Alex Howes won the 7th and final stage of this year’s USA Pro Challenge, after beating close and friend and rival, Kiel Reijnen (UnitedHealthcare), in a head to head battle for the stage victory.
Meanwhile, Tejay van Garderen (BMC) finished safety in the main field, to secure the overall race title, with a 1:32 margin over Tom Danielson (Garmin Sharp). and 1:45 over Jelly Belly’s Serghei Tvetcov.
"It was incredible, the crowds were huge in Boulder, and they just got bigger and louder in Denver. To come in here as defending champion and to actually be able to defend the title feels incredible – I had a lot of pressure this week. The boys showed a lot of poise, and we stayed in control.
"It might have looked convincing, but there were a few moments of panic and some nervous times out there. It was a hard fought victory."
The mountains classification remained with Ben Jacques-Maynes (Jamis-Hagens Berman), while Reijnen won the overall sprint classification and Clement Chevrier (Bissell) won the best young rider competition. Jens Voigt (Trek) was voted the race’s most aggressive rider.
Stage 7 Results USA 1 HOWES, Alex (GARMIN SHARP) 2:45:20 USA 2 REIJNEN, Kiel (UNITEDHEALTHCARE) SUI 3 SCHÄR, Michael (BMC RACING) MDA 4 TVETCOV, Serghei (JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS) POL 5 MAJKA, Rafal (TINKOFF-SAXO) USA 6 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) USA 7 ANTHONY, Jesse (OPTUM P/B KELLY BENEFIT STRATEGIES) USA 8 BOOKWALTER, Brent (BMC RACING) COL 9 ACEVEDO COLLE, Janier Alexis (GARMIN SHARP) USA 10 JONES, Carter (OPTUM P/B KELLY BENEFIT STRATEGIES)
Final General Classification USA 1 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) 20:05:42 USA 2 DANIELSON, Thomas (GARMIN SHARP) + 1:32 MDA 3 TVETCOV, Serghei (JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS) + 1:45 POL 4 MAJKA, Rafal (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 1:49 USA 5 BUSCHE, Matthew (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 3:11 USA 6 ROSSKOPF, Joseph (HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR DEVELOPMENT) + 3:31 POL 7 HUZARSKI, Bartosz (NETAPP – ENDURA) + 3:35 USA 8 JONES, Carter (OPTUM P/B KELLY BENEFIT STRATEGIES) + 3:43 BEL 9 HERMANS, Ben (BMC RACING) + 3:44 POR 10 PIRES, Bruno (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 5:35
You must be logged in to post a comment.
