Yesterday Cadel Evans returned to competition after a mid-season break when he finished 13th in the opening stage of the Tour of Utah. The Australian was satisfied with his sensations after a pretty calm day that saw his teammates Danilo Wyss and Rick Zabel sprint to top 10 results.

Danilo Wyss finished sixth, Rick Zabel was seventh and earned the best young rider jersey and the pair combined with past Tour de France winner Cadel Evans to help the BMC Racing Team come away with the best team prize on Monday's opening stage of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. The 182.6-kilometer race that started and finished in Downtown Cedar City was won by Moreno Hofland (Belkin Pro Cycling) ahead of Jure Kocjan (Team SmartStop Pro Cycling) and Andrea Palini (Lampre-Merida).

Wyss said his season-best result came after teammate Michael Schär made a bid for the win with an attack in the final kilometer.

"Michi did a good attack, but it was a bit too fast – and with the headwind at the end, it was not possible to make it," Wyss said. "I had to fight a lot in the last kilometer to keep my position, so I was feeling a bit on the limit in the sprint."

Zabel, who matched his season-best result, said he was not thinking of going for the best young rider jersey.

"I was just trying to help Danilo in the final as much as I could with the lead out and I still had enough to get seventh," he said.

Evans, racing for the first time since the Tour de Suisse in June, finished 13th to help the BMC Racing Team take the lead in the team classification.

"Coming back into competition, you can never be quite sure where you stand," Evans said. "But the pace of the race was relatively conservative today, with the climbs, the altitude, the wind and there was a lot of headwind today. So that made it difficult for attacking and staying away. For me, that worked well. The rhythm was a bit friendly and a little bit less race-specific. And most of all, I see myself running OK. But I see the other guys also riding well and functioning well as a team."

BMC Racing Team Sport Director Jackson Stewart said he was also pleased with what he saw as the seven-day race got underway.

"We knew we had some cards to play with Zabel and Danilo in the sprint," he said. "We weren't exactly expecting to take the stage, but we wanted to do the best we could and the guys did that."