September 2008 Issue - Cycling Utah

14 cycling utah.com SEPTEMBER 2008tour of utah CoverageUtah's Louder Triumphs in Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Over Top National and International FieldStage 2 Winner Blake Caldwell leads stage animator DarrenLill at the top of Big Mountain. Caldwell was also raceleader after stages 2-4.Photo: Dave IltisIn front of big downtown Salt Lake crowds, Garmin-Chipotle controlled the action in thecriterium to protect race leader Blake Caldwell.Photo: Dave IltisBy Bruce BilodeauThe Larry H. Miller 2008 Tourof Utah was billed as “America’sToughest Stage Race.” It certainly didnot disappoint. Held from Wednesday,August 13th, through Sunday, August17th, it consisted of 5 stages covering336 miles and a whooping 30,000vertical feet of climbing. Elevationwould play a factor also since most“flat land riders” have trouble withthe oxygen level at elevations above5,500 feet, which a good portion ofthe race exceeded. The race coveredvarying terrains from flat, to hillyto outright steep — the Snowbird“Queen Stage” had two HC (out ofcategory) climbs.Eighteen teams and 126 riderswere invited. They included thepowerful Garmin-Chipotle team withpodium stage results in both the 2008Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France,international teams BMC and Bissell,as well as top domestic teams inHealth Net, Jittery Joe’s, Rock Racing(with 4 Tour de France veterans),Successful Living, Symmetrics, TeamType 1 and Toyota United. The fieldalso contained local teams AmericanR.A.D.D. and the Canyon BicyclesUtah All Stars.Roughly one-quarter of the riderswere from 12 foreign countries,adding an international flavor tothe race. Impressively, the race wascomprised of 10 previous GrandTour (Giro D’Italia, Tour de France,Vuelta de España) riders, of which7 have reached the podium at leastonce. Many riders were past nationalchampions and Olympians in theirrespective countries including MoisesAldape from Mexico, who flew