Nobody can tell yet where Colombia-Coldeportes’ Daniel Martinez, the youngest pro in the UCI Pro Continental circuit at 19 years of age, could get in a few years from now. What’s for sure is that his overall display at the Tour of Utah bodes very well for the latest talent of a seemingly inexhaustible Colombian school. Martines was an impressive fourth in the American race’s stage 5 won by Michael Woods (Optum), and looks eager to take over the team’s leader role from Alex Cano, who had to leave the race due to sickness.

Stage five of the Tour of Utah (89 kilometers) consisted of seven laps taking place on a tough circuit in Salt Lake City, the main venue of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Right from the gun, eight riders attacked and established a break almost immediately: Phillip Gaimon (Optum Kelly), Carson Miller (Jamis-Hagens), Travis McCabe (SmartStop), Daniel Summerhill (UnitedHealthcare), Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani), Adam Phelan (Drapac), Songezo Jim (MTN-Qhubeka) and Jack Bobridge (Budget Forklifts).

The maximum gap of the escapees didn’t exceed two minutes, with many teams coming at the front of the field in an attempt to control the group. With around 28 km to go, Songezo Jim and Stefano Pirazzi attacked their breakaway companions and built a lead of 30 seconds, at the same time as Killian Frankiny (BMC) decided to leave from the main field and try to catch the first chasing group.

It was all together with 20 kilometers remaining, but the attacks didn’t stop and in the final lap Natnael Berhane powered away from everyone else on the steep gradients of the penultimate hill. However, despite a 25-second lead, the rider of MTN-Qhubeka couldn’t go all the way and was caught inside the last two kilometers. On the final ramps leading to Utah State Capitol, Michael Woods (Optum Kelly) dug deep and thanks to a fierce acceleration was first at the line. As a result of this win, Woods also moved into the yellow jersey, while the podium was rounded-out by Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani) and Kiel Reijnen (UnitedHealthcare).

The youngest rider in the race, Colombia-Coldeportes’ Daniel Martinez was equally impressive on the uphill finish, coming home fourth. It was the best result of the season for the 19-year-old neo-pro, who is now 8th in the general classification, after starting the day in 27th place. Thanks to him, Edwin Avila and Walter Pedraza, Colombia climbed to second in the team’s standings, with two days left to go.

“It was a tough and steep drag up to the finish and I tried to come back until the final metres. Tomorrow we try again," a confident Martinez said afterwards.

Sports Director Valerio Tebaldi shares his young rider’s feeling:

“Of course it was not good news to lose Cano, but it was a due precaution for the Vuelta, after he had been sick from day 1. Anyway, I have great confidence in Pedraza, Castiblanco and Martinez, and Daniel showed once again a great degree of maturity and tactical wisdom today. I can’t wait for the last two stages to happen.”

Stage six (Salt Lake City-Snowbird, 177 km) will be the most challenging of the race, having four categorized climbs along the way: Little Mountain, Big Mountain, Guardsmans Pass and Snowbird. The last one of these is for some time now a regular in the Tour of Utah and will see the riders fight not only for the victory, but also for the general classification.