For Team SmartStop, there really isn’t any hesitation to step up and defend our lead. If we managed to do this deftly, we not only would defend our lead but also take a crack at another sprint stage victory, one that’s eluded us so far. The key was to dictate a manageable breakaway early in the stage and devout enough resources to keep it close and wait for sprint stage favorite team Belkin to render assistance in the closing stages.
To our surprise, the break went immediately at the drop of the red flag rolling out of Lehi. 6 riders forged clear and we dispatched Flavio and Michael to tempo duties to feather the gap out far enough to discourage bridge attempts but close enough that our work was minimal for the latter stages of the race.
The next 3 hours would hold steady at around 3 minutes and once Robin Carpenter of the Hincapie team secured the days top mountain points after 73km, he would reclaim that jersey off his teammate Rosscopf’s shoulders. Interestingly, he was called back to the peloton from team orders whom decided investing 120km more pulling at the remote chance to win a stage wasn’t worth it.
With 5 riders continuing on, we would finally receive help from Belkin and the gap would tumble steadily as the two teams combined in an effective chase.
The finish at Miller Motorsports Park would be technical and Smartstop did well to keep Jure in touching distance of the back of the Belkin train but the Dutch team would not be denied with Hofland taking his second stage win. Jure would get pinched at a vital moment with 600m remaining and surf into 6th place for the day.
Another stage, another yellow jersey. The tactics will change dramatically tomorrow as the mountain top finish will change the overall standings. Let’s hope Rob, Josh and all our climbers enjoy a great day.
Stages 1, 2, 3 recap here.