Jens Voigt again made it into the right breakaway in yesterday's stage of the Tour of Utah but unlike stage winner Michael Schär, he failed to stay clear to the finish. Feeling his age, the German admits that he no longer has the power he once had.

It was another day of climbing in the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, over 3,000 meters total, and a relentless pace from the drop of the flag in the longest stage of the week long race; by the last long category one climb the peloton whittled down to a select group under the fierce pace, thin air, and punishing ascents.

Jens Voigt, motivated to get away, launch a few attacks early into the 210.3-kilometer race. Finally, a six-rider breakaway formed with Voigt, and they slowly gained almost seven minutes lead. But the climbs, heat, and lack of oxygen took their toll – the breakaway split over the third ascent of the day with still 65 kilometers to race, and by the top of the final, long uphill only one rider, Michael Schär of BMC, remained. 

In a tremendous show of strength and grit Schär soloed for over 50 kilometers and held off the chase to win the stage by mere seconds.

“I saw a BMC rider going and I thought, ah! that’s a big team, I’d better go too," Voigt said. " We had some strong riders, and we were all committed and all shared the work. When we got up to six minutes and 30 seconds I thought we might have a chance to pull it off.  Well – Michael Schär, did pull it off.

"After 120 kilometers my body said, ‘ooh, ooh Jens! What were you thinking?’  Then we got caught and at 160kms my body completely disintegrated. In the end I ended up with a group of 30 guys and just finished, and well, tomorrow’s another day.”

Trek Factory Racing survived the tough stage with climbers Matthew Busche, Riccardo Zoidl and new recruit Clément Chevrier all in the small front group of just over 40 riders that arrived on the heels of a clearly exhausted Schär. Chevrier was the highest finisher for the team in 21st place.

The three climbing specialists will target the harder climbing stages ahead, and should the opportunity arise there is no doubt that Jens Voigt, who won the contest as fan favorite for stage two, will be back to try again.

“It was good, I had fun out there," he said. "But, and I keep saying this over and over again, I can feel I am getting older. Five years ago, of course I would have stayed with Michael Schär and we would have sprinted for the win. And today I just couldn’t.

"I still know where and when to go, and how to catch the right group. I can recognize the situation and I know this is the moment. But the body just does not respond in the way I want it to. But hey, I am not giving up, tomorrow I will try to save some energy, recover a little bit, and I am back at it!”

The overall lead changed hands with Jure Kocjan (SmartStop) grabbing the yellow jersey from Moreno Hofland (Belkin), who was unable to finish with the leading peloton.