- HOT TOPICS:
- The new VeloNews.com (BETA)
Howes scores win in Utah; Mancebo keeps leader's jersey
- Article Extras
- Photos
- Results
- Race Index
Felt-Holowesko's Alex Howes has a unique way of signaling attack, but riders might take note in the future if the reigning U23 road champion opts for unusual nutritional choices near the finish of a race.
On Sunday, near the end of the tough 153km fourth stage, Howes bit off a hunk of hot dog and shot away from the day's long breakaway to take his first NRC win on the mountaintop finish at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort at the 2009 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah.
Clad in the blue jersey of the best young rider, Howes attacked out of the waning break, quickly putting 10 seconds into the group with 6km remaining in the stage and came through the finish ahead of break-mate Burke Swindlehurst (Bissell) and a surging Francisco Mancebo (Rock Racing).
Mancebo padded his overall lead on the stage and the top three will enter the stage 5 Salt Lake Downtown Criterium unchanged, with Darren Lill (Team Type 1) and Jeff Louder (BMC Racing Team) in second and third, respectively.
Parade done, attacks begun
The peloton rolled out of a packed Main Street in downtown Park City for the 159km stage through the central Wasatch Mountains.
The action began just as the neutral section ended, with a flurry of attacks as the peloton rolled over a succession of steep, 2km ramps east of town.
The early breakaway formed 14km into the stage when a trio of Bissell riders – Swindlehurst, Ben Jacques-Maynes and Jeremy Vennell – joined Howes, Josh Bartlett (Land River-Orbea), Dan Bowman (Kelly Benefit Strategies), Glen Chadwick (Rock Racing), Andrew Guptill (Colavita-Sutter Home), Ben King (Fly V) and Ian Macgregor (Team Type 1) ahead of the weaving peloton.
With Jacques-Maynes the group’s highest-placed rider on GC, 3:03 behind Mancebo, Rock Racing took its position at the head of the peloton and the breakaway slid away, gaining a maximum advantage of nine minutes. The scenic course followed undulating rural highways around Jordan Elle Reservoir to the first categorized climb of the day on the Alpine Loop Scenic Byway beneath the carved face of Mount Timpanogos. [nid:97005]
The road tilts upward
The breakaway arrived to the foot of the 15km climb with a seven-minute advantage over the field. Bissell, looking to salvage a second stage win following a disappointing week before Tom Zirbel’s time trial win Friday night, contributed heavily to the workload over the climb. Vennell eventually fell off the pace high on the 800-vertical-meter climb through thick aspen groves past Robert Redford’s Sundance Resort.
Meanwhile, in the field, BMC sent Ian McKissick to the front to hand out the pain over the first climb. The peloton, which had reached the climb largely intact, crested the summit of the Alpine Loop with approximately 20 riders still maintaining contact.
The overall contenders were all present and accounted for in the group atop the climb, but the group split in a series of crashes on the one-lane, highly technical descent. Victims included Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing), who overcooked a corner low on the descent, Chris Baldwin (OUCH-Maxxis) and Peter Stetina (Felt-Holowesko); each remounted and caught on with a second chase group that formed after the crashes.
Less fortunate was Colavita-Sutter Home’s Anthony Colby, who shot off the road in a sharp corner. He was evacuated with a separated shoulder, leaving his team with only three riders for Sunday's final stage.
Brent Bookwalter (BMC) and Floyd Landis (OUCH-Maxxis) went to the front of the yellow-jersey group to put time into the Sevilla-Baldwin group on the descent. By the time the Mancebo group entered the town of Alpine, 110km into the stage, they had nearly a minute over the second chase.
But they wouldn't hold it for long.
Peloton deviation
On the outskirts of Alpine is where things went off-track for the yellow jersey group.
The group missed a turn in the course and deviated from the route through a section of closed road, returning to the course through a gas station parking lot and having ridden an extra kilometer in the process.
As the group, which included two riders each from BMC (Louder and Bookwalter) and OUCH-Maxxis (Landis and Pat McCarty), as well as Lill and Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Slipstream), pulled past an asphalt recycler and back onto the course in a chicane that was stripped of three inches of asphalt, the two groups integrated, effectively neutralizing the gap created on the descent.
The re-formed first chase group, including Mancebo and three Rock teammates, rolled over the KOM atop the Traverse Ridge climb and onward to the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon and the climb to Snowbird.
Peanuts, popcorn, hot dogs
Meanwhile, 3:35 up the road, Jacques-Maynes went to the front of the breakaway and put in a long dig, setting a tortuous tempo over the rolling terrain ahead of the final climb. The Bissell all-rounder, who was riding in support of Swindlehurst’s bid for a stage win Saturday, led the breakaway onto the final climb, turning himself inside out until he blew 8km from the finish.
King was the next to fall off the pace, clawing back to the group once before dropping off for good. One kilometer later, Howes grabbed a hot dog from a cheering fan, ripped off a monster bite, and then attacked the breakaway.
Swindlehurst admitted he was taken by surprise: “When he did that and then he attacked, I thought, ‘All right, well, that’s pretty funny,’ and I started laughing and I thought, ‘Well, that means he’s going to be done with his race, and going to sit up.’ And then he kept going and I realized, ‘Wow, the kid’s going.’”
Howes, a graduate of Chann McRae’s Slipstream Sports development program who earlier this year won the U.S. national U23 championships in the road race and criterium, simply rode the group off his wheel 6km from the finish.
Swindlehurst attempted to follow, but could not match Howes' speed.
“He’s a cagey kid and has a lot of skill,” Jacques-Maynes said. “I know how good Burke’s riding right now, so for him to match and beat Burke, that’s a great ride.”
His shoulders rolling over the handlebars and sweat pouring from his chin, Howes extended his lead as the finish drew nearer and the crowds numbered in the thousands. In the team car, director Steve Owens kept his rider abreast of the time splits constantly, hesitating with a shred of disbelief when the gap topped 40 seconds with 1km to go.
The 21-year old zipped up his jersey and spread his arms as he crossed the finish line 37 seconds ahead of Swindlehurst.
“This is definitely kind of a breakthrough win for me," said Howes. "My goal for the season was to get an NRC win and to get it on a stage like this, in a race like this — this is a major NRC race – I’m absolutely ecstatic.”
Down the road, Mancebo attacked a highly selective group of overall contenders, including Lill, Louder and Phil Zajicek (Fly V), zipping away from the group on the lower reaches of the climb. The overall leader scooped up every breakaway rider on the road, save for Howes and Swindlehurst, who finished 37 seconds and 1:23 ahead of the dominant Spaniard, respectively.
Four corners
The final stage takes place on the pancake-flat, four-corner criterium course around Library Park in downtown Salt Lake City. The 90-minute race will see the teams of the race’s remaining sprinters attempt to limit any breakaways that form, while the overall leaders will remain protected near the front of the peloton. The top of the general classification is most likely wrapped up following stage 4, but lower-placed riders could register a big move in a breakaway.
| 
