Selfless contributor and team captain Jonny Clarke shocked spectators and the world’s best climbers alike as he climbed into 4th place for the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team among the slopes of the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area on the 2nd stage of the USA Pro Challenge.

The stage began 114.7 miles away in Steamboat Springs, from which the riders climbed Rabbit Ears Pass, through the town of Kremmling and around the Green Mountain Reservoir. Danny Summerhill fought his way into the day’s breakaway of ten riders early on, taking the pressure off of his teammates for the majority of the race. When two more riders joined, the large and powerful breakaway was able to build an advantage of over 5 minutes ahead of the chasing peloton. As the race traveled through the town of Parshall and over gravel roads towards Silverthorne, the breakaway’s advantage began to slowly shrink. From Dillon, the road tilted up again and the race began to explode with dropped riders and attacks coming out of the breakaway group as they climbed Loveland Pass towards the finish.

The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team worked to position Janez Brajkovič and Jonny Clarke for the final climb, knowing that the crosswinds would take a toll on unprotected riders. A small group of the race’s strongest climbers took up the main chase to bring back the breakaway, which was then down to only a few riders.

Jonny Clarke, wearing the red polka dotted King of the Mountains jersey from the previous day’s performance, was present in the group, calm and collected as the pace quickened and the pitch steepened. The chase group overtook the breakaway in the final kilometers and the extremely reduced field exploded once again with attacks. Clarke followed moved after move and came across the line 4th on the day, beating some of the world’s strongest climbers along the way. Teammate Janez Brajkovič also had a solid ride, landing 16th on the challenging stage.

Jonny Clarke’s consistent riding over the first two stages moved him into 3rd overall in the general classification after stage 2.

General manager and sporting director Mike Tamayo commented, “Days like today are great when the team all races together for a common goal and sacrifices for one rider. It’s not everyday the team gets to sacrifice for their team captain, who normally sacrifices his chances for any one of his teammates. It’s exciting to see a rider like Jonny, who is the ultimate team player, end up forth on a hard stage like this and third in the general classification.”

The racing continues on today’s stage 3, an iconic 101-mile route starting in Copper Mountain, over Freemont Pass, along the shores of Turquoise Lake, through the town of Leadville, then finally over the daunting yet beautiful Independence Pass before dropping into the streets of Aspen.