Hermans Seizes Tour of Utah Leader’s Jersey on Powder Mountain

By Lyne Lamoureux – POWDER MOUNTAIN, Utah (August 14, 2019) – Belgian Ben Hermans of Israel Cycling Academy powered away from an elite group of riders to win Stage 2 presented by Monster Hydro on Wednesday at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. Hermans, who finished second overall in 2018, soloed to victory on the final epic climb to Powder Mountain Resort in a time of 3 hours and 37 minutes. The stage win put him in the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies Overall Leader’s jersey.

Photo Galleries

• 2019 Tour of Utah Stage 2 Gallery by Dave Richards
• 2019 Tour of Utah Stage 2 Gallery by Cathy Fegan-Kim

“I knew I had to be in really good shape on this climb. You can make a lot of time, you can lose a lot of time, on this climb. I hoped for the best legs. I had really good feeling on the climb, so I’m happy I was able to take the win,” said Hermans, who finished second on the Powder Mountain stage in 2014.

Hermans dropped Canadian James Piccoli of Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling with four kilometers to go from the 8,900-foot summit after the pair had caught Peter Stetina (Trek-Segafredo). Piccoli, winner of the Prologue presented by Zions Bank, crossed the line 20 seconds behind Hermans. Trek-Segafredo’s Niklas Eg finished third on the stage, 35 seconds down.

“Peter Stetina attacked quite hard and I knew that I had to set my tempo and look at the other guys. I kept my tempo until five or four K (kilometers) to go. From there, I knew that the chance was big that I could win the stage. It was still hard to get to the finish,” Hermans added.

Stetina attacked the dwindling peloton on the bottom slope of one of the steepest roads in Utah to take a 20-second lead on Eg, Piccoli, Hermans and 2015 Tour of Utah overall winner Joe Dombrowski (EF Education First). Hermans and Piccoli took up the chase to catch and drop the lone American off the front on a bid for glory. Stetina held on for fourth place.

“Today we had an extra bit of motivation,” said Piccoli who lost the leader’s jersey after Stage 1. He was penalized 20 seconds for drafting after suffering a mechanical, dropping him in the standings. “We had come to see this climb, Powder Mountain, we knew how tough it was and we knew that we could make up a lot of time today. Despite the penalty yesterday, I think we showed that we’re ready to fight for the rest of the week.”

“I always want to do the best I can here. I think there is lots to play for, and the team is going to do everything we can to continue fighting and to race strong,” continued Piccoli who was awarded the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Most Aggressive Rider jersey.

The third day of racing at the Tour of Utah included 7,316 feet of climbing and shook up the overall standings. Hermans surged from 10th place to first place with a 26-second lead on Piccoli. Eg moved to third place, 52 seconds down with his teammate Stetina in fourth place. Dombrowski, who finished fifth on the stage, is now in fifth place overall. Rally Cycling’s Kyle Murphy (USA) dropped two spots to sixth place, while his teammate Rob Britton (CAN) moved up four spots to eighth place. João Almeida (POR) is now seventh overall and remains in the WCF Insurance Best Young Rider jersey.

“It’s difficult to compare the last two years,” said Hermans when asked to compare his current form to 2018 race. “Last year, Sepp Kuss was really strong. I don’t know if I could have beat him this year if he would have been here in shape. But of course, my form is good this year. I’m leading this race now and I’ll try to keep the jersey.”

Eg identified Stage 5 and Stage 6 as upcoming opportunities for his team. “I think tomorrow is also going to be a really hard day. I think it will be hard racing throughout the week every day.”

Lawson Craddock (USA) of EF Education First, who wore the leader’s jersey after Stage 1, dropped to ninth on G.C., 2 minutes and 56 seconds off the lead. Serghei Tvetcov (ROM) of Worthy Pro Cycling dropped from second place to 23rd overall.

The 84.4-mile (135.8-kilometer) stage began in Brigham City. After 25 miles of dynamic racing, including the first intermediate sprint in Brigham City, the six-rider breakaway was established. The break of the day included Mexican champion Ignacio Prado (Canel’s-Specialized), Travis Samuel (DC Bank Pro Cycling Team), Austin Stephens (303 Project) and Dauner | AKKON duo of Mika Heming and Christopher Heider. U.S. Collegiate Varsity Road Race champion Cade Bickmore (Aevolo) spent almost 25 miles in no man’s land trying to bridge up to the break before sitting up to rejoin the field.

Behind them, the field was quite happy with the combination of riders and teams up the road, allowing the gap to grow to 2 minutes.

Prado and Samuel battled it out for the second intermediate sprint in North Ogden and the North Ogden Divide KOM with Prado taking top points in both. Finally, with less than 50 miles to go, team EF Education First with yellow jersey Craddock came to the front of the field to control the pace. US road champion Alex Howes flew the Stars & Stripes jersey at the front of the peloton for the next 25 miles or so.

The gap was over three minutes by the time the break contested the third intermediate sprint. Once again, Prado took top points ahead of Heider and Samuel.

The pace accelerated in both the break and peloton with 22 miles to go. Under Prado’s impetus, Quirby then Stephens dropped out of the break while Howes had the field strung out behind him. The gap was down to 1:30 at the 20 kilometer marker.

Not long after, the gap fell below the one minute mark, and only Heming and Samuel were left in the front group. The two continuously attacked each other for the next two miles, vying for the Most Aggressive jersey, before being reeled in. They paid dearly for their efforts, however, as both Samuel and Heming finished outside of the time limit. Prado was also another rider that was time cut.

The field was all back together at the bottom of the brutal 8.6-mile climb with gradients rising to 16 percent to the summit of Powder Mountain. Teams were lining up at the front to keep their G.C. contenders in position for the tough finish. With 7 miles to go, Oscar Sanchez of Canel’s-Specialized attacked but was not able to stay away while riders were dropping like flies at the back.

With five miles to go, the field was done to 20 riders with Almeida suffering at the back and Tvetcov popped at the back. The showdown was approaching. Stetina made his move and Dombrowski was the first to respond. Hermans, Eg, Piccoli jumped on while Murphy was trying to claw his way back up to the group.

Stetina grew his gap to 20 seconds bringing Piccoli to the front of the chase group with Hermans on his wheel, Eg staying close and dropping Dombrowski. Piccoli and Hermans caught and quickly came around Stetina with 5 kilometers to go. Riding within himself, Eg was keeping a steady pace not far behind. With 3 kilometer to go, Hermans went solo, leaving Piccoli to chase behind him. Eg caught and passed Stetina on his way to third.

“I think the whole team did a really good job today. The guys protected Pete and I the whole way in to the climb. He launched in the climb, actually I thought he would go to the finish line but it was a little bit too long,” Eg said of Stetina’s attack. “But now, we’ve got cards to play on the G.C. And the next few days will be interesting for sure.”

In addition to the leader’s jersey, Hermans also claimed the Utah Office of Tourism King of the Mountain jersey. Stage 1 winner Umberto Marengo (ITA) of Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM retained the Utah Sports Commission Sprint jersey. Dombrowski was voted the America First Credit Union Fan Favorite jersey in the Best Climber category.

Stage 3 on Thursday, Aug. 15 begins for a fourth time at Antelope Island State Park. Most of the 5,895 feet of climbing on this 85.9-mile (138.3-kilometer) stage will be collected when the route skirts the Wasatch Mountains south of Layton, with three Category 3 climbs in the final 29 miles. Following a punchy KOM up the Bountiful Bench, the route follows a new southbound stretch of Bountiful Boulevard for finishing circuits in first-time host city North Salt Lake.

RESULTS AND STANDINGS

 Stage 2 presented by Monster Hydro – Top 10

1. HERMANS Ben (BEL) ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY 3:37:44
2. PICCOLI James (CAN) ELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLING 3:38:04 +0:00:20
3. EG Niklas (DEN) TREK-SEGAFREDO 3:38:19 +0:00:35
4. STETINA Peter (USA) TREK-SEGAFREDO 3:38:42 +0:00:58
5. DOMBROWSKI Joseph Lloyd (USA) EF EDUCATION FIRST 3:39:10 +0:01:26
6. MURPHY Kyle (USA) RALLY UHC CYCLING 3:39:15 +0:01:31
7. BRITTON Robert (CAN) RALLY UHC CYCLING 3:39:20 +0:01:36
8. ALMEIDA João (POR) HAGENS BERMAN AXEON 3:39:38 +0:01:54
9. BADILATTI Matteo (SUI) ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY 3:40:21 +0:02:37
10. BOWDEN Scott (AUS) TEAM BRIDGELANE 3:40:36 +0:02:52

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION (After Stage 2)

1. HERMANS Ben (BEL) ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY 7:10:07
2. PICCOLI James (CAN) ELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLING 7:10:33 +0:00:26
3. EG Niklas (DEN) TREK-SEGAFREDO 7:10:59 +0:00:52
4. STETINA Peter (USA) TREK-SEGAFREDO 7:11:17 +0:01:10
5. DOMBROWSKI Joseph Lloyd (USA) EF EDUCATION FIRST 7:11:40 +0:01:33
6. MURPHY Kyle (USA) RALLY UHC CYCLING 7:11:42 +0:01:35
7. ALMEIDA João (POR) HAGENS BERMAN AXEON 7:11:53 +0:01:46
8. BRITTON Robert (CAN) RALLY UHC CYCLING 7:11:54 +0:01:47
9. CRADDOCK Lawson (USA) EF EDUCATION FIRST 7:13:03 +0:02:56
10. BADILATTI Matteo (SUI) ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY 7:13:05 +0:02:58

AWARD JERSEYS

• Larry H. Miller Group of Companies Overall leader – Ben Hermans (BEL) of Israel Cycling Academy
• Utah Sports Commission Sprint leader -Umberto Marengo (ITA), Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM
• Utah Office of Tourism King of the Mountain- Ben Hermans (BEL) of Israel Cycling Academy
• WCF Insurance Best Young Rider – João Almeida (POR) of Hagens Berman Axeon
• Larry H. Miller Dealerships Most Aggressive Rider -James Piccoli (CAN), Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling
• America First Credit Union Fan Favorite -Joe Dombrowski (USA), EF Education First

2019 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Stage 2 – Brigham City to Powder Mountain – presented by Monster Hydro