Rory Sutherland Wins Opening Stage of the 2012 Tour of Utah

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By Jared Eborn

OGDEN – The only thing hotter than the temperatures for Stage One of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah might have been the action on the roads.

With the thermometer slipping past the 100-degree mark by the time the 131-mile race ended, the 129-rider field was greeted to the 2012 edition of ‘America’s Toughest Stage Race’ with yet another epic instrument of suffering.

And by the time all was said and done, UnitedHealthCare’s Rory Sutherland blew past a lead group of 40 strong riders to take the victory on Ogden’s Historic 25^th Street.

“It’s been six years of trying to do it and it finally worked,” said Sutherland, describing his team’s long-awaited trip to the top step of a podium in an American UCI-sanctioned race. “The first day of the tour, we managed get the yellow jersey and a stage win. Everything else from here on is a bonus, so we can try and enjoy this tour more than normal.”

Liquigas-Cannondale’s Damiano Caruso was second with BMC’s Brent Bookwalter close behind in third.

Sutherland’s burst of speed came after one long day of work. Stage One began in Ogden and returned after a loop through the Ogden Valley, the Morgan Valley and East Canyon with a quick trip down to Henefer for good measure.

After a few uneventful attempts to establish a breakaway, a group of four riders finally escaped and worked on building a gap as the peloton approached Trapper’s Loop for the first time. Ben Jaques-Maynes (Bissell), David Williams (Competitive Cyclist), Caleb Fairley (Spidertech p/b C10) and Eduard Beltran (EPM-UNE) sped off into the distance while the peloton braced itself for the remainder of the week’s work. After Champion System’s Willliam Clarke bridged the gap to make it a five-man break, the lead stretched to more than 10 minutes as they rolled past East Canyon Reservoir.

Paced by the Radio Shack-Nissan-Trek and Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda teams, the peloton rallied to bring the breakaway riders back over the final 60 miles of the stage. Though Jesse Anthony, the 2011 winner in Ogden’s Tour of Utah stage, had left the group and bridged to make it a six-man break, the chase group of 100-plus riders was too strong for the breakaway to succeed. After the catch was made on the ascent of the North Ogden Divide, a group of 40 pulled away from the field and fired off attack after attack as the finish line approached.

Utah favorite Dave Zabriskie nearly made his solo attack stick as he bolted from the field with 5K to go and built a 10-15 second advantage, only to be pulled back in with a little more than three kilometers left to race.

Sutherland patiently waited until the race entered downtown Ogden and worked his way to the front of the group as they swept through a trio of 90-degree turns in the final kilometer. Sitting in third wheel and without his customary leadout train coming out of the final turn, Sutherland said he waited a few seconds to pick his line and sprung his attack at just the right moment, winning the race pulling away.

“To get that (the win), at altitude, in hot temperatures, is a pretty hard way to start the Tour. The last climb was definitely hard, especially after how far we had already ridden,” said Sutherland, who lives and trains in Colorado. He recently won the 2012 Tour of the Gila in New Mexico and Tour de Beauce in Quebec. “I’ve been trying to win one of these for six years in the U.S. and finally had the abilities to get one done. So this is huge for me and for my team.”

The 10-second time bonus gives Sutherland a 4-second edge over Caruso and 6-second lead over Bookwalter. The bulk of the 40-man lead group finished safely together and has a 10-second gap to make up for a shot at the yellow jersey.

“The final 20 kilometers were pretty chaotic,” said Bookwalter “You have a climb like, that close to the finish and you just try to make it over the climb … and survive.”

Jaques-Maynes took advantage of his time in the breakaway to win the Ski Utah King of the Mountains jersey. Bontrager-Livestrong’s Lawson Craddock (USA) captured the Subaru Best Young Rider (under 23) and today’s second-place finisher Caruso will wear the XO Communications Sprint jersey.

Skyline High grad Connor O’Leary (Bontrager Livestrong) was the highest placed Utah-based athlete to finish Stage One, 4:45 behind the leaders.  He was awarded the Miller Light Best Utah Rider jersey.

Two-time defending Tour of Utah champion Levi Leipheimer, along with 2009 Tour of Utah winner Francisco Mancebo, 2012 Olympian Chris Horner and Dave Zabriskie all finished safely in the pack of 40 riders behind Sutherland.

Stage Two, rare team time trial, will be held Wednesday at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele. The 13.5-mile course is a three-lap race against the clock on the fast and flat race track west of Salt Lake City. Teams will race together in a tight formation with the team’s time being that of the fifth rider to cross the finish line. Racing begins at 12:45 p.m. and will wrap up at approximately 3:45 p.m.

Stage 1 Results: