The Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah 2014, 4-10 of August (2.1)

[Rollthedice]

Looks like Hermans only finished 25 secs back. He had 26 secs on Winner going in but Winner picked up bonus secs which got him on the podium.

So, basically Evans cost Hermans a podium as he certainly could have gotten Hermans enough seconds for third. The team may have just decided the stage win was more important than the podium.

Anyway Hermans is a big surprise, great Tour for him.

 

[BigMac]

Not sure about the first 3, but no way it'll be Cunego (imho).

Certainly not Cunego. He may even go to the Vuelta with the deluded thought that he is sharing leadership with Horner, the guy.

Why not go to the Vuelta and do some stage hunting and just sit in the gruppetto the other days and then go to Canada?

Start and then abandon, even thought that would mean skip Plouay? I'm not sure. The competition will be fierce in Canada and the accumulated fatigue of the Vuelta could play against him. A decent approach is to do Plouay before. Not to mention there's the risk of not winning a single stage, while his chances are above decent in both Québec and Montréal.

 

[msjett]

Looks like Hermans only finished 25 secs back. He had 26 secs on Winner going in but Winner picked up bonus secs which got him on the podium.

So, basically Evans cost Hermans a podium as he certainly could have gotten Hermans enough seconds for third. The team may have just decided the stage win was more important than the podium.

My understanding is that Hermans had a crash at the end of stage 5...and was just hanging on, on stage 6 and conceded 43 seconds there. So Cadel probably didn't cost Hermans anything, he quite possibly didn't have it to start with.

 

[movingtarget]

Another nice win for Cadel. Stage hunting suits him now and when he can conserve his energy he will be very hard to beat on the stages he targets as he is still a top 10 GC rider. BMC will be pretty happy with this race. Hermans doing well and a couple of stage wins.

 

[Phoenix23]

Looks like Hermans only finished 25 secs back. He had 26 secs on Winner going in but Winner picked up bonus secs which got him on the podium.

So, basically Evans cost Hermans a podium as he certainly could have gotten Hermans enough seconds for third. The team may have just decided the stage win was more important than the podium.

Hermans finished with Yannick Ejissen and both those guys dropped at the same time so I think Ejissen paced him all the way up the climb. Cadel probably wouldn't have been as good of a pace setter as Ejissen, since Ejissen is used to being a domestique, so Cadel sitting back wouldn't have really done anything

 

[jaylew]

My understanding is that Hermans had a crash at the end of stage 5...and was just hanging on, on stage 6 and conceded 43 seconds there. So Cadel probably didn't cost Hermans anything, he quite possibly didn't have it to start with.

What does any of that have to do with the last stage and the team tactics.

Hermans finished with Yannick Ejissen and both those guys dropped at the same time so I think Ejissen paced him all the way up the climb. Cadel probably wouldn't have been as good of a pace setter as Ejissen, since Ejissen is used to being a domestique, so Cadel sitting back wouldn't have really done anything

I disagree. You're saying Cadel couldn't have helped him get those three seconds? He probably could have done that on the descent alone. Anyway, like I said, perhaps the team just decided that going for the stage win was more important than preserving Hermans' podium. Not to mention, he'd have needed a few more seconds if Winner placed 2nd instead of third.

 

[Jagartrott]

I read somewhere that Hermans was unable to feed enough in the 6th stage because they had only one team car and it stayed with Cadel. A bit strange.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Evans grinding his way up and minimizing the gap to the lead group:

and then first lesson free in descending and cornering.

More good picture: http://www.steephill.tv/2014/tour-of-utah/photos/stage-07/

Evans aggressive racing and 2 stage wins is considerable better than a 3rd place in GC in a 2.1 event imo. Sponsor gets much more from it too.

Congrats to Tommy D with the overall. Strongest rider in the race by some distance.

 

[jens_attacks]

wow cadel _O_

awesome race

 

[msjett]

http://www.bmc-racing.com/int-en/at...doubles-up-in-utah-teuns-is-best-young-rider/

11. August 2014

Cadel Evans won his second straight stage Sunday – the BMC Racing Team's third at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah – and Dylan Teuns took home "best young rider" honors to cap a race that saw Ben Hermans and Evans both finish in the top 10 overall.

'I Went With Everything'
Evans's stage win was even more dramatic than his come-from-behind sprint on Saturday to win the summit finish of the race's queen stage. This time, the past Tour de France and world road champion chased back on the high-speed descent into Park City, then slipped his four breakaway companions on a left-hand turn onto Main Street by going wide, diving inside and sprinting to comfortably take the win. "I was pretty sure all the GC (general classification) riders were going to be pretty exhausted," Evans said. "My main concern was the Lampre riders, who had the advantage in numbers. But I conserved my energy and waited for my time. I went once, but I went with everything." Wilco Kelderman (Belkin Pro Cycling Team) was second and Winner Anacona (Lampre-Merida) finished third. Anacona's teammate, Chris Horner, finished fourth on the stage and runner-up in the overall standings to Tom Danielson (Garmin-Sharp), who won the overall title for the second straight year and rolled in as the fifth rider from the breakaway. Evans finished sixth in the overall standings.

'I Can Be Happy I Was Fourth'
Hermans fought hard on the final climb, trying to hold onto his third place overall. Injured in a crash on Friday, the runner-up finisher on Stage 4's mountain-top finish said he did not enjoy the same form from that day when the attacks started. "Fortunately, I had a good team to help me, especially Yannick Eijssen, who pulled for me the whole climb and paced me well," Hermans said after crossing the line seventh, 25 seconds behind Evans's group. "I thought that was good enough but the two most dangerous guys on GC both took time bonuses," he said. "When I won on Powder Mountain, there were no time bonuses, so I lost the podium by three seconds, which is really a pity." Anocona finished third, 1:43 behind Danielson, while Hermans was at 1:46 and Kelderman was fifth at 1:49. "I can be happy I was fourth here," Hermans said. "You never know how you will be at this altitude, especially with all these steep and long climbs. With my weight, I think it is really a good performance to make fourth here."

'It Was Really A Great Week'
BMC Racing Team Sport Director Jackson Stewart said helping Hermans hold onto third place overall was the team's top priority. But going for the stage win and helping Teuns make a run at the best young rider title were also on the to-do list. "It was great Cadel had the legs he did and Dylan had the legs he did to take the best young rider jersey," Stewart said. "Ben managed the best he could, but it was all we could do. All-in-all, it was really a good week." Teuns said his first professional race experience was a memorable one. "Last month, I did Giro Valle D'Aosta, a race for Under 23 riders, but this was much harder," Teuns said. "This was my first race with the team as a stagiaire and my first with Cadel. It is amazing. I learned a lot this week from him." The BMC Racing Team, which enjoyed its other stage win on Tuesday with Michael Schár – finished second in the team classification, by eight seconds, to Lampre-Me

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Kelderman said he went to the lead because he really wanted to go into the last corner as first. He was then surprised Evans came from the outside with way more speed and there was no way to win after that.

So he knew of the last corner, but rather then take speed round the outside he took it from the inside.. beginner mistake

 

[movingtarget]

Evans grinding his way up and minimizing the gap to the lead group:

and then first lesson free in descending and cornering.

More good picture: http://www.steephill.tv/2014/tour-of-utah/photos/stage-07/

Evans aggressive racing and 2 stage wins is considerable better than a 3rd place in GC in a 2.1 event imo. Sponsor gets much more from it too.

Congrats to Tommy D with the overall. Strongest rider in the race by some distance.

Great photo. Jesus that road surface looks rough.

 

[movingtarget]

It seems Cadel has a regular victory salute now. The thumbs up. Maybe not as dramatic as Contador's pistol but that is Evans style, nothing flash but knowing how to win and riding smart.

 

[theyoungest]

Kelderman is fast in sprints. He even won some mass sprints in U23. Don't be fooled. But if Evans takes 10m in a corner alone (and better starting speed after that ofcourse), you won't win.

You've built him up into such a Merckx that you've started to believe it yourself

Kelderman can sprint, a little bit, but that one bunch sprint he won wasn't against real sprinters and he hasn't won any sprints since. He's also not a great bike handler, as evidenced yesterday.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

You've built him up into such a Merckx that you've started to believe it yourself

Kelderman can sprint, a little bit, but that one bunch sprint he won wasn't against real sprinters and he hasn't won any sprints since. He's also not a great bike handler, as evidenced yesterday.

Luke Rowe was actually one of the best U23 sprinters at the time. And he was there