Colombia's Acevedo Wins Tour of Utah Circuit Race, Leipheimer Retains Lead
8/13/11 – Colombian Janier Acevedo Calle of Gobernacion Indeportes Antioquia pushed hard in the final 500 meters to break away from a lead group of 17 professional cyclists and grabbed today’s win in 2.56’18” at Stage Four presented by University of Utah Health Care in the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. Team Type 1-SANOFI teammates finished on the podium with Acevedo, Javier Megias Leal (ESP) in second and Rubens Bertogliati (SUI) in third.
Levi Leipheimer (USA) of Team RadioShack held on to his Larry H. Miller Dealerships Overall Leader’s Jersey with the General Classification lead (G.C.), going on the defensive after a long 95-degree day in the saddle. The 7.4-mile circuit in downtown Salt Lake City challenged the riders with 7, 246 feet of climbing over its 11 laps totaling 80.1 miles (129 kilometers). Of the 111 riders who started the stage, 104 finished.
Today delivered high-intensity racing with riders attacking almost immediately after the neutral flag dropped. An early break of 25 riders formed during the second lap, eventually pushing their lead to 2’35” at one point during the race. Sergio Henao (COL) of Gobernacion Indeportes Antioquia, who wore the leader’s jersey for the first two days, put in a monumental effort to bridge the gap from the peloton to the breakaway on the final lap and gaining time to move from fourth to second on G.C. Leipheimer’s RadioShack teammate, Janez Brajkovic (SLO), remains 27 seconds behind in third overall.
Other notables on G.C. include: Christian Vande Velde (USA) of Team Garmin-Cervelo in fifth, Tim Duggan (USA) of Liquigas-Cannondale in sixth, Francisco Mancebo (ESP) of RealCyclist.com Pro Team in seventh, Tejay Van Garderen (USA) of HTC-Highroad in eighth, Tom Danielson (USA) of Team Garmin-Cervelo in 14th and George Hincapie (USA) of BMC Racing Team in 16th overall.
“I am extremely happy. It is hard to win a stage anywhere in the world. Today was definitely hard. I am happy I get to race with some of the best riders in the world. Overall, I am very happy,” Acevedo said at the post-race press conference at the Utah State Capitol using a translator.
Stage winner Acevedo also captured the XO Communications Sprint Leader jersey today. Danny Summerhill (USA) of Team Garmin-Cervelo was awarded the Vivint Most Aggressive Rider jersey. For a fifth consecutive day, Rubens Bertogliati (SUI) of Team Type 1-SANOFI stayed in the snowflake jersey as the Ski Utah King of the Mountain leader. Tejay Van Garderen kept the the Subaru Best Young Rider jersey and Salt Lake City resident Jeff Louder of BMC Racing Team continued for a third day in the Miller Lite Best Utah Rider jersey.
“On the final lap, me and Christian Vandevelde fell off and we got back on to the break on the descent,” commented Bertogliati. “I know the first part of the last kilo was too hard. After 500 meters, it was more suitable for me and I came in third. But I am very happy for my teammate, Javier (Megias Leal), who came in second. He has diabetes; he is the best diabetic rider in the world.”
Tomorrow is the sixth and final day, Stage Five presented by Zions Bank, which will give this year’s Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah riders 11,000-plus vertical feet of climbing over the 100-mile (161-kilometer) road race. The final “Queen Stage” is the toughest stage of this aptly titled “America’s Toughest Stage RaceTM”. The race will begin in Park City at 11 a.m. and climb through Utah’s Wasatch Range ending at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort with a final climb up Little Cottonwood Canyon, with an expected finish between 3-4 p.m. This is also the final day for the Health and Wellness Expo presented by United Healthcare, which will be at the finish line area.
