Tour of Utah: Lill runs alone to Mt. Nebo

It was nearly déjà vu in the finale of stage 2 at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Wednesday as Darren Lill (Team Type 1) sped away from a select group of chasers on the climb to Mt. Nebo. Lill was not to be denied the stage win as he was by Garmin’s Blake Caldwell in stage 2 in 2008, staying away on the slopes of the highest point in the Wasatch for the solo win.

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Results

By Brian Holcombe

2009 Tour of Utah, stage 2: Lill celebrates his win.

Photo: Casey B. Gibson

It was nearly déjà vu in the finale of stage 2 at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Wednesday as Darren Lill (Team Type 1) sped away from a select group of chasers on the climb to Mt. Nebo. Lill was not to be denied the stage win as he was by Garmin’s Blake Caldwell in stage 2 in 2008, staying away on the slopes of the highest point in the Wasatch for the solo win.

“I’ve been looking for a win this year for a long time. I was praying the whole way,” said the South African who turned 27 on Thursday. “It’s great to win any race, especially a mountain top finish like this. It’s quite an epic one, and to be able to win solo is rewarding, especially after such a long effort.”

Overall leader Francisco Mancebo (Rock Racing) finished second, holding onto his overall lead by 35 seconds ahead of Lill. Defending champion Jeff Louder (BMC) finished third and sits 40 seconds behind Mancebo.

A beautiful morning for a bike race

The western sun burned high Wednesday morning as Stage 2 rolled out of Thanksgiving Point. Temperatures climbed toward 90 degrees early in the stage and after a tense stage 1, the bunch was eager to see a breakaway established early. A group of eight was equally enthusiastic to oblige and rolled away 15 kilometers into the 123-kilometer stage.

2009 Tour of Utah, stage 2: Rock Racing on the front,

Photo: Casey B. Gibson

The break consisted of Ben Day and Ben King (Fly V), Will Dugan (Team Type 1), Jonathan Garcia (BMC), Jared Gilyard (RideClean), Frank Pipp (Bissell), Taylor Shelden (Felt-Holowesko) and Bobby Sweeting (Land Rover-Orbea). Day was the best-placed rider in the general classification at 1:56, which the team directors accepted, and the group was off.

Meanwhile, Mancebo’s Rock teammates set tempo at the front of the field as the race rolled through fields of wheat and corn before giving way to the apple orchards of Spanish Fork. Rock undertook a hard chase in the final 20 kilometers before the climb, decreasing the gap from a maximum 3:50 to 1:45 when the leaders reached the climb

Day, King, Garcia and Pipp quickly shed their companions on the climb. Pipp eventually fell off the pace as well, followed by Garcia, as the chasing peloton bore down on the remnants of the breakaway.

OUCH-Maxxis drives, Lill turns it on

OUCH moved eight riders to the front of the group at the base of the climb. As they ratcheted the pace up, the peloton began to splinter and when Brad White rode his polka dot jersey to the front 10 kilometers into the climb, he drove the wedge deeper, reducing the front group to a handful of the top climbers.

“We took control right away and that was our plan,” OUCH’s Chris Baldwin. “Every guy on the team sold out 100 percent and rode for the GC guys. It was all OUCH.”

2009 Tour of Utah, stage 2: Louder leads the final selection up a very scenic climb to Mt Nebo

Photo: Casey B. Gibson

White dropped off the pace and soon after, Lill shattered the race with a gritty attack 20 kilometers from the finish. “I decided to go early – it was a bit risky, you know,” Lill said. “You always stand the risk of blowing and it’s difficult to gauge your effort over such a long climb.”

Louder and Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing) led the initial reaction, but could not bring the Aussie back. “I made a decision-slash-couldn’t follow and so he (Lill) and Sevilla went away,” Louder said. “I just sat back and essentially Sevilla couldn’t follow either.”

The attack reduced what became the first chase group to a handful of riders that included Baldwin, Louder, Mancebo, Sevilla, Matthew Busche (Kelly Benefit Strategies), Anthony Colby (Colavita-Sutter Home), Patrick McCarty (OUCH), Burke Swindlehurst (Bissell), Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Slipstream) and Phil Zajicek (Fly V).

Rock down and not out

As Lill hung between 30 and 45 seconds ahead of the chase group with 8 kilometers to go, Baldwin, Louder and McCarty unloaded on the group with a series of brutal accelerations that shed Zabriskie and Swindlehurst and put Mancebo, Sevilla and Zajicek into serious difficulty. The attacks gapped the trio multiple times before they drew the chase back in the final kilometers.

“You could tell (Mancebo and Sevilla) were really struggling, but they have so much experience and they have so much over-the-top power, you know,” Louder said. “You get a gap on them and they just wind it up and bring you back on the false flats and descents.”

2009 Tour of Utah, stage 2: Mancebo held on to the leader’s jersey.

Photo: Casey B. Gibson

As the chasers battled, Lill grew his advantage to as much as 1:15 on the rolling terrain atop the Nebo Loop, but as the chase group reached the upper heights of the climb, they pulled the leader back over a series of short descents and steep ramps.

His lead dwindling, Lill poured it on to the finish, conserving energy where he could and pushing hard on the ascents, to hold on for the win. Louder leapt away from the chase group with 500 meters remaining, scrambling to gain time on his rivals ahead of the stage 3 time trial. Louder distanced the group before the final ascent, but Mancebo bridged and passed him for a four-second advantage on the stage.

Gentlemen, start your engines

Friday’s 9.2-mile individual time trial rolls on the flat roads and banked corners of the Miller Motorsports Park and favors the specialists like Zabriskie and Tom Zirbel (Bissell). Louder is an apt time trialer and a strong ride could move him into the overall lead heading into the penultimate stage to Snowbird.