Marengo Surprises on Stage 1, Craddock in Yellow at 2019 Tour of Utah

By Lyne Lamoureux – NORTH LOGAN CITY, Utah (August 13, 2019) – Italian Umberto Marengo of Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM accelerated away from a six-rider group in a surprise attack to win Stage 1 presented by Larry H. Miller Group of Companies at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. Marengo covered the 87-mile (139.9-kilometer) course in 3 hours and 23 minutes.

Lawson Craddock (EF Education First) finished second, with the same time as Marengo. With a time bonus, this vaulted the American into the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies Overall Leader’s yellow jersey. Edwin Avila (Israel Cycling Academy) finished third close behind Craddock’s wheel.

Photo Galleries:

• 2019 Tour of Utah Stage 1 Gallery by Steven Sheffield
• 2019 Tour of Utah Stage 1 Gallery by Cathy Fegan-Kim

“The team worked perfectly. We had Manuel Bongiorno in the breakaway so no one had to work until the final laps. When Bongiorno had a flat tire, the team moved forwards,” Marengo commented via a team translator. “On the last lap, I and [Sebastian] Schönberger decided to attack. Schönberger was not as fast as me so Schönberger worked for me, and started to anticipate with three K (kilometers) to go. At the end, this was the perfect move because I could launch my sprint and win.”

Fans were treated to a thrilling finish in North Logan City for five finishing circuits of action-packed racing.  Canadian James Piccoli (Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling), who won the Prologue presented by Zions Bank on Monday’s first day of racing, suffered a flat tire on the penultimate lap forcing him to chase back onto the surging peloton. Taking full advantage of the chaos, Craddock initiated a counter-attack just as Piccoli had rejoined the peloton.

“I attacked with about four kilometers to go. We went over to the top of the climb, Trek Segafredo made it really hard. Before that Alex Howes made it really hard. Trek Segafredo continued over the top, everyone was on the limit. Alex made a really good call, he noticed that there was a small raiser with three and a half, four k[ilometers] to go in the middle of the descent that would be a good place to launch an attack. I kind of went from there. I was able to get some speed, get a gap and from there, there was five or six of us and the race played out from there,” Craddock said of his attack on the final circuit in North Logan City.

In the General Classification (G.C.), Craddock has a six-second lead over João Almeida (Hagens Berman Axeon), who was fourth on the stage. Remaining in third place on the G.C. is Serghei Tvetcov (Worthy Pro Cycling), 12 seconds down. Moving into sixth place is Joe Dombrowski (EF Education First), the overall winner of the 2015 Tour of Utah, who is 21 seconds back. Piccoli is now 26 seconds back and sits in 13th position.

Under sunny skies, the early breakaway of five riders escaped the 113-man field only five miles into the Stage 1 presented by Larry H. Miller Group of Companies. The break included Travis Samuel (DC Bank Pro Cycling Team), Ignacio Prado (Canel’s-Specialized) and Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling team mates Sam Boardman and Camden Vodicka. Elevate-KHS kept the escapees on a short leash, allowing only a maximum of a two and a half minute lead on the hot day.

The riders in the break worked well together, except for the battle for both sprint and King of the Mountain points. Prado crossed the line first in both intermediate sprint points. In the mix once again, Prado and Boardman battled it out for the King of the Mountain points. After being out kicked by Prado in the first KOM, Boardman planned his sprint better to take first in the next KOM.

The break still held a gap of two minutes as they started the first of five finishing laps. Boardman once again was able to cross the line first in the third and final KOM before sitting up to rejoin the peloton, mission accomplished, leaving four off the front.

Bongiorno was the next rider to fall out of the break when he had to stop for a long wheel change with four laps to go. Soon after, Prado and then Vodicka also faded leaving Samuel to continue solo off the front. After being out front for 75 miles, the final remaining rider of the early breakaway, Samuel was reeled in, giving way to an exciting finale. Samuel was awarded the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Most Aggressive Rider jersey.

Attacks followed as teams battle to control the front of the field for the expected bunch sprint. But then bad luck for Piccoli who had to stop to get a bike change due to a mechanical. Team mates Eric Young and Jordan Cheyne dropped back to try and pace him back through the cars.

Piccoli, now being paced by Castillo, connected with the back of the field at the start of the final lap. His mission was to try and make it to the front of the field in full flight. With five miles to go, Alex Howes (EF Education First) made a little dig, testing the legs and the other riders.  Soon after, an isolated Piccoli was at the front of the field when Craddock made his move. Joining Craddock in the late attack were Marengo and his team mate Sebastian Schönberger, Almeida, Avila and Griffin Easter (303 Project).

The EF Education First team director let Craddock know that Piccolo was chasing back after a mechanical. Craddock added, “Honestly I was kind of in the box and so it’s harder to pinpoint the point but he did mention Piccoli was chasing back on. It’s really unfortunate, maybe something like that will play a factor into the race but when you’re racing with seven or eight k[ilometers] to go, you have to race your bike. While it is very unfortunate for him, obviously he showed yesterday that he had the best six, seven minutes of the entire peloton, he could have animated  for sure. Disappointing, but we’ve all be on the receiving end of that kind of mishap.”

In addition to the stage win, Marengo also claimed the Utah Sports Commission Sprint jersey. Almeida retained the Subaru Best Young Rider jersey. Samuel Boardman (USA) of Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling presented by Maxxis will wear the Utah Office of Tourism King of the Mountain jersey. The America First Credit Union Fan Favorite jersey was awarded to Maxx Chance (USA) of Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling, winning in the Best Ambassador category.

All eyes now turn to the Queen Stage on Wednesday where a big shake up in the G.C. is expected.

“I’d love to keep it for sure,” Craddock said of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies Overall Leader’s yellow jersey. “Tomorrow is an extremely hard climb. Powder Mountain is probably one of the hardest climb you can find in this area and possibly even in the States.I think it could maybe be a bit too difficult but at the end of the day we came here with Lachlan Morton and Joe Dombrowski as our leaders. Me being in the [leader’s] jersey today doesn’t change that for tomorrow. We’re going tomorrow with a plan and hopefully execute that and keep the jersey in the team.”

Stage 2 presented by Monster Hydro brings a wild west showdown to the 8,900-foot summit of Powder Mountain on Wednesday, Aug. 14. The massive ascent from the town of Eden to Hidden Lake Lodge at Powder Mountain Resort is one of the steepest roads in Utah, with gradients rising to 16 percent. The 8.6-mile scale will pack a punch to the legs and lungs of the best climbers in the world.

RESULTS AND STANDINGS

Stage 1 p/b Larry H. Miller Group of Companies – Top 10

1. MARENGO Umberto (ITA) NERI SOTTOLI SELLE ITALIA KTM 3:23:32
2. CRADDOCK Lawson (USA) EF EDUCATION FIRST 3:23:32 +0:00:00
3. AVILA VANEGAS Edwin Alcibiades (COL) ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY 3:23:32 +0:00:00
4. EASTER Griffin (USA) 303 PROJECT 3:23:32 +0:00:00
5. ALMEIDA João (POR) HAGENS BERMAN AXEON 3:23:32 +0:00:00
6. SCHÖNBERGER Sebastian (AUT) NERI SOTTOLI SELLE ITALIA KTM 3:23:32 +0:00:00
7. MCCABE Travis (USA) WORTHY PRO CYCLING 3:23:38 +0:00:06
8. RICE Michael (AUS) HAGENS BERMAN AXEON 3:23:38 +0:00:06
9. MAGNER Tyler (USA) RALLY UHC CYCLING 3:23:38 +0:00:06
10. DAVIS Cole (USA) HAGENS BERMAN AXEON 3:23:38 +0:00:06

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION (After Stage 1)

1. CRADDOCK Lawson (USA) EF EDUCATION FIRST 3:32:09
2. ALMEIDA João (POR) HAGENS BERMAN AXEON 3:32:15 +0:00:06
3. TVETCOV Serghei (ROU) WORTHY PRO CYCLING 3:32:21 +0:00:12
4. MURPHY Kyle (USA) RALLY UHC CYCLING 3:32:27 +0:00:18
5. MANNION Gavin (USA) RALLY UHC CYCLING 3:32:30 +0:00:21
6. DOMBROWSKI Joseph Lloyd (USA) EF EDUCATION FIRST 3:32:30 +0:00:21
7. BOIVIN Guillaume (CAN) ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY 3:32:31 +0:00:22
8. SWIRBUL Keegan (USA) WORTHY PRO CYCLING 3:32:32 +0:00:23
9. MCCABE Travis (USA) WORTHY PRO CYCLING 3:32:32 +0:00:23
10. HERMANS Ben (BEL) ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY 3:32:33 +0:00:24

AWARD JERSEYS

• Larry H. Miller Group of Companies Overall leader – Lawson Craddock (USA) of EF Education First
• Utah Sports Commission Sprint leader – Umberto Marengo (ITA), Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM
• Utah Office of Tourism King of the Mountain – Samuel Boardman (USA) of Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling presented by Maxxis
• WCF Insurance Best Young Rider – João Almeida (POR) of Hagens Berman Axeon
• Larry H. Miller Dealerships Most Aggressive Rider – Travis Samuel (CAN) of DC Bank Pro Cycling Team
• America First Credit Union Fan Favorite – Maxx Chance (USA) of  Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling

FULL RESULTS

2019 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Stage 1 presented by the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies at North Logan City