By Rich Winter
For seven delicious laps, cycling fans in Utah were treated to a battle royale. Each time the riders approached the start/finish line, they were subject to a steep climb, followed by several hundred yards of an inclined pitch that left just about every rider gasping for breath.
Every rider except Team Optum’s Michael Woods.
Woods stayed with the pack most of the day, but attacked with 200 meters remaining for a 10-meter margin of victory. He not only earned the stage victory, but he also wrestled the yellow jersey from overall leader, Team Smartstop’s Jure Kocjan.
“Originally we thought this would be more of a sprint finish for my teammate, Eric Young, who won yesterday,” Woods said. “But the pitch at the finish was so steep that Eric turned to me and said, ‘This is your day.’”
As it turned out, Woods had to bide his time throughout the seven-lap, 55-mile course, riding comfortably behind his Optum teammates.
When the final incline to the finish approached, no one could match Woods’ acceleration.
“I tried to be in the best position as possible until I hit it out,” Woods said. “I hit it out with maybe 200 meters to go. It was a tough last 200 meters, but I managed to hold the rest of the peloton off.”
With the 10-second bonus for winning the stage, Woods vaulted into the yellow jersey as the overall tour leader. BMC’s Brent Bookwalter is second, four seconds back, with Kocjan third at five seconds back. UnitedHealthcare’s Kiel Reijnen finished third in the stage and vaulted himself from eighth to fourth in the overall standings.
Woods says he’s ready for the vaunted Stage 6 that finishes at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort.
“I didn’t expect to be in yellow going into the stage tomorrow, I thought I’d be trying to get into yellow on Saturday,” he said. “You can never plan these things and you always want to seize a win when you get that opportunity.”
While the rain that was expected to make an already challenging course even more challenging held off until just after the race finished, it did take a toll.
During the awards ceremony, an individual was injured when the truss at the start/finish line was blown over.
“Shortly after the conclusion of the race, the high winds associated with the storm caused the truss at the start/finish line to be blown over on 500 north,” Frank Zane, Tour of Utah spokesman, said. “The race had been completed and the awards ceremony was taking place on the main stage when the incident occurred. One individual sustained injuries and was taken immediately to the University of Utah.”
With 30 riders still within one minute of the overall lead, Saturday’s Salt Lake City to Snowbird stage figures to separate the contenders. Stage 6 of the Tour of Utah features 107 miles of riding, 13,000 feet of climbing and an agonizing climb to the base of Snowbird to complete the day’s action.