Logan Owen (Axeon) took a breakthrough victory when he came out on top in a very close sprint at the end of the third stage of the Tour of Utah. After a late attack from Dion Smith (Hincapie) was neutralized less than 10m from the finish line, he managed to come around Brent Bookwalter (BMC) and with a perfect bike throw, he was able to take the win. Kiel Reijnen (Unitedhealthcare) had to settle for seventh but defended his overall lead.

Since he finished fourth at the Junior World Championships two years ago, Logan Owen has been regarded as one of the biggest American talents. However, the elusive breakthrough victory has always escaped him and no one had mentioned him as one to watch for the Tour of Utah which has gathered a strong field for a week of hard racing.

After today’s stage, Owen’s name will be known by a lot more after he took a hugely surprising win on the third day of racing in the mountainous race. The Axeon rider beat riders who are usually a faster than him when he handled the reduced bunch sprint in a perfect way to beat Brent Bookwalter and Edwin Avila (Colombia) into the minor podium positions.

“I knew that I had won, but I couldn’t believe it,” said Owen, who is a three-time Under 23 USA cyclocross national champion. “I was trying to stay as far ahead as possible because I knew that it was fast and a little dangerous. I was making sure that I was up there for the finish and it worked out perfectly.

“It was just all reaction. When I crossed the line I didn’t really believe I had won the race. … I don’t want to be known as just the cyclocross guy.”