For the second day in a row Elia Viviani of Liquigas won a sprint and a stage in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge.
Stage Four was predictably a sprinter’s stage, with no real climbs; Stage Five was a climber’s stage, and still somehow Viviani stayed with the leaders and took the stage.
Stage Five started with the Cat Two Rabbit ears Pass, seven miles at seven percent—a climb tough enough to detonate the peloton; half of which never caught back up to the front half.
Five riders got away just over the crest: Tom Peterson (Garmin Cervelo,) Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank,) Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek,) Ivan Basso (Liquigas,) and Javier Acevedo (Gobernacion,) who flatted and fell back.
The four leaders rode together until the final eight miles of the 106-mile stage; then Andy Schleck attacked on the final climb up the Cat 3 Swan Mountain.
Schleck pushed hard on the descent and up the gentle incline towards the finish in Breckenridge, but he couldn’t hold of the three chasers. With 2.5 miles left in the stage he was ridden down.
Laurens Ten Dam went right over Schleck, forcing Basso and the Leopard Trek rider to chase. Almost as soon as he was caught, Ten Dam attacked again. Tom Peterson dropped, exhausted, as Ten Dam made yet another dig.
Ten Dam attacked again with 2.2 miles out; with the leaders wasting time sparring, accelerating and slowing, Peterson was able to rejoin, while behind, the peloton was closing the gap. Ten Dam made one more attack, dropping Peterson once again.
When the other two riders caught Ten Dam, Ivan Basso made a little feint, but couldn’t gain any ground.
Back in the peloton for the yellow was playing out. RadioShack led for most of the day, but didn’t push the pace; the team was content to let the escapees win the stage, as none of them were General Classification threats.
United Healthcare, frustrated by RadioShack’s laggard pace, moved strongly to the front; then BMC picked up the pace in the final quarter of the stage, hoping to isolate Levi Leipheimer and attack for George Hincapie.
RadioShack had used up a lot of riders early in the stage, but still had Ivan Rovny at the end; the Russian rider moved to the front and elevated the pace on the climb up Swan Mountain, splitting the peloton even further.
BMC’s Cadel Evans, Brent Bookwalter and George Hincapie didn’t make the split; they got stuck behind and for all their hard work, couldn’t catch the yellow-jersey group.
Rovny and Leipheimer kept the pace high enough to ensure Levi’s lead, then let others take over.
EPM-UNE and Gobernacion also took turns pulling as the escapees wasted time on infighting, hoping t hot get their sprinters in for the finish. The Garmin Cervelo, sure that Tom Peterson wasn’t going to win the stage if the break stayed away, decided to really push.
The escapees had wasted their advantage; with half a mile to go, the peloton rode past them, obviating all their miles of hard work.
Stage Four was predictably a sprinter’s stage, with no real climbs; Stage Five was a climber’s stage, and still somehow Viviani stayed with the leaders and took the stage.
Stage Five started with the Cat Two Rabbit ears Pass, seven miles at seven percent—a climb tough enough to detonate the peloton; half of which never caught back up to the front half.
Five riders got away just over the crest: Tom Peterson (Garmin Cervelo,) Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank,) Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek,) Ivan Basso (Liquigas,) and Javier Acevedo (Gobernacion,) who flatted and fell back.
The four leaders rode together until the final eight miles of the 106-mile stage; then Andy Schleck attacked on the final climb up the Cat 3 Swan Mountain.
Schleck pushed hard on the descent and up the gentle incline towards the finish in Breckenridge, but he couldn’t hold of the three chasers. With 2.5 miles left in the stage he was ridden down.
Laurens Ten Dam went right over Schleck, forcing Basso and the Leopard Trek rider to chase. Almost as soon as he was caught, Ten Dam attacked again. Tom Peterson dropped, exhausted, as Ten Dam made yet another dig.
Ten Dam attacked again with 2.2 miles out; with the leaders wasting time sparring, accelerating and slowing, Peterson was able to rejoin, while behind, the peloton was closing the gap. Ten Dam made one more attack, dropping Peterson once again.
When the other two riders caught Ten Dam, Ivan Basso made a little feint, but couldn’t gain any ground.
Back in the peloton for the yellow was playing out. RadioShack led for most of the day, but didn’t push the pace; the team was content to let the escapees win the stage, as none of them were General Classification threats.
United Healthcare, frustrated by RadioShack’s laggard pace, moved strongly to the front; then BMC picked up the pace in the final quarter of the stage, hoping to isolate Levi Leipheimer and attack for George Hincapie.
RadioShack had used up a lot of riders early in the stage, but still had Ivan Rovny at the end; the Russian rider moved to the front and elevated the pace on the climb up Swan Mountain, splitting the peloton even further.
BMC’s Cadel Evans, Brent Bookwalter and George Hincapie didn’t make the split; they got stuck behind and for all their hard work, couldn’t catch the yellow-jersey group.
Rovny and Leipheimer kept the pace high enough to ensure Levi’s lead, then let others take over.
EPM-UNE and Gobernacion also took turns pulling as the escapees wasted time on infighting, hoping t hot get their sprinters in for the finish. The Garmin Cervelo, sure that Tom Peterson wasn’t going to win the stage if the break stayed away, decided to really push.
The escapees had wasted their advantage; with half a mile to go, the peloton rode past them, obviating all their miles of hard work.
With road running out, the teams didn’t have much time to set up leadouts; Liquigas managed to get Daniel Oss ahead of Elia Viviani. BMC’s Jeff Louder was first to go, sneaking down the right-side barrier and making his move, but EPM’s Jaime Ortega saw him and blasted past.
Ortega, starting early and riding alone, was no match for the two powerful Liquigas sprinters. Oss got Viviani up to speed, and he rode past Ortega and took the win.
Levi Leipheimer retained his yellow jersey; the GC didn’t change at all.
The final stage of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, from Golden to Aspen, starts with a cat 3 climb up Lookout Mountain, followed by six laps around the city of Aspen. This is nominally a sprinter’s stage, but with Levi Leipheimer having only eleven seconds on the fields, anything might happen.
The ultimate stage of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge will be broadcast on NBC starting at 2 p.m. ET.
Ortega, starting early and riding alone, was no match for the two powerful Liquigas sprinters. Oss got Viviani up to speed, and he rode past Ortega and took the win.
Levi Leipheimer retained his yellow jersey; the GC didn’t change at all.
The final stage of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, from Golden to Aspen, starts with a cat 3 climb up Lookout Mountain, followed by six laps around the city of Aspen. This is nominally a sprinter’s stage, but with Levi Leipheimer having only eleven seconds on the fields, anything might happen.
The ultimate stage of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge will be broadcast on NBC starting at 2 p.m. ET.
2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge Stage Five |
| General Classification after Stage 5 | ||||||
1 | Elia Viviani | Liquigas | 4:04:31 | 1 | Levi Leipheime | RadioShack | 17:33:14 | |
2 | Jaime Ortega | EPM-UNE | 0:00 | 2 | Christian Vande Velde | Garmin-Cervelo | 0:00:11 | |
3 | Daniel Oss | Liquigas | 0:00 | 3 | Tejay Van Garderen | HTC-Highroad | 0:00:17 | |
4 | Dennis Van Winden | Rabobank | 0:00 | 4 | Thomas Danielson | Garmin-Cervelo | 0:00:21 | |
5 | Jeffry Louder | BMC | 0:00 | 5 | George Hincapie | BMC | 0:00:53 | |
6 | Tejay Van Garderen | HTC-Highroad | 0:00 | 6 | Rafael Infantino | EPM-UNE | 0:01:14 | |
7 | André Steensen | Saxo Bank | 0:00 | 7 | Cadel Evans | BMC | 0:01:18 | |
8 | Rafael Montiel | Gobernacion | 0:00 | 8 | Stef Clement | Rabobank | 0:01:42 | |
9 | Tobias Ludvigsson | Skil-Shimano | 0:00 | 9 | Bruno Pires | Leopard Trek | 0:01:49 | |
10 | Christian Vande Velde | Garmin-Cervelo | 0:00 | 10 | Rory Sutherland | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling | 0:01:50 |
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