News
Road

Truck accident on Tour of Utah course no threat to Powder Mountain finish

published 14 August 2019

Race officials confirm the road way had been cleared during stage 2

Comments

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

The main field starts the Wolf Creek climb on stage 6 of the 2018 Tour of Utah (Image credit: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us)

Race organisers of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah were close to being forced to reroute stage 2 after an accident involving a box truck blocked the entire width of the roadway up to the finish to Powder Mountain Resort. Official confirmed to teams mid-race that the road had been cleared and the final climb would not be affected.

Late mechanical costs Piccoli at Tour of Utah

Craddock revels in freedom at Tour of Utah

The second stage of the Tour of Utah is arguably the toughest of the race and a decisive factor in the overall classification. The 135km stage started in Brigham City with a finish on the 14km climb to Powder Mountain Resort. It was the only summit finale planned for this edition of the race and topped out at roughly 2,700 metres in altitude.

But on route to the final climb teams received notice that there had been an accident involving a truck that had crashed and tipped over on the road. Photos of the accident were posted on Twitter showing the truck box had been torn open and its contents spread across the road. The accident had caused local authorities to briefly close SR-158 the travels up to Powder Mountain Resort.

"We are getting reports and photos from our Staff on the way to the top of the powder mountain finish that a there was a Truck accident on the climb. But the #tourofutah Race commissar just assured: “Not a problem”. Good to hear," Israel Cycling Academy posted on Twitter.

Lawson Craddock (EF Education First) is leading the overall classification at the Tour of Utah, six seconds ahead of João Almeida (Hagens Berman Axeon) and 12 seconds ahead of Serghei Tvetcov (Worthy Pro Cycling).

At the time teams were notified of the accident, there was a six-rider breakaway that included Christopher Heider and Mika Heming (Akkon Pro Cycling), Austin Stephens (303 Project), Travis Samuel (DC Bank), Quinten Kirby (Wildlife Generation) and Ignacio Prado (Canel's-Specialized). They had a a two-minute gap on the main field.