Phinney grabs second time trial win in Utah

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Taylor Phinney (Trek-Livestrong) reiterated his time trial form with a victory at the Tour of Utah's Stage three. The American rode the 14.8 km course in a time of 16:46 taking his second victory in the discipline this week after the rider won the event's prologue ahead of team-mate Alex Dowsett. 

“I knew I had good time trialing form from the prologue,” Phinney said. “This was longer than the prologue but I knew that if I rode my ride at a fast speed then I could have a chance.

“It feels good, it really does, because this is my first big time trial victory in the US and to beat the guys that are here, the talent that’s here is pretty special,” he added. “It’s all worth it when you can come to a time trial and pull off a win; that is the most important thing.”

“It is obviously a good course that suits me because it was flat,” he said. “I’m a big person and I’ve got a lot of power. I just went out and kept a consistent speed and tried to hold it. I managed to hold it all the way through. I came through the finish line with a lot of pain but that’s only natural.”

Levi Leipheimer (Mellow Johnny's) was just two seconds slower than Phinney at Miller Motorsport Park, while New Zealand's Jeremy Vennell (BISSELL) took third place an additional nine seconds behind. His second in the time trial assured Leipheimer retains the race lead ahead of Francisco Mancebo (Canyon Bicycles) and Darren Lill (Fly V Australia) heading into tomorrow's Downtown Park City circuit race.

“It was very fast and super smooth with some wind but that was OK,” Leipheimer said. “It was just a really fast course. It was funny on the track because you get disoriented not knowing which way you were going. It was just a matter of keeping it pegged the whole time.

“I didn’t know Taylor’s overall time because I didn’t have a watch with me but I did get one split on him about half way,” he added. “I just have to take this race mile by mile and I have to be willing to lose the Tour of Utah. There is really no way that I can mark everyone and defend it.

“Tomorrow’s crit is hard and that might play into my favour,” he said. “The race might take out about 90 percent of the riders and I just have to deal with a few. But Sunday is a different story, there won’t be any way to stop the onset of attacks that will for sure come my way.”

After finishing on the prologue podium, both Dowsett and Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing Team) narrowly missed out on today's podium. The riders finished in fourth and fifth place respectively on the stage.

The Miller Motorsports Park offered the time trialists an A-typical course held on a raceway usually used for open wheeler training for local F3 drivers.

“The first part of the course was boring, out and back but then you got in the twist and turns,” Phinney said. “You don’t feel like a race car driver because you’re only really going like 30 miles an hour but it’s still special. It is a bit different than track racing. There is no wind in track racing.”

Phinney was the 20th rider to roll off the starting ramp. He was forced to endured the suspense of sitting in the hot seat for the next 100 contenders to complete their effort.

“The worst part of it was the 30 minutes of waiting afterwards for someone to beat me,” Phinney said. “I’m not a very quiet person but I get a little quiet when I’m nervous and I was more nervous after the race than before the race. I was sitting there bracing myself for something that may or may not have come.”

All three podium finishers broke the 17-minute record set by two-time winner Tom Zirbel in 2008 and 2009. Several riders noted less wind than the previous year along with cooler temperatures.

“The course was hard, fast and flat so every little bit of speed you got was hard work,” Vennell said. “You weren’t going that much faster for the amount of extra effort. Knowing the course, because it’s the same as last year, helped. I knew how to pace myself better. The wind was strong today but it died off at the end. It was a cool course, for a time trial course, really good fun.”

The Tour of Utah’s penultimate stage four is a brand new criterium course at Park City, but it is not a day for the sprinters. With upwards of 5000 feet of climbing, this particular course might be better suited to the climbers with a hilly 1.6-kilometre circuit held in the historical downtown of Park City.

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