Ciccone wins Utah queen stage as Britton defends lead

Giulio Ciccone and Simone Sterbini went 1-2 for Bardiani-CSF on Saturday’s queen stage of the 2017 Tour of Utah that finished atop the HC climb of Snowbird. Neilson Powless (Axeon Hagens Berman) finished third after yo-yoing on and off the group of favorites for most of the climb.

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Rob Britton (Rally Cycling) finished alongside Gavin Mannion (UnitedHealthcare) just seconds behind Powless to successfully defend his yellow leader’s jersey. The top-3 on the general classification remained unchanged with Mannion in second, 26 seconds behind Britton and Serghei Tvetcov (Jelly Belly), who finished sixth on the stage, 32 seconds behind.

The queen stage of the 2017 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah was an all-out war among the general classification favorites. The short 97.8km (60.7mi) stage included two climbs, the cat. 1 American Fork Canyon climb and the HC climb to ski resort at Snowbird, leaving little time when there wasn’t a rider attacking up the road.

Just a few kilometers into the stage, a group of 18 formed and immediately pushed out their advantage to over four minutes. Elevate-KHS and Bardiani-CSF initially came to the front of the peloton to set tempo, but BMC Racing soon took up the reins.

Ruben Companioni (Holowekso-Citadel) attacked out of the breakaway early on the long American Fork Canyon climb and went about building himself a steady advantage. Meanwhile, BMC’s ruthless pace in the peloton was shelling riders out the back left and right, and soon only the elite climbers in the race were left.

BMC Racing clearly had a plan for the short stage as Kilian Frankiny attacked out the peloton near the top. Brent Bookwalter, who started the day sixth overall and needed to attack to have a chance at the overall, soon joined his teammate after taking risks early on in the descent. The duo had picked up Jonathan Brown (Axeon Hagens Berman) who had been dropped from the breakaway on the climb.

Utah native, TJ Eisenhart (Holowesko-Citadel), also took risks on the descent to join the BMC chase group. He had begun the day sitting right behind Bookwalter in the general classification in seventh place.

The effort put in by BMC Racing and Holowesko-Citadel would all be for naught as Rally Cycling brought everything back together on the lower slopes of the assault up Snowbird with about 9 kilometers remaining. They utilized the long valley section between the two climbs.

Eisenhart and Bookwalter would pay their dues for going on the attack early in the stage, as they would not be able to keep pace with the other GC favorites.

The young 22-year-old Ciccone made his winning move with five kilometers remaining as the other GC favorites swerved across the road looking at each other. Soon Ciccone’s teammate, Sterbini, also attacked out of the GC group.

Ciccone won the stage 35 seconds over his teammate, Sterbini and Powless dug deep to attack in the final kilometers, finishing third at 41 seconds.

Despite the hard racing of the stage, not much changed atop the general classification, with Rob Britton continuing to lead Mannion and Tevtcov.

Friday’s final stage is a 117km circuit-race around downtown Salt Lake City, finishing in front of the State Capitol. There is a final climb to the circuit, but it is rather short and punchy; therefore, no time gaps are expected among the general classification riders.

Stage 6 results

• 1. Giulio Ciccone, BARDIANI CSF, in 02:45:38
• 2. Simone Sterbini, BARDIANI CSF, at 0:00:35
• 3. Neilson Powless, AXEON HAGENS BERMAN, at 0:00:41
• 4. Gavin Mannion, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at 0:00:44
• 5. Robert Britton, RALLY CYCLING, at 0:00:44
• 6. Serghei Tvetcov, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at 0:00:48
• 7. Manuel Senni, BMC RACING TEAM, at 0:01:14
• 8. James Piccoli, ELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLING, at 0:01:19
• 9. Christopher Butler, CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA, at 0:01:27
• 10. Brent Bookwalter, BMC RACING TEAM, at 0:02:06
• 11. Luis Enrique LemusDavila, ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY, at 0:02:09
• 12. Jonathan Clarke, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at 0:02:12
• 13. Sepp Kuss, RALLY CYCLING, at 0:02:37
• 14. Pierpaolo Ficara, AMORE & VITA – SELLE SMP P/B FONDRIEST, at 0:02:42
• 15. Taylor Eisenhart, HOLOWESKO/CITADEL RACING P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR, at 0:02:49
• 16. Christopher Jones, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at 0:02:52
• 17. Robert Squire, HANGAR 15 BICYCLES, at 0:03:18
• 18. Nigel Ellsay, SILBER PRO CYCLING, at 0:03:25
• 19. Martin Elmiger, BMC RACING TEAM, at 0:03:25
• 20. Kyle Murphy, CYLANCE CYCLING, at 0:04:03
• 21. Miguel Angel BenitoDiez, CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA, at 0:04:03
• 22. Antonio MolinaCanet, CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA, at 0:04:03
• 23. Jhonnatan Manuel NavaezPrado, AXEON HAGENS BERMAN, at 0:04:05
• 24. Eder FrayreMoctezuma, ELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLING, at 0:04:11
• 25. Ivan Santaromita, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 0:05:13
• 26. Ruben Companioni, HOLOWESKO/CITADEL RACING P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR, at 0:06:40
• 27. Connor Brown, ELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLING, at 0:07:07
• 28. Daniel Alexander JaramilloDiez, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at 0:07:36
• 29. Bryan Lewis, CYLANCE CYCLING, at 0:07:36
• 30. Silvan Dillier, BMC RACING TEAM, at 0:08:10
• 31. Marco Zamparella, AMORE & VITA – SELLE SMP P/B FONDRIEST, at 0:09:03
• 32. Marco Canola, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 0:09:03
• 33. Dennis VanWinden, ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY, at 0:10:14
• 34. Luca Wackermann, BARDIANI CSF, at 0:10:57
• 35. Lorenzo Rota, BARDIANI CSF, at 0:10:57
• 36. Alex Hoehn, ELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLING, at 0:11:01
• 37. Christopher Winn, HANGAR 15 BICYCLES, at 0:11:11
• 38. David GalarretaUgarte, AMORE & VITA – SELLE SMP P/B FONDRIEST, at 0:11:11
• 39. Kilian Frankiny, BMC RACING TEAM, at 0:11:28
• 40. Erik Slack, HANGAR 15 BICYCLES, at 0:11:30
• 41. Jacob Rathe, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at 0:11:37
• 42. Redi Halilaj, AMORE & VITA – SELLE SMP P/B FONDRIEST, at 0:12:33
• 43. Travis Mccabe, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at 0:13:02
• 44. Lachlan Norris, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at 0:13:02
• 45. Simone Velasco, BARDIANI CSF, at 0:14:24
• 46. Rui Oliveira, AXEON HAGENS BERMAN, at 0:14:28
• 47. Marc-antoine Soucy, SILBER PRO CYCLING, at 0:15:16
• 48. Jonathan Brown, AXEON HAGENS BERMAN, at 0:15:25
• 49. Tom Bohli, BMC RACING TEAM, at 0:16:09
• 50. Gonzalo SerranoRodriguez, CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA, at 0:16:09
• 51. Steve Fisher, HANGAR 15 BICYCLES, at 0:16:09
• 52. Janier Alexis AcevedoCalle, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at 0:16:09
• 53. Chad Beyer, HANGAR 15 BICYCLES, at 0:16:09
• 54. Francisco ManceboPerez, HANGAR 15 BICYCLES, at 0:16:09
• 55. Vincenzo Albanese, BARDIANI CSF, at 0:17:21
• 56. Evan Huffman, RALLY CYCLING, at 0:17:21
• 57. Tyler Williams, ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY, at 0:17:28
• 58. Angus Morton, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at 0:17:40
• 59. Adam Roberge, SILBER PRO CYCLING, at 0:19:01
• 60. Manuel SolaArjona, CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA, at 0:19:19
• 61. Kaler Marshall, HANGAR 15 BICYCLES, at 0:19:37
• 62. Patrick MÜller, BMC RACING TEAM, at 0:19:42
• 63. Colin Joyce, RALLY CYCLING, at 0:20:16
• 64. Andrei Krasilnikau, HOLOWESKO/CITADEL RACING P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR, at 0:20:20
• 65. Tyler Magner, HOLOWESKO/CITADEL RACING P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR, at 0:20:20
• 66. John Murphy, HOLOWESKO/CITADEL RACING P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR, at 0:20:20
• 67. Oscar Clark, HOLOWESKO/CITADEL RACING P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR, at 0:20:20
• 68. William Barta, AXEON HAGENS BERMAN, at 0:20:20
• 69. Keegan Swirbul, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at 0:21:06
• 70. Damiano Cima, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 0:21:26
• 71. Joshua Berry, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at 0:21:26
• 72. Adam DeVos, RALLY CYCLING, at 0:21:26
• 73. Pier-andré CÔtÉ, SILBER PRO CYCLING, at 0:21:26
• 74. Andres Miguel DiazCorrales, CYLANCE CYCLING, at 0:21:26
• 75. Giacomo Berlato, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 0:21:26
• 76. Cortlan Brown, HANGAR 15 BICYCLES, at 0:21:26
• 77. Fabio Calabria, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 0:21:26
• 78. Logan Owen, AXEON HAGENS BERMAN, at 0:21:26
• 79. Michael Rice, AXEON HAGENS BERMAN, at 0:21:26
• 80. Jordan Cheyne, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at 0:21:26
• 81. Besmir Banushi, AMORE & VITA – SELLE SMP P/B FONDRIEST, at 0:21:26
• 82. Sam Brand, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 0:21:26
• 83. Mihkel RaÏm, ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY, at 0:21:26
• 84. Justin Oien, CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA, at 0:21:26
• 85. Guy Niv, ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY, at 0:21:26
• 86. Marco Bernardinetti, AMORE & VITA – SELLE SMP P/B FONDRIEST, at 0:21:26
• 87. Diego RubioHernandez, CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA, at 0:21:26
• 88. Julien Gagne, SILBER PRO CYCLING, at 0:21:26
• 89. Umberto Poli, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 0:21:26
• 90. Alex AranburuDeba, CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA, at 0:21:26
• 91. Eric Marcotte, CYLANCE CYCLING, at 0:21:26
• 92. Reid Mcclure, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 0:21:26
• 93. Emerson Oronte, RALLY CYCLING, at 0:21:26
• 94. Guillaume Boivin, ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY, at 0:21:26
• 95. Andzs Flaksis, HOLOWESKO/CITADEL RACING P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR, at 0:21:26
• 96. Joseph Schmalz, ELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLING, at 0:21:26
• 97. Sebastian HaedoLucas, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at 0:21:26
• 98. Cory Lockwood, ELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLING, at 0:21:26
• 99. Stephen Clancy, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 0:21:26
• 100. Ulisis Alfredo CastilloSoto, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at 0:21:26
• 101. Paolo Simion, BARDIANI CSF, at 0:21:26
• 102. Taylor Shelden, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at 0:21:26
• 103. Stephen Bassett, SILBER PRO CYCLING, at 0:21:26
• 104. Orlando Trinidad GaribayContreras, CYLANCE CYCLING, at 0:21:26
• 105. Danny Pate, RALLY CYCLING, at 0:21:26
• 106. Eric Young, RALLY CYCLING, at 0:21:26
• 107. Simone Andreetta, BARDIANI CSF, at 0:21:26
• 108. Hendrikus VanIjzendoorn, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 0:22:24
• 109. Alan Marangoni, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 0:23:37
• 110. Joseph Rosskopf, BMC RACING TEAM, at 0:24:00
• 111. Aviv Yechezkel, ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY, at 0:24:03
• 112. Daniel Turek, ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY, at 0:24:32

General classification

• 1. Robert Britton, RALLY CYCLING, in 20:07:43
• 2. Gavin Mannion, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at 0:00:26
• 3. Serghei Tvetcov, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at 0:00:32
• 4. Neilson Powless, AXEON HAGENS BERMAN, at 0:00:35
• 5. Brent Bookwalter, BMC RACING TEAM, at 0:02:06
• 6. Giulio Ciccone, BARDIANI CSF, at 0:02:16
• 7. Jonathan Clarke, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at 0:02:28
• 8. Christopher Butler, CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA, at 0:02:34
• 9. James Piccoli, ELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLING, at 0:02:38
• 10. Sepp Kuss, RALLY CYCLING, at 0:02:55
• 11. Taylor Eisenhart, HOLOWESKO/CITADEL RACING P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR, at 0:03:03
• 12. Pierpaolo Ficara, AMORE & VITA – SELLE SMP P/B FONDRIEST, at 0:03:11
• 13. Nigel Ellsay, SILBER PRO CYCLING, at 0:04:39
• 14. Antonio MolinaCanet, CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA, at 0:04:39
• 15. Kyle Murphy, CYLANCE CYCLING, at 0:05:28
• 16. Jhonnatan Manuel NavaezPrado, AXEON HAGENS BERMAN, at 0:05:51
• 17. Eder FrayreMoctezuma, ELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLING, at 0:07:09
• 18. Ivan Santaromita, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 0:10:24
• 19. Daniel Alexander JaramilloDiez, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at 0:11:58
• 20. Kilian Frankiny, BMC RACING TEAM, at 0:12:17
• 21. Silvan Dillier, BMC RACING TEAM, at 0:12:41
• 22. Manuel Senni, BMC RACING TEAM, at 0:14:54
• 23. Marco Zamparella, AMORE & VITA – SELLE SMP P/B FONDRIEST, at 0:15:54
• 24. Martin Elmiger, BMC RACING TEAM, at 0:16:04
• 25. Francisco ManceboPerez, HANGAR 15 BICYCLES, at 0:17:31
• 26. Robert Squire, HANGAR 15 BICYCLES, at 0:17:41
• 27. Manuel SolaArjona, CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA, at 0:21:21
• 28. Marco Canola, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 0:21:35
• 29. Ruben Companioni, HOLOWESKO/CITADEL RACING P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR, at 0:21:40
• 30. Adam DeVos, RALLY CYCLING, at 0:22:11
• 31. Keegan Swirbul, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at 0:22:18
• 32. Dennis VanWinden, ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY, at 0:22:55
• 33. Emerson Oronte, RALLY CYCLING, at 0:24:03
• 34. Joseph Rosskopf, BMC RACING TEAM, at 0:24:33
• 35. Luis Enrique LemusDavila, ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY, at 0:24:40
• 36. Lachlan Norris, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at 0:24:49
• 37. Luca Wackermann, BARDIANI CSF, at 0:27:11
• 38. Alex Hoehn, ELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLING, at 0:29:04
• 39. Alex AranburuDeba, CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA, at 0:29:44
• 40. Travis Mccabe, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at 0:32:06
• 41. Cory Lockwood, ELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLING, at 0:34:57
• 42. Gonzalo SerranoRodriguez, CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA, at 0:35:17
• 43. Chad Beyer, HANGAR 15 BICYCLES, at 0:35:21
• 44. Patrick MÜller, BMC RACING TEAM, at 0:35:34
• 45. Simone Sterbini, BARDIANI CSF, at 0:35:56
• 46. Lorenzo Rota, BARDIANI CSF, at 0:36:38
• 47. Miguel Angel BenitoDiez, CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA, at 0:37:22
• 48. Redi Halilaj, AMORE & VITA – SELLE SMP P/B FONDRIEST, at 0:37:50
• 49. Christopher Jones, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at 0:38:01
• 50. Logan Owen, AXEON HAGENS BERMAN, at 0:40:38
• 51. Jacob Rathe, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at 0:41:13
• 52. David GalarretaUgarte, AMORE & VITA – SELLE SMP P/B FONDRIEST, at 0:41:19
• 53. William Barta, AXEON HAGENS BERMAN, at 0:42:10
• 54. Simone Velasco, BARDIANI CSF, at 0:42:51
• 55. Rui Oliveira, AXEON HAGENS BERMAN, at 0:43:01
• 56. Guillaume Boivin, ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY, at 0:44:03
• 57. Stephen Bassett, SILBER PRO CYCLING, at 0:44:20
• 58. Connor Brown, ELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLING, at 0:44:51
• 59. Steve Fisher, HANGAR 15 BICYCLES, at 0:45:59
• 60. Erik Slack, HANGAR 15 BICYCLES, at 0:46:12
• 61. Andrei Krasilnikau, HOLOWESKO/CITADEL RACING P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR, at 0:46:26
• 62. Christopher Winn, HANGAR 15 BICYCLES, at 0:46:48
• 63. Orlando Trinidad GaribayContreras, CYLANCE CYCLING, at 0:47:38
• 64. Adam Roberge, SILBER PRO CYCLING, at 0:47:51
• 65. Diego RubioHernandez, CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA, at 0:48:02
• 66. Giacomo Berlato, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 0:48:09
• 67. Jonathan Brown, AXEON HAGENS BERMAN, at 0:48:56
• 68. Kaler Marshall, HANGAR 15 BICYCLES, at 0:49:07
• 69. Simone Andreetta, BARDIANI CSF, at 0:49:08
• 70. Janier Alexis AcevedoCalle, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at 0:49:39
• 71. Marco Bernardinetti, AMORE & VITA – SELLE SMP P/B FONDRIEST, at 0:49:56
• 72. Tyler Williams, ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY, at 0:50:51
• 73. Justin Oien, CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA, at 0:50:52
• 74. Eric Marcotte, CYLANCE CYCLING, at 0:51:17
• 75. Andzs Flaksis, HOLOWESKO/CITADEL RACING P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR, at 0:51:33
• 76. Umberto Poli, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 0:51:41
• 77. Ulisis Alfredo CastilloSoto, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at 0:51:50
• 78. Fabio Calabria, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 0:51:50
• 79. Mihkel RaÏm, ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY, at 0:51:54
• 80. Michael Rice, AXEON HAGENS BERMAN, at 0:51:57
• 81. Joshua Berry, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at 0:52:04
• 82. Besmir Banushi, AMORE & VITA – SELLE SMP P/B FONDRIEST, at 0:52:46
• 83. Tom Bohli, BMC RACING TEAM, at 0:53:06
• 84. Vincenzo Albanese, BARDIANI CSF, at 0:53:07
• 85. Bryan Lewis, CYLANCE CYCLING, at 0:53:29
• 86. Cortlan Brown, HANGAR 15 BICYCLES, at 0:53:39
• 87. Evan Huffman, RALLY CYCLING, at 0:53:39
• 88. Taylor Shelden, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at 0:54:50
• 89. Oscar Clark, HOLOWESKO/CITADEL RACING P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR, at 0:55:04
• 90. Guy Niv, ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY, at 0:56:18
• 91. John Murphy, HOLOWESKO/CITADEL RACING P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR, at 0:56:20
• 92. Tyler Magner, HOLOWESKO/CITADEL RACING P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR, at 0:56:34
• 93. Andres Miguel DiazCorrales, CYLANCE CYCLING, at 0:57:18
• 94. Paolo Simion, BARDIANI CSF, at 0:57:59
• 95. Sebastian HaedoLucas, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at 0:58:03
• 96. Colin Joyce, RALLY CYCLING, at 0:58:07
• 97. Eric Young, RALLY CYCLING, at 0:59:44
• 98. Angus Morton, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at 1:01:59
• 99. Daniel Turek, ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY, at 1:02:41
• 100. Sam Brand, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 1:03:55
• 101. Hendrikus VanIjzendoorn, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 1:04:31
• 102. Jordan Cheyne, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at 1:05:17
• 103. Alan Marangoni, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 1:05:22
• 104. Damiano Cima, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 1:08:56
• 105. Joseph Schmalz, ELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLING, at 1:08:56
• 106. Pier-andré CÔtÉ, SILBER PRO CYCLING, at 1:09:08
• 107. Julien Gagne, SILBER PRO CYCLING, at 1:09:34
• 108. Stephen Clancy, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 1:10:21
• 109. Reid Mcclure, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 1:11:04
• 110. Marc-antoine Soucy, SILBER PRO CYCLING, at 1:12:38
• 111. Danny Pate, RALLY CYCLING, at 1:13:31
• 112. Aviv Yechezkel, ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY, at 1:23:28