Eric Young (Optum) confirmed his status as one of the best American sprinters on the US domestic circuit when he powered to victory in the uphill sprint on stage 4 of the Tour of Utah. Launching his effort with 300m to go, he held off Dion Smith (Hincapie) and Jure Kocjan (Smartstop) whose third place was enough to take over the overall lead.

One year ago Eric Young proved that he is one of the fastest American bike riders when he won a bunch sprint at the Tour of Utah. This year he went into the race hoping for a repeat but he has not had much luck in the first part of the race.

He proved his speed in stage one where he won the bunch sprint but was left frustrated as five riders had stayed away with a narrow margin. Stages 2 and 3 both included climbs in the finale and so he was never part of the bunch sprints that decided those stages.

Today he had what will probably be his final chance in the race in stage 4 and this time he left nothing to chance. When it came down to a bunch sprint on the uphill finishing straight, he did everything right and turned out to be in a class of his own.

A strong 7-rider break was about to steal the show but hard work by Unitedhealthcare made sure that the sprinters got their chance. Daniel Summerhill took a huge turn on the front and he managed to bring the group back with 3.5km to go. Luis Lemus (Airgas) and Ben King (Cannondale) tried to keep the break going but it was mission impossible and with 3km to go, it was all over.

Ty Magner (Hincapie) hit the front while BMC had organized their train behind the young American. Kilian Frankiny took over as he launched the lead-out for the WorldTour team, followed by Michael Schär, Joy Rosskopf, Taylor Phinney and Brent Bookwalter.

Schär took over with 2km go and he kept the pace high while the rest of the sprinters scrambled to get into position.  He let the peloton under the flamme rouge where the road started to ascend.

Rosskopf took over with 800m to go, followed by Phinney, Bookwalter, Jure Kocjan (Smartstop) and race leader Kiel Reijnen. With 300m to go, Young launched a long sprint from far back and the BMC team reacted too late.

Young quickly got a gap as John Murphy struggled to hold onto his lead. The American had plenty of time to sit up and celebrate the win while Dion Smith managed to come around the fading Murphy to take second. Kocjan also managed to pass Murphy and ended the stage in third.

Kiel Reijnen played the role of lead-out man for Murphy and so found himself on the wrong side of a split in the finale. Hence, Kocjan takes over the race lead with a four-second advantage over Alex Howes (Cannondale), Bookwalter and Logan Owen (Axeon).

He will try to defend that position in tomorrow’s fifth stage which is the well-known circuit race in Salt Lake City. The circuit is a hilly one with a tough uphill drag to the line where the puncheurs have often prevailed.

A long stage

After yesterday’s surprise win for Logan Owen, the fast riders were expected to get another chance in stage 4 which brought the riders over 204.4km from Soldier Hollow to Heber Valley. The first 30km were all up a category 4 climb before the riders got back into flat terrain. In the second half they tackled a long, gradual category 2 climb which summited around 60km from the finish and the final part was mainly downhill. There was a small category 4 climb 20km from the finish and then it was again descending until the riders hit the final 500m that were uphill.

It was another perfect day for bike racing when the riders gathered for the start as there was no wind and bright sunshine. All riders who finished yesterday’s stage were present as they headed out for their neutral ride.

Lots of attacks

As usual, the race got off to a brutally fast start with lots of attacks and it took a long time for the early break to be formed. Jelly Belly, Airgas and MTN-Qhubeka were all active but it was a Budget Forklifts rider that got the first significant gap. However, he was quickly brought back.

Oscar Clark (Hincapie) was the next rider to get clear and when he was back in the fold Joey Rosskopf (BMC) gave it a go. A Jelly Belly rider was next to try before a 7-rider group with Adam Phelan (Drapac), Alexandr Braico (Jelly Belly), Johann van Zyl (MTN-Qhubeka), Emerson Oronte (Smartstop) and Julian Kyer (Smartstop) got an advantage. That move seemed to be the right one but after 16km of racing, it was back together

Seven riders get clear

The elastic finally snapped when Robin Carpenter (Hincapie), Songezo Jim (MTN-Qhubeka), Dan Eaton (Axeon), Luis Lemus (Airgas), Ben King (Cannondale), Tom Roe (Drapac) and Nicolae Tanovitchi (Jelly Belly) escaped. They quickly got an advantage of 40 seconds and so the peloton slowed down.

At the 25km mark, the gap had gone out to 1.30 and it reached 2.10 before Unitedhalthcare hit the front. They were not willing to let the break get much of an advantage and made sure that the gap stayed between the 2- and 3-minute marks for most of the day.

KOM points for Carpenter

Carpenter and King sprinted for the KOM points at the top of the final climb and it was the former who came out on top. Lemus was third and Eaton fourth while the peloton followed at 2.50. Moments later King had to stop to fix his chain but he quickly made it back to the leaders.

Unitedhealtcare stayed in control and they had allowed the gap to go out to 3 minutes at the 50km mark. As they entered the final 100km, the gap was still 2.40 but they seemed to have everything under control.

Colombia hit the front

Chris Putt (Axeon) and Gerardo Medina (Airgas) abandoned the race before Carpenter beat Lemus and Tanovitchii in the first intermediate sprint. Moments later they hit the long gradual category 2 climb with a 2.20 gap.

Unitedhalthcare set the pace on the lower slopes until Colombia suddenly hit the front. Sebastian Molano did the early work before Walter Pedraza and Carlos Ramirez took over and they made the gap melt away. Meanwhile, Jim was dropped and swallowed up by the peloton which was just 1 minute behind with 63km to go.

Carpenter attacks

The gap stabilized around 30 seconds as they approached the top of the climbs and this opened the door for Greg Daniel (Axeon) to bridge the gap. The young American made it across before they got to the top where he beat Carpenter, Lemus and King in the KOM sprint.

Carpenter escaped on the descent and managed to build an advantage of 15 seconds before the front group came back together. Colombia and Unitedhealthcare were still working on the front but they allowed the gap to go out to 1.50 as they entered the final 40km.

The gap grows

Carpenter beat King and Lemus in the second intermediate sprint before they entered the final 30km with a two-minute advantage. Colombia had now disappeared from the front and instead Smartstop was working with Unitedhealthcare.

The gap was finally coming down as they hit the category 4 climb where Colombia again started to take turns with Unitedhealthcare while Smartstop again disappeared. Daniel crested the summit in first position, followed by Carpenter, Lemus and King.

Unitedhealthcare were now the only team working in the peloton and they still had a 30-second gap to close with 10km to go. MTN-Qhubeka decided to lend a hand and so the gap was only 20 seconds with 6km to go. With 4km to go, it was only 10 seconds and just 500m later it came back together for the sprint finish.