Dowsett Moves into GC Lead, Tanner Wins Stage at The Tour Of Utah

8/18/10 - The first stage of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, presented by Zions Bank, came down to a two man battle for the stage win between Team Fly V Australia's David Tanner and Trek-LIVESTRONG's Alex Dowsett. Tanner took the stage win, but it was Dowsett who pulled on the AT&T Leaders Jersey at the end of the day.
 
The University of Utah Health CareOgden to Salt Lake City road race started with three neutral parade laps through downtown Ogden before continuing up Ogden Canyon in 100-degree heat. As soon as racing was under way, subtle attacks drove up the pace.
 
"Today was really fast and pretty tactical," said Siegfried & Jensen Best Utah Rider Jersey wearer, Jeff Louder. "There was a lot of attacking, a lot of gambling, and some bluffing. It was a fast race, but it was pretty typical for this stage."
 
The day's stage followed a difficult course over two categorized climbs causing large gaps in the peloton. As the group hit the first climb, it wasn't long before the group was split and there were constant attacks up the road from the main field. It wasn't until the race hit the last climb that the lead group's gamble paid off. The Lead group held on to their gap of over a minute into the finish at the University of Utah Research Park.

 
Alex Dowsette (Trek-LIVESTRONG) is now in yellow.
photo © Eric Schramm

Dowsett ended the day holding three jerseys; The AT&T Yellow Leader's Jersey, The Utah Toyota Dealers King of the Mountains Jersey, and the Powerade/vitaminwater Best Young Riders jersey. It was the stage winner, Tanner, who will wear the XO Communications Sprinter Jersey. BMC Racing Team's Louder will keep the Siegfried & Jensen Best Utah Rider's Jersey.
 
In the over all team competition, the top five in order are Trek-LIVESTRONG, Fly V Australia, Team Type 1, Jamis/Sutter Home resented by Colavita, and BMC Racing Team.
 
"So far the race is going really well," said Steve Miller, president of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. "It is full of surprises, but they are good surprises. Having Taylor Phinney sign up literally at the last minute is a great thing for the race. Then he ends up winning the Prologue, and today his teammates protected the yellow jersey by keeping it within the team."
 
Stage Two, the XanGo Thanksgiving Point to the top of Mt. Nebo road race, will again test the rider's climbing legs with its beyond classification climb, hors catégorie, to a mountain top finish. Today's third place finisher, Javier Megias Leal of Team Type 1 said, "Tomorrow will be a difficult journey. Levi and Mancebo are strong climbers, but I feel good too."
 
For a complete list of results, go to www.tourofutah.com