'I'm looking forward to coming back to the Tour of Utah and defending my title,' says Cannondale-Drapac climber
Joe Dombrowski (Cannondale) gets the podium kisses for his overall win (Image credit: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us)
Organisers of the Tour of Utah named a handful of the 122 riders who will participate in the upcoming event held from August 1-7. Defending champion Joe Dombrowski (Cannondale-Drapac) will lead the star-studded field, alongside a series of American and international talent.
"I'm looking forward to coming back to the Tour of Utah and hopefully successfully defending my title. It's a beautiful state and a beautiful race, and I have fond memories there," Dombrowski said in an event press release.
Dombrowski will have support from teammates Nathan Brown, Andrew Talansky, Ben King and Phil Gaimon.
The peloton will also showcase WorldTour talent in Darwin Atapuma (BMC), joined by American teammate Joey Rosskopf. Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling) will be on the start line with American teammate Larry Warbasse. Trek-Segafredo will line up with Julian Arredondo and American teammates Peter Stetina and Kiel Reijnen.
Professional Continental outfits with strong talents are Fortuneo-Vital Concept with U23 World Champion Kevin Ledanois, ONE Pro Cycling's Dion Smith and James Oram, and UnitedHealthcare's Matthew Busche and Marco Canola, while Novo Nordisk will line up with Stephen Clancy.
The race will also include seven current national champions in various road discipline: Jonathan Fumeaux (IAM Cycling), Swiss road champion; Hayden McCormick (ONE Pro Cycling), New Zealand U23 time trial champion; Greg Daniel (Axeon Hagens Berman), US road champion; Ruben Guerreiro (Axeon Hagens Berman), Portugal U23 road; Joseph Chavarría (Lupus Racing Team), Costa Rica road champion; Benjamin Perry (Silber Pro Cycling), Canadian U23 road champion; and Ryan Roth (Silber Pro Cycling), Canadian time trial champion.
"It is a huge honor to represent the US national champion's jersey in such a big American race," said Daniel, who won the mountain competition last year and will again be joined by teammate Logan Owen.
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"I hope to ride with integrity and try to represent my US national title as well. Winning a stage would be amazing. I won the king of the mountain jersey last year and I don't know if I can do it again. But to come back and get a good result, either as a stage win or to hold the jersey for a day, would be very special. I am in no rush to change my national championship jersey, either."
There will be no shortage of talent on the Continental level with Salt Lake City resident Robbie Squire leading Holowesko-Citadel, along with teammates Robin Carpenter and Travis McCabe. Jamis will start with climber Janier Acevedo, and sprinters Sebastian Haedo and Eric Marcotte. Lachlan Morton returns with Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis. Stage winner Eric Young will be on the line for Rally Cycling. Chris Horner, still recovering from a lung infection, will no doubt want to try for a good result for Lupus Racing. And Silber Pro Cycling lines up with Roth and Perry.
Click here for the full provisional Tour of Utah start list
