Peter Sagan (Cannondale) finished the USA Pro Challenge just as he begun the race the race on Monday: by winning a bunch sprint. The Slovakian came around Ryan Anderson (Optum) just before the finish line in Denver and so took his fourth stage win in the 7-day race. Tejay van Garderen (BMC) made it safely across the line to win the race overall ahead of teammate Mathias Frank and Tom Danielson (Garmin-Sharp).

Peter Sagan has been totally dominant in the sprint stages of the US Pro Challenge and he ended the race by underlining his superiority once again. In the flat circuit race in downtown Denver that brought the big Colorado race to an end, he took another convincing sprint win, his fourth in the 7-day race.

The Slovakian had used his Cannondale team to keep the day's 7-rider breakaway under control and when it came down to the expected sprint finish, he kept his calm in the hectic finale. Having been led out by teammate Damiano Caruso, he reacted swiftly when Ryan Anderson tried to anticipate the sprint by launching his kick from afar. He got into the slipstream of the Canadian and finally came around his rival with apparent ease just before the line. Alessandro Bazzana (UnitedHealthCare) finished a distant third.

With the win, Sagan took a convincing win in the points competition and so added another green jersey to his large collection that already includes two such jerseys in the Tour de France. He has now set his sights on the WorldTour races in Canada that will be his final preparation for the world championships.

Tejay van Garderen finished off a week's work in the perfect fashion when he safely made it across the line in the peloton. Hence, he took the overall win in the second of the two big American stage races, having already won the Tour of California this year. On the back of a disappointing Tour de France, the win goes a long way in making up for his unsatisfactory performance in France.

In what was a BMC dominance, Mathias Frank finished 2nd while recent Tour of Utah winner Tom Danielson completed the podium. Matt Cooke (Jamis) took a deserved win in the mountains competition while Lachlan Morton (Garmin) ended as best young rider.

UCI racing in North American continues in a week's time with the new Canadian stage race, Tour of Alberta which precedes the two WorldTour one-day races in Quebec and Montreal.

A flat circuit

As usual, the USA Pro Challenge finished in Denver and as it had been the case in the inaugural edition in 2011, the final stage was a flat circuit race. 8 laps on a 14,7km circuit were to be completed and a big bunch sprint was expected to cap off a week of high-altitude racing.

The day's breakaway was establisher surprisingly early as the very first escape attempt ended up being the right one. Christopher Juul-Jensen (Saxo-Tinkoff) launched the first attack and he got company from Benjamin King (Radioshack), David Lozano (Novo Nordisk) and Carson Miller (Jamis).

More riders join the move

Tyler Wren (Jamis), Chun-Kai Feng (Champion System) and Lucas Euser (UnitedHealthCare) made it across and those 7 riders were allowed to build up a one-minute gap. Cannondale didn't want to take any risks and so they started to chase very early, keeping the gap stable at around that mark.

BMC also contributed to the pace-setting but they were momentarily disrupted by Rohan Dennis (Garmin) and Kirk Carlsen (Bissell) who attacked at the end of the first lap. Argos-Shimano reacted quickly and closed it down.

Several teams contribue to the chase

Instead, the race settled into a steady rhythm. BMC and Cannondale were joined by Argos-Shimano and Colombia on the front, the two teams working for Luka Mezgec and Edwin Avila respectively. Having missed the move in the final stage of a mostly disappointing race, Bissell also decided to lend a hand to the chasers.

Those four teams kept the gap stable at one minute for most of the stage before gradually accelerating. With 30km to go, the gap was down to 30 seconds and this promoted Carson Miller to try an attack. His teammate Wren countered the move but it was Euser's subsequent acceleration that was successful.

A trio is formed

Feng and Miller made an unsuccessful attempt to bridge across but Miller refused to give up. Alongside King, he tried another move and those two riders fought hard to finally rejoin Euser.

Their former companions were caught by the peloton in which Jelly Belly was now also contributing to the chase, hoping to see American champion Fred Rodriguez mix it up with the best. With 20km to go, it was all over for the escapees.

Vande Velde says goodbye

Cannondale and BMC kept the pace high as they approached the finish line for the penultimate time. Defending champion Christian Vande Velde was riding his last high-level race in the North America and so he moved to front to cross the line in first position.

UnitedHealthCare now hit the front with most of its team and the American squad kept the pace high for most of the final lap. Having run out of domestiques too early, the pace momentarily slowed down until Argos-Shimano took over with 4,5km to go.

Van Garderen leads the peloton

Inside the final 3km, overall leader van Garderen made one last big effort in the race by dragging along the peloton. He was overtaken by two Cannondale riders who were no launching Sagan for the sprint.

The green-clad riders remained in control until Anderson launched his surprise move. Sagan was quick to react, positioned himself perfectly and finally launched his devastating kick for the fourth and final time in this race.

Result:

1. Peter Sagan 2.27.15

2. Ryan Anderson

3. Alessandro Bazzana

4. Luka Mezgec

5. Greg Van Avermaet

6. Edwin Avila

7. Tanner Putt

8. Andre Peron

9. Philip Deignan

10. Michael Schär

General classification:

1. Tejay Van Garderen 22.38.48

2. Mathias Frank +1.30

3. Tom Danielson +1.42

4. Janier Acevedo +2.10

5. Lachlan Morton +2.34

6. Gregory Brenes +3.25

7. Lawson Craddock +3.42

8. George Bennett +3.58

9. Rory Sutherland +4.11

10. Philip Deignan +4.12

Points classification:

1. Peter Sagan 70

2. Greg Van Avermaet 40

3. Luka Mezgec 31

4. Ryan Anderson 22

5. Alessandro Bazzana 22

Mountains classification:

1. Matt Cooke 46

2. Mathias Frank 30

3. Tyler Wren 25

4. Lachlan Morton 22

5. Tejay van Garderen 20

Youth classification:

1. Lachlan Morton 22.41.22

2. Lawson Craddock +1.08

3. George Bennett +1.24

4. Nathan Wilson +2.26

5. James Oram +3.11

Teams classification:

1. BMC 68.00.42

2. Garmin +5.30

3. Bontrager +9.46

4. Champion System +14.50

5. Saxo-Tinkoff +15.51