photos credits @ Tour of Utah
Silber Pro Cycling’s Kris Dahl took a surprising victory at the Tour of Utah today, after winning the opening stage ahead of Axeon Hagens Berman’s Colin Joyce and Rik Zabel of BMC, who were second and third, respectively.
A jubilant Dahl said after claiming the biggest win of his carer, “this justifies all of the work we’ve been doing on our sprint train.”
“Coming into the finish, it was really quite hectic,” he added. “I kind of found myself with one kilometer to go on the outside of the group and gained a bunch of spots and opened up the sprint really early and managed somehow to hang onto the win.”
Race Highlights
The young 24-year-old Canadian rider attributed his victory to his teammate Matteo Dal-Cin, who was named Stage One’s most aggressive rider, after he succeeded in riding clear for much of the race with IAM Cycling’s Simon Pellaud.
“My teammate Matteo luckily made the breakaway for us,” Dahl said. “He’s a real strong guy — he won Redlands this year — and has really showcased how strong he can be, so we were super happy letting him go up the road …”
Up until about a mile before the finish, Dal-Cin and Pellaud had led for roughly 90 kilometers before being absorbed by the Peloton. In a challenging opening stage, which spanned 84 miles and climbed roughly 10,000 feet in vertical elevation, Dal-Cin and Pellaud simply ran out of gas after their fast start.
“Is that the profile from today?” asked six-time Tour of Utah veteran Benjamin King, gazing after the race at a graphic showing Stage 1’s difficulty. “It a felt a lot harder than that.”
Colin Joyce of Axeon Hagens Berman finished second, while BMC Racing Team’s Rick Zabel closely followed behind in third.
Colombia’s Daniel Alexander Jaramillo Diez earned the blue jersey after winning King of the Mountain honors early in the race as part of the original four-man break away group with Dal-Cin, Pellaud and Axeon Hagens’ Berman’s Adrien Costa.
Pellaud was able to console himself with the purple jersey for winning the sprint classification.
Stage 1 Top Finishers 1. Kris DAHL, SILBER PRO CYCLING, in 3:07:18 2. Colin JOYCE, AXEON – HAGENS BERMAN, at :00 3. Rick ZABEL, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00 4. Travis MCCABE, HOLOWESKO / CITADEL P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR, at :00 5. Logan OWEN, AXEON – HAGENS BERMAN, at :00 6. Ulises Alfredo CASTILLO SOTO, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at :00 7. David TANNER, IAM CYCLING, at :00 8. Kevin LEDANOIS, FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT, at :00 9. Pierrick NAUD, RALLY CYCLING, at :00 10. Tanner PUTT, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at :00
Top 10 Overall After Stage 1 1. Kris DAHL, SILBER PRO CYCLING, in 3:07:18 2. Colin JOYCE, AXEON – HAGENS BERMAN, at :00 3. Rick ZABEL, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00 4. Travis MCCABE, HOLOWESKO / CITADEL P/B HINCAPIE SPORTSWEAR, at :00 5. Logan OWEN, AXEON – HAGENS BERMAN, at :00 6. Ulises Alfredo CASTILLO SOTO, JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS, at :00 7. David TANNER, IAM CYCLING, at :00 8. Kevin LEDANOIS, FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT, at :00 9. Pierrick NAUD, RALLY CYCLING, at :00 10. Tanner PUTT, UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM, at :00
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