2012 Tour of Utah, Stage 4; Lehi to Salt Lake City, 220 Kms

[BillytheKid]

Stage 4: XANGO World Headquarters (Lehi) to EnergySolutions Arena (Salt Lake). Rolling desert terrain with a flat 25 km run-in to the finish. Traffic furniture and turns might play a role over the Kms in what is most likely to be a sprint finish. Small time gaps and crashes could be a factor today on the final.

http://tourofutah.com/2012/stage-4

After Stage 3, no changes in the top ten GC from Stage 2:

1. Christian Vandevelde. (GAR) 22;35
2 Tommy Danielson (GAR) st
3 Dave Zabriskie (GAR) st
4 Peter Stetina (GAR) +30
5 Wilco Kelderman (Rab) +32
6 Steven Krujiswijk (Rab) st.
7. Chris Horner (RSN) +38
8. George Bennett (RSN) st.
9. Matthew Busche (RSN) st.
10. Rory Sutherland +43

More results: http://tourofutah.com/2012/results

Live streaming coverage: http://tourtracker.tourofutah.com/ 2:10 EST, 12:10 MST

Apologies to Johann Tschopp for the mispelling of his name yesterday.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Should be a sprint finish. No real climbs. The only concern is the wildfire burning close to the race route. We may get some thunderstorms, but with our luck, they will be dry.

I expect the GC contenders to stay protected today in anticipation of the two heinous days to come.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Feed is live now. Peloton rolling along easily. Slightly overcast, bringing temperatures down a bit.

 

[BillytheKid]

Should be a sprint finish. No real climbs. The only concern is the wildfire burning close to the race route. We may get some thunderstorms, but with our luck, they will be dry.

I expect the GC contenders to stay protected today in anticipation of the two heinous days to come.

Back to the blast furnace. Looks like at least a dozen turns on the run-in. A clever team or crash could split the field in the closing Kms.

Honrer says he not feeling to good. The gamesman or for real?

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012...t-attack-with-horner-feeling-powerless_233902

I guess will find out.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

They're showing the initial video of how the break was established now.

Break has almost 12 minutes now.

 

[BillytheKid]

I must have been looking at the wrong stage start time.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

I'd hate to be out there right now. That course is so exposed. I've gotten stuck out there with no water. I was delirious by the time I reached a convenience store.

Sprinters' teams have woken up and the gap is coming down a bit.

 

[janraaskalt]

They're showing the initial video of how the break was established now.

Break has almost 12 minutes now.

Who's in the break?

 

[BillytheKid]

I'd hate to be out there right now. That course is so exposed. I've gotten stuck out there with no water. I was delirious by the time I reached a convenience store.

Sprinters' teams have woken up and the gap is coming down a bit.

Looks pretty cloudy today. Not a bad thing at all. This could be a good finish if they get cameras right. I am worried they don't have the "fixed" finish camera's on the live feed so that's why we have to wait for the replay.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Who's in the break?

Peter Velits of Omega, Leezer of Rabo, Huguet of Argos/Shimano, Vennell of Bissell, Stuyven of Bontrager, and Lewis of Champion.

They pushed the gap up too high to early, Andreu is saying, so now the chase is on.

 

[BillytheKid]

Long, long day....typical mountain west road..to nowhere

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Video quality is awesome today. Big improvement over last year.

The road they are riding is part of a very commonly used road for cycling in the winter. Shoulder is good.

 

[hiero2]

Video quality is awesome today. Big improvement over last year.

The road they are riding is part of a very commonly used road for cycling in the winter. Shoulder is good.

It is pretty good! I've seen worse on Eurosport! "Frankie" - is that Andreu? It sounds a bit like his voice. The commentating isn't bad either. Plenty of the "dumb-down beginner" explanations, but they are giving us some good stuff too.

 

[hiero2]

I wonder how many ppl on the forum even realize we have live coverage?

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

That is indeed Frankie. Showing the mountains now. Tomorrow the climb is up to 8k feet and Sunday up to 9k feet.

All new pavement where they are going, so roads are awesome.

 

[BroDeal]

Dang. 220km is a long way in August in Utah.

 

[BillytheKid]

That is indeed Frankie. Showing the mountains now. Tomorrow the climb is up to 8k feet and Sunday up to 9k feet.

All new pavement where they are going, so roads are awesome.

The promised land after their desert wanderings.

 

[BillytheKid]

What's mined there. Copper?

 

[kielbasa]

What's mined there. Copper?

Yes. It's the Kennecott copper mine.

 

[BillytheKid]

Yes. It's the Kennecott copper mine.

One those near Silver City at the Gila. It's not Kennecott owned anymore.

I kinda hope this break gets caught as they enter the final section..sitting up, dang..no attack city.

wait this was a crash. fantastic.

 

[BroDeal]

What's mined there. Copper?

The silver and gold in the London Olympic medals was mined there. It is a byproduct of the copper mining.

I bet you could design a crazy MTB circuit race there.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

There was really no chance the sprinters would let the break go, since this is their last chance at glory.

About to hit the downhill into Magna.

 

[BillytheKid]

The silver and gold in the London Olympic medals was mined there. It is a byproduct of the copper mining.

I bet you could design a crazy MTB circuit race there.

About a hundred switchbacks.

 

[Boeing]

The silver and gold in the London Olympic medals was mined there. It is a byproduct of the copper mining.

I bet you could design a crazy MTB circuit race there.

crazy slope style. best line as a start

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

The mine there is so large that it can be viewed from space.

Man, they re-paved so many of these roads. Looks like they will go by RMR raceway maybe.