After a hot day of racing through northern Utah’s farm country, Team SmartStop’s Jure Kocjan outsprinted Robin Carpenter and Brent Bookwalter to win the second stage of the Tour of Utah on Tuesday. Kocjan was part of a select group that survived the steep climb up North Ogden Divide to contest the finish in downtown Ogden. Race leader Kiel Reijnen also made the selection and successfully defended his yellow jersey.
“I was the last guy who made the front group over the climb,” Kocjan said. “I just looked down and prayed to make the first group.” Once the group was clear, Kocjan put his team on the front. “I told my teammates just to go, because I knew there weren’t too many good sprinters in the front.”
As the race doubled back through the start town of Tremonton, MTN-Qhubeka’s Jay Robert Thomson ignited the day’s early breakaway. Four riders soon joined the party—Dan Eaton (Axeon Cycling Team), Pierrick Naud (Optum-Kelly Benefits), MacKenzie Brennan (Hincapie Racing Team), and perennial-escapist Ben Jacques-Maynes (Jamis-Hagens Berman). The group worked together smoothly, and at its peak, their advantage was around three minutes.
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Once the race reached the climb, the breakaway’s advantage dwindled rapidly. Seeing his companions begin to flag, Eaton forged on ahead and before long, he was alone at the front. A member of the talented Axeon squad, Eaton is the current U23 time trial national champion. His ride in the breakaway served to put Axeon in the headlines but also to defend the KOM jersey that teammate Gregory Daniel won Monday. Eaton rode hard on the climb to prevent against challenges to Daniel’s mountains lead.
As the gradient steepened, splits began to open in the main field behind Eaton. Though relatively short, the North Ogden Divide climb summits at over 1,800 meters and hits gradients above 10 percent. Many of the sprinters slid off the back, but Kocjan, Carpenter, and race leader Reijnen all made the selection.
Just short of the climb’s summit, BMC Racing’s Bookwalter made his move. The BMC team came to Utah with seven riders and no designated team leader, and Bookwalter said after the stage that he always enjoys the chance to race for himself. “We didn’t really have a script that we were shooting for,” he said. “Every guy is free to take his chance, which is really nice.” On Monday, Taylor Phinney played his card in the finishing circuits in Logan, Utah. On Tuesday, it was Bookwalter’s turn.
As he began the descent toward downtown Ogden, Bookwalter made it across the gap to Eaton, and the two riders entered the downtown finishing circuits together. Bookwalter had hoped to lure a few strong riders into joining his move, because two riders trying to stay away for 30 kilometers is a big ask. A headwind in the finishing circuits also tilted the advantage to the chase.
At that point, a selection of around 40 riders remained in the main field behind Bookwalter and Eaton. As they entered the finishing circuits, the chase powered by UnitedHealthcare and Team SmartStop swept up the two leading riders and it was all back together.
Into the final lap, the battle for positioning began among the sprinters’ teams. BMC Racing went to the front through the backstretch in support of Bookwalter. The field flew through the final right-hand turn with SmartStop on the front and Kojcan, who’s twice finished second in stages at the Tour of Utah, powered across the line to take the stage victory.
“Yesterday we had expectations, but somehow I wasn’t the best,” Kocjan said. “I didn’t have a good day. After dinner, I went to my room and thought about the day. I was super motivated and angry and [today] I just tried to get over the climb.”
Behind Kocjan, Hincapie Racing’s Carpenter finished second. Carpenter, 23, won a stage of the U.S. Pro Cycling Challenge last summer and is one of American racing’s up-and-coming talents. Bookwalter took third and scored BMC Racing’s second podium finish in a row.
UnitedHealthcare’s Kiel Reijnen still leads the overall by four seconds over Alex Howes (Cannondale-Garmin). Thanks to the time bonus at Tuesday’s finish, Jure Kocjan moves up to third overall.
With the exception of the North Ogden Divide, the majority of the stage ran over flat terrain between the small farm town of Tremonton and the city of Ogden. The route reflected Ogden’s history as a railway crossroads as it passed not far from the ceremonial Golden Spike, which was the final spike driven in construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad.
Wednesday’s stage runs from Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake to the city of Bountiful. It’s an up-and-down stage, though none of the climbs look especially selective on paper. It’ll take a well-timed attack to foil the sprinters, but the finishing circuit in Bountiful has a nice launch pad just inside the last 15 kilometers. Watch for UnitedHealthcare to ride hard in Reijnen’s defense, but they’ll have their work cut out for them to keep the race together.
