Coming off his amazing win at the Leadville 100 just days before the start of the Tour of Utah, I figured Levi was just in it for the experience, but he came in with the intent of taking the yellow and helping raise the status of the race in the process. With someone like Levi taking the overall victory, other high-caliber riders will hopefully jump in for 2011 and beyond.

Congratulations to Levi Leipheimer for coming to Utah and putting the hurt on the field! Come again next year!

Photo by Eric Schramm.

Considering the machine that is Levi Leipheimer, check out the following video from Sunday’s crushing 103 mile stage. This was after 100 miles and over 10,000 ft of climbing under his legs already!

And, you can see Levi and stage-winner Jai Crawford take it to the finish line at Snowbird with Jai edging out Levi for the stage victory.

More Info: Visit TourofUtah.com

Before the gun went off, all the leaders and big names in the race were brought to the front for all of us to see. Big George Hincapie, young phenom Taylor Phinney, last year’s winner Francisco Mancebo Perez and the man who just last Saturday crushed the field in the Leadville 100, Levi Leipheimer were stacked at the starting line for photo ops. It was cool.

We all cheered and my oldest daughter clanged the cowbell as the racers lapped us twice and then headed South towards 11,928 ft. Mt Nebo. Following the race on Twitter, I got the news of George Hincapie’s crash and trip to the hospital (completely bummed for the man) and then followed as the climb progressed. Levi seemingly came out of nowhere to catch the lead group and then simply blow past everyone for a 0:51 victory over Francisco Mancebo Perez.

Great to have the Tour of Utah running strong again this year. I’m looking forward to seeing if Levi can continue his performance with the time trial, criterium and the agonizing Queen stage yet to come. Good luck!

The full race recap and results are below:

SALT LAKE CITY – August 19, 2010 – A dramatic mountain top finish in the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah’s second stage, the XanGo Thanksgiving Point to Mt. Nebo road race, ended with Levi Leipheimer standing atop the podium in the AT&T Leaders Jersey.

The day started on the doorstep of the stage sponsor XanGo’s world headquarters with a neutral roll out. As soon as the group hit the official start line riders were immediately trying to breakaway. At one point, the peloton was strung out in a long fast paceline. Eventually a group of about 16 riders managed to breakaway.

As the race wound its way through a small canyon, around mile 40, U.S. national road champion George Hincapie of BMC Racing Team and 15-time Tour de France finisher crashed and abandoned the race. He sustained abrasions to the right side of his head and shoulder and received 18 stitches to close a cut on his right knee.

Near the base of the foreboding 20-mile climb up cloud-covered Mount Nebo, the breakaway group was caught as they started their way uphill. Riders soon were dropped as the strong climbers made their way to the front.

Darren Lill of Fly V Australia made a move early on, wreaking havoc on the rest of the field. He pushed his lead to as much as 40 seconds before being caught by a group of four riders, which included former Tour of Utah Champion Francisco Mancebo of Canyon Bicycles, Levi Leipheimer of Mellow Johnny’s, Ian Boswell of BISSELL Pro Cycling Team and Philip Zajicek of Fly V Australia.

As this lead group neared the summit, Mancebo accelerated, which Leipheimer matched and eventually attacked Mancebo to breakaway for a solo win by 52 seconds. Leipheimer finished the 70-mile course with a time of 3 hours, 11 minutes and 43 seconds. Boswell finished third, and was assigned the same time as Mancebo.

“I just tried to not go too far over my limit and keep it steady. I knew those behind were hurting and they weren’t working together well,” said Leipheimer. “I came here to win a stage and I saw the opportunity, so I took it”

Steve Miller, Tour of Utah president stated, “I think it is pretty conceivable that this might go down as the most exciting stage in America this year. Could we have scripted a better ending? Nature sure added to the drama and suspense of an already close race by rolling in those dark clouds over Nebo. It looked like it was going to open up a deluge any minute.”

With the stage win, Leipheimer took the AT&T Yellow Leader’s jersey from Trek-LIVESTRONG’s Alex Dowsett. Dowsett also lost the Utah Toyota Dealers King of the Mountains Jersey to Mancebo, and the Powerade/vitaminwater Best Young Riders Jersey to Boswell.

Yesterday’s stage winner, Fly V Australia’s David Tanner Tanner still has the XO Communications Sprinter Jersey, and his teammate Darren Lill is now wearing the Siegfried & Jensen Best Utah Rider’s Jersey, instead of Jeff Louder of BMC Racing Team.

The top five general classification riders were split between less than two minutes, Leipheimer ending with a total time of 6:40:36, Mancebo with 6:41:32, Boswell and Lill with 6:41:52 and Philip Zajicek of Fly V Australia with 6:42:10.

In the overall team competition, the top five in order are Fly V Australia, Team Holowesko Partners, On The Rivet presented by Ion Sports Nutrition, BMC Racing Team, and BISSELL Pro Cycling Team.

“I think Utah has fantastic roads, really tough climbs and it is the perfect place for a bike race.” continued Leipheimer. “I would really like to see the race grow in the next couple years. I think it would complement the new Tour of Colorado race very well and then together they can become the two August high-altitude big stage races that attract the worlds top riders. I think the Tour of Utah is doing well and growing, and that’s what’s important.”

Photos within release section are by Eric Schramm.

More Info: Visit TourofUtah.com

SALT LAKE CITY – March 8, 2010 – Steve Miller, president of the 2010 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah cycling race, confirmed that August 17-22 are the official dates of the USA Cycling sanctioned pro race. In addition, Zions Bank is returning as presenting sponsor of the Tour for the fourth year (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010). Dubbed as America’s Toughest Stage Race, the tour will consist of a prologue and five stages covering some of this country’s most breathtaking terrain throughout central and northern Utah.

“I am pleased to be able to confirm the August 2010 dates for this year’s race,” said Steve Miller. “We had such an enthusiastic response to the 2009 event that local communities along the course are excited to see the Tour return, and last year’s participants have provided feedback on how to make the race even tougher. In addition, based on last year’s success, all existing sponsors have chosen to return making increased commitments to the race through cash, trade, advertising and marketing.”

Once again, the Tour of Utah is on the official National Racing Calendar (NRC). The six-day stage race will begin with The Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau Prologue on Tuesday, August 17 and end Sunday, August 22 with the legendary Park City to Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort “Queen” stage.

The remaining five stages will include the University of Utah Health Care Ogden to Research Park road race, the Heiden Davidson Orthopedics criterium in downtown Park City, the teamgive time trial at Miller Motorsports Park, and the XANGO Thanksgiving Point to Top of Mt. Nebo road race. Race route details will be announced soon.

Additional sponsors include: Utah Toyota Dealers Association, KJZZ 14, 1320 KFAN, POWERADE, Glacéau vitaminwater, FFKR Architects, Bingham Cyclery, First Endurance, Canyon Bicycles, PROBAR, I.J. and Jeanne’ Wagner Jewish Community Center, Sheraton Downtown Salt Lake City, Edge Composites, City of Ogden, and Shimano.

“The support we receive from Zions Bank, as well as the rest of our sponsors, is important to the success of the Tour of Utah,” continued Miller. “Zions Bank has a long legacy of participation in our community and its name is synonymous with hard work, commitment and success, which are the same values Tour participants embody.”

“Zions Bank is committed to the communities in which we do business,” said Rob Brough, executive vice president, marketing/communications Zions Bank. “The Tour of Utah is one of our country’s premier cycling events which showcases this great state, our culture and our people. Zions Bank is proud to take part in this spectacular event.”

The Tour of Utah will also include a non-competitive ride for enthusiast cyclists the Saturday before called “The Ultimate Challenge.” Detailed information for The Ultimate Challenge will be released soon.

For more information about the Tour, please visit www.tourofutah.com.

About the 2010 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah
Deemed “America’s Toughest Tour,” the 2010 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah presented by Zions Bank, is a six-day, seven-stage, 300-mile plus professional bicycle road race along the Rocky Mountain’s Wasatch Range through some of Utah’s most beautiful and challenging landscapes. Scheduled to take place August 17-22, 2010, the Tour of Utah will attract 17 professional cycling teams totaling 136 cyclists competing for a cash/prize purse of $45,000. The 2010 Tour of Utah will be accompanied by a colorful, rolling festival celebration that will take place at the finish line of each stage. More than 30,000 spectators are expected to line the racecourse and attend the festivals in Ogden, Park City, Provo, Salt Lake City and Tooele, and 60,000-plus race fans are expected to follow online.

From the mouth of American Fork Canyon, the route took riders through Alpine, Highland and then over the top of Suncrest. Not over yet, the race continues down Draper and then onto Sandy and up Little Cottonwood to Snowbird.

Our tale of seeing the race first-hand was a bit of a boondoggle.  Hauling the kids, things got later than planned as we reached the mouth of American Fork Canyon too late… it was closed. A quick U-turn and a slip through some neighborhoods in Highland set us up for a front-row view of the last groups of riders.

From there it was decision time.  We had planned to camp out at the top of Suncrest, but quickly realized we would have gotten shut down by the police there, so the decision was made to head to Sandy and catch the initial climb up Wasatch Blvd. Zipping through Draper and Sandy, we hopped just in front of the lead motorcycle and got in position with 10 minutes to spare. Perfect!

Perched on the grass in the shade (very welcomed on a record-breaking 101-degree day), we got front-row seats as the riders began the ascent towards Little Cottonwood Canyon.

The Breakaway, The Chase and The Climb

The breakaway group (below) on the final ascent, contained the eventual #1, #2 and #4 finishers for the stage, Alex Howes of Garmin/Felt and Burke Swindlehurst of Bissell Pro Cycling and Darren Lill of Team Type1. We watched as this group of 8 riders spank the initial climb towards Little Cottonwood–not knowing who among the group would win. After digging through the photos, it was interesting to look at the timestamps of the photos.

The breakaway group was an even 5 minutes ahead of the chase group, which contained race leader Francisco Mancebo. 5 minutes! I was amazed to find out the final results with Mancebo placing 3rd in the stage. Not to take anything away from Howes, Swindlehurst and Lill because they stayed the course and finished strong, but Mancebo definitely deserves the yellow jersey as he somehow dumped the chase group behind, passed 6 of the 8 riders in the lead group and pulled within 1:23 of Howes in front. That means he gained over 3:30 on Howes up the grueling climb to Snowbird… amazing!

Mancebo appeared to have a smile on his face (above) sitting on the heels of his teammates… I suppose they deserve some of the credit for his 3rd-place finish on the stage as well. Rock Racing is on all cylinders this year.

More Info: Visit TourofUtah.com

The man in yellow, Francisco Mancebo, was strutting the yellow jersey. The grueling 20 mile climb up the Mt. Nebo Loop will be the judge as to whether or not the Rock Racing stud will be golden this afternoon. Other teams are swarming and ready to help their best climbers make it to the top of the Loop.

It was fun listening to Mr. Cycling, Bob Roll, give commentary this morning as the riders lined up at the start. The vibe is strong and interest in road racing is getting stronger again here in the States, thanks to Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer and Utahn David Zabriskie. I just noticed that Zabriskie’s profile now contains a Livestrong armband and he is also riding solo at the Tour of Utah… could he be leaving Garmin-Slipstream to join Lance and Levi on Team RadioShack? Hmmm…

Great racing ahead… stay tuned for updates as the stage rolls on.

More Info: Follow @TheTourofUtah on Twitter

After Big Mountain, it was a fast sprint down Emigration Canyon with a finish at Research Park at the University of Utah. Temperatures were hot today and riders endured the beat-down sun and a difficult course.

Winning the stage was taken by Francisco Mancebo Perez of Rock Racing and 2nd place was taken by teammate and fellow Spaniard, Oscar Sevilla. With the stage win, Mancebo rides into tomorrow’s difficult Mt. Nebo stage with a target on his back and the yellow jersey.

Local rider and last year’s winner, Jeff Louder (BMC Racing) and fellow Utahn David Zabriske (Garmin-Slipstream) both finished 25 seconds off the winning pace to put them 34 and 32 seconds behind in the General Classification standings.

View Results: See Stage 1 Official Results and the GC Standings

Download: Tour of Utah 09 Stage1 Profile (PDF)

Photo Credit: Jonathan Decich

The pro team lineup looks strong with a few notable riders including: Floyd Landis,  local rider and 2008 Tour of Utah winner, Jeff Louder and other national and international riders.

I will definitely be on-hand for the Park City to Snowbird stage and hopefully the Thanksgiving Point to Mt. Nebo stage as well since both of them pass right on by my house. Get out and cheer on these pro teams as they tour our great state.

More Info: Visit TourofUtah.com