Tour of Utah: Danielson solos to victory on Powder Mountain

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Tom Danielson took a major step toward defending last year's win at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Thursday by winning the summit finish on Powder Mountain and taking over the race lead.

Danielson (Garmin-Sharp) jumped away with Chris Horner (Lampre-Merida) on the lower slopes of the climb and then dropped his rival from last year over the 11km ascent that hit grades of close to 16 percent and topped out at nearly 2,500 meters.

BMC's Ben Hermans got back on terms with Horner in the finale and paced the Lampre-Merida to the finish, where Hermans crossed the line in second with Horner in tow nearly a minute behind the winner.

"I've never won a stage like that, especially with the pressure on you," Danielson said. "I came into this race and put my hand up. I didn't want to be like one of those guys who's like, 'I don't know, whatever.' I wanted to feel the full pressure and try and overcome that. I put my hand up. I said I'm in good shape and I want to do it. And then my teammates turned themselves inside out. So winning a stage like that after your teammates gut themselves for you. There's no better feeling in the world than that."

The 168.6km stage from Ogden to Powder Mountain included two ascents up the category two climb of North Ogden Divide before finishing with the out-of-category climb to Power Mountain. The peloton appeared nervous about the day, and the breakaway that animated most of the race took nearly 90 minutes to form after much shaking and reshuffling.

A group of 14 riders finally established a workable gap that held around one minute for most of the day. Four riders who were just 17 seconds down in the general classification were in the breakaway, including BMC's Brent Bookwalter and Yannick Eijssen, Lampre-Merida's Luca Dodi and Cannondale's Ivan Basso.

Garmin, Belkin and Trek did a lot of the work on the front of the field to keep the move in check, and the gap topped out at 1:20 about 104km into the race. From there the escapees' advantage slowly came down, and the group made the catch as the race passed through Ogden leading to the second climb up North Ogden Divide.

Funvic-Brasilinvest's Alex Diniz jumped away from the peloton about 2km from the KOM and gained a small advantage that he carried into the valley before the final climb of the day. Garmin's Phil Gaimon hit the front to support Danielson, who held his teammate's wheel as the peloton began to separate one more time.

The chase caught Diniz near the bottom of the Powder Mountain ascent, and a lead group of about 25 riders that included most of the top general classification contenders formed off the front. Danielson, Horner, Hermans and Diniz were joined by Wilco Kelderman of Belkin, Alex Howes of Garmin, Matthew Busche of Trek, Michael Schär and Cadel Evans of BMC, Winner Anacona and Ilia Koshevoy of Lampre-Merida and George Bennett of Cannondale, among others.

The group was short-lived as Howes went to the front at the bottom of the climb and drilled the pace for Danielson. The effort paid off as riders slowly popped from the group. Anacona jumped away from the leaders and set off up the road, forcing Danielson to pick up the pace as Howes paid the price for his early effort and dropped from the group.

Danielson, Horner, Hermans and Diniz were the only riders left chasing. Diniz was next to pop, followed by Hermans.

Chasing on their own at this point, Danielson and Horner caught Anacona about halfway up the climb and eventually dropped him. From there it was a two-man duel between last year's main protagonists for the overall, reminiscent of last year on the climb to Snowbird Ski and Summer resort, where Horner rode Danielson's wheel and then sprinted past him for the win and the race lead.

Things played out much differently this year. Horner clung to Danielson's wheel for several kilometers but eventually lost contact as Danielson stood on the pedals and rode away.

"On TV it may have looked [like a replay of last year's duel]," Horner said after the stage. "But it wasn't because it was all tailwind. Danielson was in control the whole time, and with a tailwind I just couldn't get any drafting. And of course, I got popped before the climb eased up."

Horner, afraid of cracking completely, eased off and watched Danielson slowly ride away.

"At altitude you can either sit up and lose a minute or blow up and lose five," Horner said. "So at that point and time with a tailwind there was just nothing I could do."

Hermans fought his way back to Horner, but the duo was unable to get back on terms with last year's overall winner.

An ecstatic Danielson crossed the line with plenty of time to post a victory salute, while Hermans and Horner crossed the line 56 seconds later. Anacona finished 1:47 down for fourth place. Diniz was fifth, 2:07 back, followed immediately by Kelderman with the same time.

Danielson now leads Horner in the overall by 57 seconds, followed by Hermans in third, also 57 seconds down.

The race continues Friday with the 163km stage 5 route from Evanston, Wyoming, to Kamas. The one KOM of the day comes at the race's highest point on Bald Mountain, but a long downhill run to the finish suggests another day for the sprinters or the breakaway opportunists.

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