from Antelope Island State Park to Bountiful featured a pair categorized climbs before the peloton reached two finishing circuits in Bountiful. The 14.6km loops around the small Utah town included two trips up Bountiful bench, a relatively short but incredibly steep ascent that featured heavily in finale.

The day started with a breakaway of five riders slipping away from the bunch about 20km into the day. Among the lead group were Johan Van Zyl (MTN-Qhubeka), Dion Smith (Hincapie Racing), Joey Rosskopf (BMC), Ty magner (Hincapie Racing), Jasper Bovenhuis (Cannondale-Garmin) and Wouter Wippert (Drapac).

The quintets’ largest lead of the day was 3:30, as the UnitedHealthcare, with Help from Chris Horner’s Airgas-Safeway team, would not give the leaders much leash.

As the breakaway started to disintegrate on the outskirts of Bountiful, Rosskopf slipped away and rode solo for a time. Counter-attacks from Optum Pro Cycling’s Mike Woods, Drapac’s Lachlan Norris and Colombia’s Daniel Martinez soon swept up Rosskopf, while the trio of new escapees lead the race over the top of Bountiful Bench for the last time.

The reduced peloton was nipping at their heels, however, and soon brought them back into the fold. From their it was a wild charge down the final descent onto Bountiful’s Main Street, where Owen took his first professional win.

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