With his win at the top of Snowbird climb, Joseph Dombrowski showed he is strong and ready for the Vuelta a Espana. American Chris Horner finished 4th, 1:09 behind the Cannondale-Garmin leader. The 43-year-old rider explained he suffered a bout of asthma before Dombrowski attacked.

"I used everything I had to get back up to the wheels, and by the time I got there he was gone. I just couldn’t pull anymore. It took so much out of me just to close the gap to them again, because I had to do two accelerations: one when they went, then when I blew up and then I had to go again to come across, so we’ll see how tomorrow goes. Maybe it’s a little better", the Airgas Safeway leader said. 

But he stays confident about his chances to finish on the podium. "It’s only Froome or somebody like that, that you start writing those stories about. We’ll see what happens. [Cannondale-Garmin] will have to ride all day tomorrow. [Dombrowski] will be isolated, and tomorrow is a real tactical climb. The first part is best legs, but if you can survive that it becomes real tactical."

"If he has teammates, it’s a different story,” he said. “But if he’s isolated you can jump on those stair-step parts and easily gain a minute, minute and a half. You’ve seen it done before. But he’s clearly riding better than the rest, and we’re just going to have to have a little of luck and a little bit of tactics."