USA Pro Challenge 2014: Howes wins Stage 7, van Garderen earns overall honours

Garmin-Sharp’s Alex Howes won the seventh and final stage of the USA Pro Challenge Sunday in an exciting bunch sprint against fellow Colorado rider Kiel Reijnen of UnitedHealthcare.

BMC’s Tejay van Garderen came sixth on the stage, finishing with the same time as the winner to maintain his advantage in the general classification and win the overall race for the second year in a row.

The short, 126-km stage ran from Boulder to Denver, climbing Lookout Mountain before descending into the city for three and a half laps on a flat circuit.

From the start, crosswinds buffeted the pack, leading to some fast and aggressive racing.

Thirty kilometres in, fans and officials held their collective breath when Jamis-Hagens Berman rider Ian Crane came a cropper, crashing through the windshield of the Cannondale car as he made his way through the caravan after changing bikes. Crane was airlifted to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries where he remains, now, in stable condition.

As the race continued, a large group established a lead with Tiago Machado of NetApp-Endura, Michael Rogers of Tinkoff-Saxo, Caleb Fairly of Garmin-Sharp, Cannondale’s Cameron Wurf, Adam Phelan of Drapac, Jonathon Clarke of UnitedHealthcare, Novo-Nordisk’s Javier Megas, Hugh Carthy of Rapha-Condor, Jesse Anthony of Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies, Jamis-Hagens Berman’s Matt Cooke, Jonathon Freter of Jelly Belly presented by Maxxis, Ruben Zepuntke of Bissel and Trek’s Jens Voigt, who was riding the last race of his career, included in the group.

The break split over the top of Lookout Mountain, leaving just Voigt, Rogers, Megas, Zepuntke and Machado in the lead.

Behind, the peloton also broke, leaving most of the sprinters out of contention.

With 30 km to go, Voigt set off from the group in his well-known fashion, caution thrown to the wind. Only Megas could follow and together the two worked up an advantage.

They held out for the first two and a half circuits in Denver, but by the time they reached the final bell, with 10 km to go, the Garmin-Sharp lead peloton was hot on their heels.

Voigt’s teammate Riccardo Zoidl countered as the two were caught, quickly gaining a lead as the peloton looked around.

Pawel Poljanski of Tinkoff-Saxo set off in pursuit, bridging to Zoidl, 20 seconds in front of the peloton.

BMC wanted the stage win however and, with a few kilometres to go, they set up the chase. They made the catch under the 2-km-to-go banner, looking in control as the race approached the finish.

Then, in the last bend, they were overtaken on the inside. Reijnen jumped first, swerving around van Garderen to lead to the last 100 metres, where Howes overtook him, dodging through a tiny gap by the barriers to take the win with a final lunge to the line. BMC’s Michael Schär had to settle for third.

The prize for the day’s most aggressive rider went to Jens Voigt. “I was trying to be a professional to my last minute on the bike.  I knew that there was a fair chance that a break would go and I made sure I was in that break. I just tried to be a force to be reckoned with until the last moment on the bike. I was trying one last time, gave it a go, and I missed again a few kilometres, but hey, I can’t change that. Now there’s no more suffering, no more stress, no more risk of crashing. [Today was] one more time to show myself, one more time to give it all I have, and now I have a one big, large, long holiday ahead of me,” the charismatic German said after the race.

The GC podium remained unchanged. Van Garderen preserved the 1:30 advantage he held going into the stage over second-place Tom Danielson of Garmin-Sharp. Serghei Tvetcov of Jelly Belly presented by Maxxis, remained in third, 1:45 back.

Ben Jacques-Maynes of Jamis-Hagens Berman won the mountains classification, while Reijnen earned the sprinters’ jersey. Bissel’s Clement Chevrier was the best young rider.

Canadian Rob Britton finished 38th on the stage to earn 26th place overall for his SmartStop team. His teammate and fellow Canadian Zach Bell was 69th on the day and 71st overall.

The other Canadian in the race, Ryan Anderson of Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies, finished 52nd on the stage to end the race 35th in the general classification.