Canadian James Piccoli Wins 2019 Tour of Utah Prologue

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By Lyne Lamoureux – SNOWBIRD, Utah (August 12, 2019) – Canadian James Piccoli of Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling was the fastest man at Snowbird Resort in Monday’s opening day for the 2019 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. Piccoli won the 3.2-mile (5.3-kilometer) Prologue presented by Zions Bank in a time of 8 minutes, 37 seconds.

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“We’re really happy that we came away with the first stage of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. It’s a great confidence boost going into the week. For sure, seven seconds is not going to be the difference this week between winning and losing with some of the climbs coming up, which are quite beautiful, but also quite hard. But it’s a great way to start the week,” said Piccoli. He will wear the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies Overall Leader’s jersey on Tuesday.

James Piccoli (Elevate KHS) on his way to winning the Prologue time trial stage of the 2019 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah on August 12, 2019. Photo by Dave Iltis

The Tour of Utah was instrumental in Piccoli’s cycling career, after all, he wouldn’t still be racing if it wasn’t for his results at the 2017 event.

“I’d like to personally thank everyone from Larry H. Miller Sports and Entertainment for putting their faith in us two years ago. What they don’t know is that they saved my cycling career,” added Piccoli, who finished 10th overall at the 2017 Tour of Utah. “I was probably going to stop cycling and then the team, Elevate-KHS, got an invite here (in Utah), and they signed me for this race specifically. If Elevate-KHS wasn’t invited to this race, I probably wouldn’t be a cyclist right now.”

American Lawson Craddock of EF Education First finished six seconds back in second place. Romanian time trial champion Serghei Tvetcov of Worthy Pro Cycling, who was third overall in 2017, finished in third, half a second behind Craddock.

Lawson Craddock (EF) finished 2nd in the Prologue time trial stage of the 2019 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah on August 12, 2019. Photo by Dave Iltis
Serghei Tvetcov (Worthy Cycling) took 3rd in the Prologue time trial stage of the 2019 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah on August 12, 2019. Photo by Dave Iltis

The 27th rider out of the gate, Kyle Murphy (Rally Cycling) set the early fast time of 8.49.50 which put him in the hot seat for over 50 minutes, as he watched 53 riders finish slower than his time. Craddock, the 80th rider to start set the new fast time until Piccoli flew around the course, averaging a speed of 22.9 mph.

Pacing was key on the out-and-back course, half of it climbing on the steep pitches in Little Cottonwood Canyon. The course followed Bypass Road to snake around The Cliff Lodge. Once back on Little Cottonwood Creek Road, racers put on the afterburners for the 1.5-mile descent to the finish line, located at Entry 2 behind The Lodge at Snowbird.

“It was a really tough prologue. I came to see it with our team Elevate-KHS a couple of days ago and since then I’ve ridden it a couple of times, trying to refine my pacing strategy,” Piccoli explained. “It was quite complicated with the altitude here at Snowbird and the corners, and the tricky up and down pacing strategy so I rode it a couple of times, a couple of times hard, and every time I got closer to what I wanted to do and today it ended up working out.”

Tvetcov noted that the final sharp left turn  on the downhill stretch to the finish was tricky. “You come from really steep downhill and you need to brake all the way to zero miles per hour and then start again. That’s what happened, I tried to keep as fast as possible,” he said. “It’s a great course.”

Craddock agreed that it was a “tough course” and that altitude also made it even more difficult.

“You have to really take that into account when you’re preparing for a race like this, preparing your equipment and your pacing strategy,” Craddock said of the altitude. “For me, I knew that it was better to be a little bit conservative on the first little climb, then really lay down over the last kilometer and a half of climbing and that’s what I did. I think I paced it pretty well, it took me about an hour and a half to not feel like I wanted to vomit. Unfortunately it just wasn’t enough to win but congrats to James.”

On a picture-perfect day with a backdrop of Mount Superior in the Wasatch Mountains, Piccoli bested 112 other riders on the opening day of racing for the weeklong stage race.  He had no idea he was on his way to victory.

“I was just riding really hard,” Piccoli stated. “You don’t have too much time to think of stuff like that, it’s such a short prologue. I mean if it’s longer then you can do splits to pace yourself. Today was really short and intense so I wasn’t really aiming for splits with people and I didn’t have a radio today. I just wanted to ride and execute our strategy and we did.”

A total of 25 riders are now separated by 30 seconds at the top of the standings, making for an exciting opening to the 15th edition of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah.

Joe Dombrowski of EF Education First, the overall winner of the 2015 Tour of Utah, is 15 seconds back in seventh place. The 2017 Tour of Utah champion, Canadian time trial champion Rob Britton of Rally Cycling, is in 14th place, 18 seconds down. Lachlan Morton of EF Education First, the 2016 winner, sits in 16th place, 21 seconds back.

Finishing fourth, Portugal under-23 national champion João Almeida of Hagens Berman Axeon claimed the WCF Insurance Best Young Rider jersey, and the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Most Aggressive Rider jersey. 303 Project’s Antonio Baca of Mexico was voted the America First Credit Union Fan Favorite, in the category of International Rider. Tvetcov claimed the Utah Sports Commission Sprint jersey and Craddock was awarded the Utah Office of Tourism King of the Mountain jersey.

True to its nickname as “America’s Toughest Stage Race,” the 2019 Tour of Utah will provide 37,882 feet of elevation gain over 477 miles of racing on Aug. 12-18. Racing continues Tuesday with Stage 1 presented by Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, taking place in North Logan City. Stage 1 features a completely new 86.9-mile (139.9-km) course that traverses the western slopes of the Bear River Mountains for 4,310 feet of elevation gain. The peloton will make two circuits around Little Mountain, passing less than 10 miles south of the Idaho state line before returning to North Logan City for five fast and furious finishing laps.

RESULTS AND STANDINGS

Prologue presented by Zions Bank – Top 10

  1. PICCOLI James (CAN) ELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLING 0:08:37.590
  2. CRADDOCK Lawson (USA) EF EDUCATION FIRST 0:08:43.140 +0:00:06
  3. TVETCOV Serghei (ROU) WORTHY PRO CYCLING 0:08:43.590 
  4. ALMEIDA João (POR) HAGENS BERMAN AXEON 0:08:43.860
  5. MURPHY Kyle (USA) RALLY UHC CYCLING 0:08:49.500 +0:00:12
  6. MANNION Gavin (USA) RALLY UHC CYCLING 0:08:52.130 +0:00:15
  7. DOMBROWSKI Joseph Lloyd (USA) EF EDUCATION FIRST 0:08:52.200
  8. BOIVIN Guillaume (CAN) ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY 0:08:53.060 +0:00:16
  9. SWIRBUL Keegan (USA) WORTHY PRO CYCLING 0:08:54.260 +0:00:17
  10. MCCABE Travis (USA) WORTHY PRO CYCLING 0:08:54.980 +0:00:17

AWARD JERSEYS

  • Larry H. Miller Group of Companies Overall leader – James Piccoli (CAN), Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling
  • Utah Sports Commission Sprint leader – Serghei Tvetcov (ROM), Worthy Pro Cycling
  • Utah Office of Tourism King of the Mountain – Lawson Craddock (USA), EF Education First
  • WCF Insurance Best Young Rider – João Almeida (POR), Hagens Berman Axeon
  • Larry H. Miller Dealerships Most Aggressive Rider – João Almeida (POR), Hagens Berman Axeon
  • America First Credit Union Fan Favorite – Antonio Baca (MEX), 303 Project

FULL RESULTS

2019 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Prologue presented by Zions Bank at Snowbird Resort 

PositionBib No.RiderTeamCountryTimeGap
181PICCOLI JamesELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLINGCAN0:08:370:00:00
22CRADDOCK LawsonEF EDUCATION FIRSTUSA0:08:430:00:06
377TVETCOV SergheiWORTHY PRO CYCLINGROU0:08:430:00:06
451* ALMEIDA JoãoHAGENS BERMAN AXEONPOR0:08:430:00:06
526MURPHY KyleRALLY UHC CYCLINGUSA0:08:490:00:12
625MANNION GavinRALLY UHC CYCLINGUSA0:08:520:00:15
73DOMBROWSKI Joseph LloydEF EDUCATION FIRSTUSA0:08:520:00:15
833BOIVIN GuillaumeISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMYCAN0:08:530:00:16
976SWIRBUL KeeganWORTHY PRO CYCLINGUSA0:08:540:00:17
1075MCCABE TravisWORTHY PRO CYCLINGUSA0:08:540:00:17
1135HERMANS BenISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMYBEL0:08:550:00:18
12101* HOEHN AlexAEVOLOUSA0:08:550:00:18
13112BASSETT StephenWILDLIFE GENERATION PRO CYCLING P/B MAXXISUSA0:08:550:00:18
1421BRITTON RobertRALLY UHC CYCLINGCAN0:08:560:00:19
1516STETINA PeterTREK-SEGAFREDOUSA0:08:570:00:20
161MORTON LachlanEF EDUCATION FIRSTAUS0:08:580:00:21
1757* VERMAERKE KevinHAGENS BERMAN AXEONUSA0:08:590:00:22
184HOWES AlexEF EDUCATION FIRSTUSA0:09:000:00:23
19135BOWDEN ScottTEAM BRIDGELANEAUS0:09:010:00:24
20123RHIM BrendanARAPAHOE|HINCAPIE POWERED BY BMCUSA0:09:040:00:27
21146EASTER Griffin303 PROJECTUSA0:09:040:00:27
2222HUFFMAN EvanRALLY UHC CYCLINGUSA0:09:050:00:28
2313EG NiklasTREK-SEGAFREDODEN0:09:060:00:29
2432BADILATTI MatteoISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMYSUI0:09:060:00:29
25133MCCORMICK HaydenTEAM BRIDGELANENZL0:09:070:00:30
26132SUNDERLAND DylanTEAM BRIDGELANEAUS0:09:080:00:31
27155SAMUEL TravisDC BANK PRO CYCLING TEAMCAN0:09:090:00:32
2824ELLSAY NigelRALLY UHC CYCLINGCAN0:09:100:00:33
2982BASSETTI SamuelELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLINGUSA0:09:110:00:34
3072COWAN AlexanderWORTHY PRO CYCLINGCAN0:09:110:00:34
31137COOPER JosephTEAM BRIDGELANENZL0:09:110:00:34
3231AVILA VANEGAS Edwin AlcibiadesISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMYCOL0:09:110:00:34
3341QUINTANA DayerNERI SOTTOLI SELLE ITALIA KTMCOL0:09:120:00:35
3452* ANDERSON EdwardHAGENS BERMAN AXEONUSA0:09:130:00:36
35151DANIEL GregoryDC BANK PRO CYCLING TEAMUSA0:09:140:00:37
3684CHEYNE JordanELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLINGCAN0:09:140:00:37
37106* ROJAS CAMPOS Gabriel FranciscoAEVOLOCRC0:09:140:00:37
38105* BRUNNER EricAEVOLOUSA0:09:140:00:37
39124PUTT TannerARAPAHOE|HINCAPIE POWERED BY BMCUSA0:09:140:00:37
4014* LOPEZ Juan PedroTREK-SEGAFREDOESP0:09:140:00:37
4186SIMPSON GeorgeELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLINGUSA0:09:150:00:38
4244SCHÖNBERGER SebastianNERI SOTTOLI SELLE ITALIA KTMAUT0:09:160:00:39
43125WOLFE BenjaminARAPAHOE|HINCAPIE POWERED BY BMCUSA0:09:170:00:40
44111BOARDMAN SamuelWILDLIFE GENERATION PRO CYCLING P/B MAXXISUSA0:09:180:00:41
4534EARLE NathanISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMYAUS0:09:180:00:41
46136* LINDORFF TylerTEAM BRIDGELANEAUS0:09:180:00:41
47152FRAYRE EderDC BANK PRO CYCLING TEAMMEX0:09:180:00:41
4855* REVARD ThomasHAGENS BERMAN AXEONUSA0:09:190:00:42
49147EASTER Cullen303 PROJECTUSA0:09:200:00:43
5023MAGNER TylerRALLY UHC CYCLINGUSA0:09:210:00:44
5127ORONTE EmersonRALLY UHC CYCLINGUSA0:09:210:00:44
5295ALARCÓN CARES Pablo AndrésCANEL’S – SPECIALIZEDCHI0:09:220:00:45
5347MARENGO UmbertoNERI SOTTOLI SELLE ITALIA KTMITA0:09:220:00:45
5445BONGIORNO Francesco ManuelNERI SOTTOLI SELLE ITALIA KTMITA0:09:230:00:46
5563ZACCANTI FilippoNIPPO-VINI FANTINI-FAIZANE’ITA0:09:240:00:47
5687YOUNG EricELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLINGUSA0:09:240:00:47
5771CLARKE JonathanWORTHY PRO CYCLINGAUS0:09:240:00:47
5815REIJNEN KielTREK-SEGAFREDOUSA0:09:240:00:47
5983CASTILLO SOTO Ulises AlfredoELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLINGMEX0:09:240:00:47
6042VELASCO SimoneNERI SOTTOLI SELLE ITALIA KTMITA0:09:240:00:47
61131HARPER ChrisTEAM BRIDGELANEAUS0:09:240:00:47
62164* BAUER DominikTEAM DAUNER|AKKONGER0:09:250:00:48
6373GRANIGAN NoahWORTHY PRO CYCLINGUSA0:09:260:00:49
64122FLAKSIS AndzsARAPAHOE|HINCAPIE POWERED BY BMCLAT0:09:260:00:49
65103* VOLLMER AndrewAEVOLOUSA0:09:260:00:49
666WHELAN JamesEF EDUCATION FIRSTAUS0:09:270:00:50
6753* DAVIS ColeHAGENS BERMAN AXEONUSA0:09:270:00:50
68144BACA Antonio303 PROJECTMEX0:09:270:00:50
6961CANOLA MarcoNIPPO-VINI FANTINI-FAIZANE’ITA0:09:270:00:50
7074JEAN EmileWORTHY PRO CYCLINGCAN0:09:280:00:51
7143ZARDINI EdoardoNERI SOTTOLI SELLE ITALIA KTMITA0:09:280:00:51
72157ZIMMER MatthewDC BANK PRO CYCLING TEAMUSA0:09:290:00:52
7356RICE MichaelHAGENS BERMAN AXEONAUS0:09:300:00:53
7462SANTAROMITA IvanNIPPO-VINI FANTINI-FAIZANE’ITA0:09:300:00:53
75143STEPHENS Austin303 PROJECTUSA0:09:300:00:53
76127OIEN Justin AlexanderARAPAHOE|HINCAPIE POWERED BY BMCUSA0:09:310:00:54
77134TOOVEY AydenTEAM BRIDGELANEAUS0:09:320:00:55
7811MOSCA JacopoTREK-SEGAFREDOITA0:09:330:00:56
7966FIORELLI FilippoNIPPO-VINI FANTINI-FAIZANE’ITA0:09:340:00:57
80121EISENHART Taylor (T.J.)ARAPAHOE|HINCAPIE POWERED BY BMCUSA0:09:340:00:57
81156* THIBAULT Jean-DenisDC BANK PRO CYCLING TEAMCAN0:09:350:00:58
8265LONARDI GiovanniNIPPO-VINI FANTINI-FAIZANE’ITA0:09:360:00:59
83107* MCGILL ScottAEVOLOUSA0:09:400:01:03
8412* DEBEAUMARCHÉ NicolasTREK-SEGAFREDOFRA0:09:400:01:03
85141NEWKIRK Isaiah303 PROJECTUSA0:09:410:01:04
86154PAVLIC MarkoDC BANK PRO CYCLING TEAMSLO0:09:410:01:04
8746FORTUNATO LorenzoNERI SOTTOLI SELLE ITALIA KTMITA0:09:410:01:04
8892SANTOS MORENO EfrenCANEL’S – SPECIALIZEDMEX0:09:420:01:05
89104* BICKMORE CadeAEVOLOUSA0:09:420:01:05
90162FLAUTT OliverTEAM DAUNER|AKKONUSA0:09:420:01:05
91102* SCHUNK ConorAEVOLOUSA0:09:430:01:06
92145DE LUNA Flavio Alejandro303 PROJECTMEX0:09:430:01:06
9393CORTE CORDERO EduardoCANEL’S – SPECIALIZEDMEX0:09:430:01:06
9494PRADO JUAREZ IgnacioCANEL’S – SPECIALIZEDMEX0:09:520:01:15
95165THURAU SvenTEAM DAUNER|AKKONGER0:09:530:01:16
96117ROSS KentWILDLIFE GENERATION PRO CYCLING P/B MAXXISUSA0:09:530:01:16
97142FONT MAS Bernat303 PROJECTESP0:09:530:01:16
9864HATSUYAMA ShoNIPPO-VINI FANTINI-FAIZANE’JPN0:09:540:01:17
99115CHANCE MaxxWILDLIFE GENERATION PRO CYCLING P/B MAXXISUSA0:09:560:01:19
100161MAMOS PhilippTEAM DAUNER|AKKONGER0:09:560:01:19
10197LARA CARBAJAL FranciscoCANEL’S – SPECIALIZEDMEX0:09:570:01:20
102116* GULLICKSON FinnWILDLIFE GENERATION PRO CYCLING P/B MAXXISUSA0:09:570:01:20
103163HEIDER ChristopherTEAM DAUNER|AKKONGER0:09:580:01:21
10437SCHREURS HamishISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMYNZL0:09:590:01:22
10591SANCHEZ GUARIN Oscar EduardoCANEL’S – SPECIALIZEDCOL0:10:000:01:23
106114* VODICKA CamdenWILDLIFE GENERATION PRO CYCLING P/B MAXXISUSA0:10:010:01:24
107126BRYON MiguelARAPAHOE|HINCAPIE POWERED BY BMCUSA0:10:020:01:25
108113KIRBY QuintenWILDLIFE GENERATION PRO CYCLING P/B MAXXISUSA0:10:030:01:26
109153LEPLINGARD AntoineDC BANK PRO CYCLING TEAMFRA0:10:050:01:28
11036NIV GuyISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMYISR0:10:050:01:28
11185* RODRIGUEZ VICTORIA Jose AlfredoELEVATE-KHS PRO CYCLINGMEX0:10:120:01:35
112166* HEMING MikáTEAM DAUNER|AKKONGER0:10:130:01:36
11396* PALMA DAJUI LeonelCANEL’S – SPECIALIZEDMEX0:10:130:01:36

 
* Riders eligible for Best Young Rider Competition

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