Stage one at the Tour of Utah was expected to end in a bunch sprint, but with two stiff climbs in the 212.4-kilometer opening stage – the longest of the weeklong race – coupled with rainy, cool weather nothing was going to be predictable.

A late attack threw a curveball into the bunch sprint prognosis as three men joined the last two relics from the original seven-man breakaway. When the peloton eased slightly behind it allowed the five just enough of a gap to arrive at the finish and duke out the win.

“What I do know for certain today is that we had rain for 212 kilometers,” chuckled director Alain Gallopin. “It was a big surprise for us because I have never seen rain in Utah. We knew that we were going to have rain today, but it rained the whole time. It never stopped! It was also a little bit cold – 12-13 degrees (Celsius).

“We have nothing special today; we hoped that Fabio [Silvestre] could do the sprint, but then an attack went in the last climb and we were not there.”  

Two men outlasted the rest from the day’s early escape and led the race from start to finish but were unable to place better than fourth and fifth with the late addition of fresher legs; instead, Kiel Reijnen (UnitedHealthcare) - one of the three late attendees to the leading party - easily won the sprint.

Trek Factory Racing’s Fabio Silvestre sprinted from the peloton that arrived seconds later to fight out the minor results, finishing in 12th, as the team’s leaders, Matthew Busche and Fränk Schleck, arrived safely in the bunch.

“Our tactic with only six guys here and two of them young stagiaires was to follow with the big group and just to wait to see what will happen. This breakaway was not so dangerous, which is why we didn’t pull. We stayed calm in the peloton and took care of ourselves. Our focus is in the coming days – I think Matthew looks good and can be top five or on the podium, so we will protect him. Fränk we will see because it has been a long time since he raced, and his goal is to prepare for the Vuelta," Gallopin said.

“We have two young guys here and I don’t want to kill them before Colorado [USPro Challenge] because Colorado is difficult. But sometimes with such a small team, only 6 riders, good things can happen.”