Tour of Utah unveils start list featuring van Garderen, Woods
Tour of Utah start list includes North American favorites Tejay van Garderen and Mike Woods.
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With the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah set to get underway in less than two weeks, the race unveiled a provisional start list on Thursday featuring notables like Tejay van Garderen (BMC) and Mike Woods (EF Education First-Drapac).
The seven-day event billed as “America’s Toughest Stage Race,” kicks off in St. George in southern Utah on Monday, August 6. As ever, the race features no shortage of tough climbs.
The 2018 edition of the race has drawn an impressive roster of teams, with five WorldTour squads and six Pro Continental outfits set to make the start alongside six Continental teams.
The list of riders expected to start includes several well-known North American climbers who will be in the running for the overall victory, as well as all three reigning U.S. national champions in the road race, time trial, and criterium.
Rob Britton, who claimed the overall win in 2017 will return to defend his title at the head of a Rally team that also includes crit champ Ty Magner and Evan Huffman. They will have their hands full against the abundance of WorldTour talent in attendance.
BMC will mount a formidable GC challenge with van Garderen and Brent Bookwalter. This year’s race will mark van Garderen’s first appearance in Utah since 2011 when he won the stage 3 time trial. Reigning American TT champion Joey Rosskopf is also set to make the start for BMC.
Woods and 2015 Tour of Utah overall winner Joe Dombrowski will headline an EF squad that also includes the punchy Alex Howes.
LottoNL-Jumbo will have both Sepp Kuss and Neilson Powless in the mix — both Americans finished in the top 10 last year, with Powless taking home best young rider honors. Mitchelton-Scott is bringing a stable of promising youngsters, including 2017 Baby Giro runner-up Lucas Hamilton, along with veteran Cameron Meyer. Trek-Segafredo’s line up will feature American talents Peter Stetina and Kiel Reijnen.
Other notables set to attend include U.S. national road champion Jonathan Brown (Hagens Berman Axeon), Utah native and GC contender TJ Eisenhart (Holowesko-Citadel), former stage winners Lachlan Norris and Travis McCabe (United-Healthcare), Tour of Austria winner Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy), and last year’s king of the mountains, Jacob Rathe (Jelly Belly-Maxxis).