Tour of Utah will expand beyond the state’s borders in 2014
Seven-stage race will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a collection of new stages, including a mountaintop finish at Powder Mountain
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The Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah will expand beyond the Beehive State’s borders for the first time in 2014, featuring a stage start in Wyoming midway through the seven-day race. On Tuesday organizers announced the host cities for the Aug. 4-10 race, which will start in Cedar City and finish in Park City, and confirmed that Jelly Belly-Maxxis would be among the teams to contest the 10th edition of the event.
For the second consecutive year, the Tour of Utah will start in the state’s southern reaches and work its way north toward the overall finish in the Wasatch Mountains. New stages for the race include a stage 4 mountainous run from Ogden to the Powder Mountain ski area and a penultimate stage from Salt Lake City to Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort atop Little Cottonwood Canyon. The race’s fifth stage will start in Evanston, Wyoming, and finish in Kamas, Utah.
”Each year the Tour of Utah has the opportunity to break new ground by showcasing the sport to different parts of the state, and our selection of host cities and venues in 2014 is no exception,” Miller Sports Properties president Steve Miller said in a press release. “The addition of a seventh day of racing allows us to expand to new territories like Powder Mountain and Evanston, Wyoming, as well as build upon the tremendous racing we experienced in southern Utah last year and our traditional finish in Park City. We are genuinely excited to bring the Tour of Utah to these communities and thank them for supporting the race.”
After hosting the finish of stage 1 in 2013, Cedar City will be the site of the start and finish of the race’s opening leg. Back in the race for a second year are Panguitch and Torrey, which will play host to the start and finish of stage 2, respectively.
The race will travel into the Oquirrh Mountains southwest of Salt Lake City during stage 3, with a start in Lehi and a finish at the Miller Motorsports Park, home to the team time trial in previous editions of the race.
The Powder Mountain finale for stage 4 will be of the mountaintop variety, with a finish at the ski area above the Weber Valley. The next day, the race will cross the border into southwestern Wyoming for a start in Evanston. The Uinta Mountains and Mirror Lake Scenic Highway stand between the start and the finish in Kamas, east of Park City.
The Snowbird stage will offer a new route on the race’s sixth day. With a start at the University of Utah campus in the capital city, organizers are billing the penultimate day as the race’s queen stage. The stage has previously started in Park City and Snowbasin before climbing the 6.5-kilometer, 9.2-percent Little Cottonwood Canyon to Snowbird.
Empire Pass is back on the menu for the third consecutive year, with the final stage starting and finishing in Park City.
Organizers previously confirmed the participation of five UCI ProTeams: Belkin, BMC Racing, Garmin-Sharp, Orica-GreenEdge, and Trek Factory Racing. Jelly Belly, home to U.S. champion Fred Rodriguez, is the sixth team to be named.
2014 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, Aug. 4-10
Stage 1: Cedar City
Stage 2: Panguitch — Torrey
Stage 3: Lehi — Miller Motorsports Park
Stage 4: Ogden — Powder Mountain
Stage 5: Evanston, Wyo. — Kamas
Stage 6: Salt Lake City — Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort
Stage 7: Park City