tour of utah - stage 4

Stage 4 was a criterium: a short course race held on city streets.  In this case, the course was one mile long and the city was Park City.  What was unusual about this crit was that it was hilly, really hilly: the cyclists went up Main Street for a half-mile at a 12% grade.  And they did it over and over and over again for 75 minutes.  Actually, they lucked out as it had been scheduled for 90 minutes but was shortened due to concerns about the heat. 

Charging up Main Street

H told me that several of the riders - the sprinters - were annoyed with this course.  Sprinters aren't climbers, you see, and the 2010 Tour of Utah had two mountain stages (2 and 5), two hilly stages (1 and 4) and a time trial - nothing that catered to them.  Still, this Park City crit offered some of the most exciting bicycle racing I've seen, what with the fast climbs, faster descents (at one point, the peloton came surging over a rise and down a hill altogether like a herd of buffalo) and sharp corners.

Hometown boy wins it

Park City was packed for this race. We parked at the high school and took a shuttle into and out of town (super-convenient and well-organized). We mostly stood by the start/finish line, right at the fence, and were in great position to watch the racers come charging up Main Street. The best part: Jeff Louder, SLC native, crushed the field and won handily with about a minute between him and the rest of the field. Levi Leipheimer hung in there and kept his yellow jersey for yet another day.

Bob Roll interviews Levi post-race