Two years after his breakthrough win at the 2014 USA Pro Challenge, Robin Carpenter (Holowesko) confirmed his huge potential by taking a surprise win in stage of the Tour of Utah, the final sprint stage of the race. Having made it into a two-rider break after a very aggressive and fast start, the American made a late attack to drop Ruben Companioni (Jamis) and claim an impressive solo victory and the leader’s jersey on the eve of the first GC stage in the race.

 

We have gathered a few reactions.

 

Robin Carpenter: I just blew everyone’s expectations out of the water

American Robin Carpenter of Holowesko | Citadel Racing Team presented by Hincapie Sportswear accelerated away from his breakaway companion to win Stage 2 presented by America First Credit Union of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. Carpenter, who finished second in last year’s stage 2 in northern Utah, covered the 99-mile course from Escalante to Torrey in three hours and 56 minutes.

 

"It wasn't really my intention to get in the breakaway today because the course wasn't super suitable for it, or it didn't look like it, but then I got in there with Ruben and we just rode conservatively at first," Carpenter said in the post-stage press conference.

 

"We were given too big of a time gap, which just made our day pretty easy. It was a hard race, but there was no question for the last hour whether or not we were going to get caught."

 

"We went full gas up the Hogsback and everything before that. We had Travis [McCabe] in the one really dangerous move that had all the teams represented and we were happy with that. But everything kept reshuffling, reshuffling.

 

"It's funny. Sometimes after a day like that when everyone wants to get in the break, no one gets in the break, and there were only two of us.

 

"I definitely started thinking about the victory pretty early on. When we had seven minutes at the bottom of the descent, you can do the math and there's the usual rule of a minute per 10km left. We were on it, and then we kept moving ahead of it.”

 

Carpenter also compared it to the win he took at the USA Pro Challenge where the race was neutralized along the way.

 

"I said this little bit earlier, but cycling is a funny sport and sometimes you get a little bit – I'm trying to find the right way to say this – but even in my own mind the USA Pro Challenge win kind of had this shadow on it. Maybe something really did go wrong and I won by accident or something like that. But that's just my own insecurities coming out.

 

"So coming into the finish line here after riding hard all day and everything going totally normal in terms of race organisation, the cliché words of excited and happy really don't do it. They really don't. I'd have been happy with the stage win, but taking the overall as well, it can't really be described, honestly. It's a combination of a lot of hard work and a lot of determination.

 

"After I won that stage, I had a lot of friends congratulate me, but I also didn't have any of the validation from other teams or maybe other director.

 

"I think they saw the neutralisation as a bit of caveat, and something that made the race less of a pure race, less of an actual victory. And today I maybe proved that that's not the case, that wasn't the case. Today I worked my ass off for it and blew everyone's expectations out of the water.

 

"It's hard to say what the other team's strategies were.  We saw BMC going up the road and the other WorldTour teams going up the road, presumably to put pressure on Cannondale and make them work all week because they've won this race a number of years and they're the favourites with the defending champion from last year. It made the race really tough.

 

"If they had known earlier what they know now, seven minutes at the top of Boulder Mountain would have been untenable for everybody else.

 

"I've always said that my number one goal in the sport is just to continue to get paid to race my bike, whether that's here or abroad or anywhere, really.

 

"That's what I enjoy doing. I love the lifestyle. I love the sport. If the right opportunity comes by and it looks good, then I'll totally take it. You never want to sit back later on and think maybe you didn't take an opportunity because you were afraid of going to Europe or the complicated life stuff that happens afterward.

 

"But I love my team, I love my teammates and I love the staff. We function really well together and it's been an awesome four years with the Hincapie Holowesko team.

 

"It's going to be a super hard climb tomorrow, but I think we'll try and defend it because there is a distinct possibility I'll be able to stay in that group. I've been climbing really well this year. We’ll make the call to see what will make sense tomorrow. But I think mostly we're just proud to have taken the jersey in such a decisive fashion." 

 

"You could see the last few breaks were just guys rolling off the front," Travis McCabe said. "People were just fatigued and tired because it was so hard. Robin was up there constantly, and it looked like he just put his head down and went. People didn't think anything of it, so it was perfect."

 

Ruben Companioni: The finale was too hard

Active in every break attempt of the day, including the 100-kilometer break with Carpenter, Companioni was awarded the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Most Aggressive Rider jersey.

 

“The strategy today was to go into the break. I was not sure if the break would finish. It was a hard day but I am very happy,” the Team Jamis rider said. "I went as hard as I could, but the finish was too hard.”

 

Trek: We needed more help to bring the break back

Stage two at the Tour of Utah was pegged as another chance for the sprinters, but an aggressively hard start to the 159-kilometer race combined with high altitude and opposing tactics and drastically changed the outcome.

 

With over 40 kilometers to race, Trek-Segafredo came to the front to begin an earnest chase of a two-man breakaway, but the nearly six-minute gap barely budged over the ensuing kilometers. When the pair still held a five-minute lead over the finish line for the start of the final 27-kilometer lap, it quickly became apparent that more firepower was needed.

 

With some 18 kilometers to go and the leaders holding four and a half minutes, Trek-Segafredo pulled off the front; the attempt for a stage win shelved. It would have to wait for another day.

 

"Today we saw a very hard start; it was a big fight, and the leader's team did not want to make the effort to take control," explained director Alain Gallopin. "Then a good breakaway went with Julien (Bernard), but Cannondale was not happy and closed the gap. Finally, two guys went away, and the peloton slowed down, but before this, it was really, really hard.

 

"And after we came to pull, but the leader's team stopped so it was only Rally Cycling and us pulling, and it was not enough. I think with the high altitude and that we spent a lot of energy in the big fight at the beginning, in the end we paid for this. We were not strong enough to close it alone; we needed more help. The other teams had their own tactics – it's like this."

 

The two men, out front for 110 kilometers, succeeded in holding off the peloton by over two minutes to contest the win and leader's jersey with Robin Carpenter (Holowesko-Citadel) taking both honors.

 

Kiel Reijnen just missed placing third as he sprinted to second from the peloton for fourth place, not the result he, or the team, was seeking, but the fast start and high elevation had taken a toll.

 

BMC not concerned by breakaway win in Utah

Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Stage 2 was ultimately a day for the breakaway with Robert Carpenter (Holowesko | Citadel) and Ruben Companioni (Team Jamis) taking first and second respectively before Rick Zabel sprinted to sixth place in the race for the line behind them.

 

There were multiple attacks over the first hour of racing with BMC Racing Team’s Joey Rosskopf involved in every major breakaway attempt but the peloton were setting a high pace and were able to mark every move.

 

BMC Sports Director Jackson Stewart said:

 

“Today was another really tough day of racing especially at the beginning when there were a lot of tactics at play in terms of teams trying to put riders in the breakaway. We didn't necessarily want to use Joey as much as we did at the beginning but he did a great job for us. It was a really hard first hour and a half of the race and he went into a strong breakaway and not too many could make that move. We were definitely on the offensive and in a good position so other teams had to chase and control the race.

 

“We weren’t too concerned about the breakaway going all the way to the finish as there are still a lot of big climbs to come. We did our best as a team and Rick was able to sprint to sixth in the end. We had the idea that if it was going to be a sprint that Rick would go for it but the motivation was a bit lower when it was for third place. It was still a hard and hectic sprint though and everyone was going for it. We didn’t have the biggest sprint lead out but as a team we did a good job with Fabian [Lienhard], Joey and TJ (Eisenhart] all pulling really hard as well as [Tom] Bohli helping bring Rick back to bunch after he got a flat inside 10 kilometers to go.”

 

Rick Zabel added:

 

“It was a super fast and straight sprint today and with the breakaway staying out in front we were all racing for third place. With 400 meters to go I was sat in sixth position and after yesterday, when I was a little bit too far in front when I started my sprint, I wanted to come up from behind today. When the sprint started I was stuck in the wheel of the yellow jersey so I already had a gap of a couple of meters and eventually I could come around to get sixth.

 

“I am happy with that result after the stage as it was a tough day out there. At the beginning the pace was super quick so respect to the two guys who got away because the peloton was definitely going full gas up Boulder Mountain.”

 

Joey Rosskopf said: 

 

“After yesterday, we didn’t want to be stuck in position to have to chase like that again, although at the end we did end up chasing pretty hard. We knew we wanted to go on the offensive and I was feeling really good at the start and felt strong over the hills so I could go with the attacks. Unfortunately a couple of teams weren’t happy with that initial break so they brought us back. It was definitely a little out of control for a while at the beginning with two or three groups of up to ten riders each spread out across the road before we settled in to the stage for the another tough day of racing.”

 

Axeon talent retains lead in best young rider competition in Utah

Logan Owen finished eighth and teammate Colin Joyce was ninth for the Axeon Hagens Berman Cycling Team Tuesday as Joyce kept his lead in the "best young rider" competition at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah.

Both riders were part of the peloton that arrived more than two minutes after two riders from a breakaway, winner Robin Carpenter (Holowesk-Citadel presented by Hincapie Sportswear) and runner-up Ruben Companioni (Team Jamis). The pair escaped with more than 90 kilometers still to go in the 159-km stage from Escalante to Torrey.

Carpenter's teammate, Travis McCabe, took the field sprint for third as Axeon Hagens Berman finished two riders in the top 10 for the second straight day.

Joyce, who was runner-up on Monday's opening stage, said a combination of factors contributed to the two breakaway riders gaining a more than seven-minute advantage.

"It took a long time for the break to be established because obviously no one wanted to ride the front again like yesterday," he said. "So there were a lot of different teams that wanted to get in the move which means they didn't want to work. I was pretty certain those two were going to stay away when they were way up with 30 kilometers to go. Hats off to them. It was an impressive ride."

U.S. national road champion Greg Daniel tried hard to get an Axeon Hagens Berman rider in the breakaway for the second straight day. But his early move was brought back. Eventually, seven riders did escape the field for a time, but they were also overhauled. Shortly after that, Carpenter and Companioni made their escape.

"It was a hard day," Joyce said. "Just to get the break finally established took more than an hour. Going up those climbs was definitely brutal. After that happened, it was good to settle in and it was fairly casual. But that first hour was definitely hard."

In the overall standings, Carpenter leads Companioni by 12 seconds, followed by previous race leader Kristofer Dahl (Silber Pro Cycling) in third, at 2:12. Joyce is fourth, 2:17 back. All seven of his Axeon Hagens Berman teammates are tied on time at 2:23 off the lead.

As for holding onto his special blue jersey, the 21-year-old from Pocatello, Idaho, joked when asked if he had snuck a peek ahead to Wednesday's stage.

"There's some small climb at the end, maybe a kilometer long?," Joyce said with a wry grin on his face. "No, I'm just kidding. It's Mount Nebo. It is huge. But I am excited for it; it will be good."

 

Novo Nordisk with a team of warriors in Utah

 

Team Novo Nordisk’s Javier Megias finished in 21st place as part of the main bunch.

“I was really impressed with our boys today, especially Gerd [De Keizer] and Stephen [Clancy],” Team Novo Nordisk Sport Director Pavel Cherkasov said. “They fought so hard today. They got dropped first, but then they came back; and they were fighting and fighting. I think we have warriors here on the team.”

 

Joe Dombrowski: It was pretty uncontrolled

"In some of these smaller races it's pretty uncontrolled," Joe Dombrowski, the Cannondale-Drapac leader in Utah, told Cyclingnews. "It's a lot different than racing in the WorldTour, so guys that can ride good GC sometimes jump in breakaways, and we don't really see that normally.

 

"I talked to a couple of them, like, 'Guys, we can't let you go.' They say they're not in it for GC, but you see what happened today: you give those guys five minutes and then the race can be over. I know it was a little bit annoying at the start. It was annoying for us, and it was annoying for the bunch. Everyone just wants to let the break go and we can ride, but sometimes you have to be proactive."