TELLURIDE — American Tyler Farrar of Boulder-based Team Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda won the first stage of he USA Pro Challenge on Monday, outlasting a peloton sprint into Telluride.
Farrar, a 28-year-old sprinter who lives in Gent, Belgium, will retain the yellow jersey after Tom Danielson of Boulder and Peter Stetina of Garmin led the stage with just five kilometers to go in the opening stage. Farrar crossed the line in 4 hours, 42 minutes, 48 seconds – well ahead of the projected finish time of 3:50 p.m. Given the Tuesday’s uphill finish into Crested Butte, it’s unlikely Farrar will retain the yellow jersey beyond Tuesday.
“It’s special as an American to come and race big races in your own country and have fans who are really cheering for you,” said Farrar, who – prior to last week’s Tour of Utah – had not raced in the U.S. since 2009. “For our team, racing in Colorado is obviously hugely important.”
The 125.7-mile stage from Durango to Telluride wasn’t particularly suited for sprinters with a 30-mile climb in the middle. Farrar, too, had struggled this season, crashing multiple times in the Tour de France and having gone with no wins. He competed in this year’s Olympics.
“It’s been horrible,” Farrar said. “Obviously as a sprinter, you’re judged by your wins. Second, third and fourth don’t count. It’s been a really rough year as far as crashes go. It feels really great to get something positive and feel like I’m moving in the right direction again.”
Danielson and Stetina, a U.S. Olympian, got caught by the peloton with less than four kilometers to go in a mad dash to the finish.
“I’m really familiar with the whole race,” Danielson said. “I told everyone I saw: ‘I think it’s going to be a really hard start.'”
Following the advice of the team’s director, Danielson broke away with other riders about 9 miles into the race in an attempt to win the stage. The terrain was familiar: Danielson competed collegiately for Fort Lewis College in Durango, and one of his first races involved part of the race route.
“It was a lot of fun – I haven’t had that much fun in a bike race in a long time. I could’t help myself just ripping up (that first climb).”
With 15 miles remaining, a chase of three riders was five seconds back from the peloton, including defending champion Levi Leipheimer, which was 35 seconds back. But the gap quickly closed in the final kilometers, and with four to go, the riders were once again one large group.
“I knew there was a chance of a sprint, but we weren’t riding for a sprint,” Farrar said.
Hundreds turned out for the 10 a.m. sendoff in Durango, the unofficial mountain biking capitol of the world. Many told a reporter before the race that this was easily the biggest event to be held in Durango in memory.
Before the official race start at Main Street and 8th Avenue in Durango, riders completed two neutral circuits before a five-mile loop around town that ended with a sprint line that awarded points for the race’s green jersey. Riders then headed up hill, out of town and past Fort Lewis College toward Telluride.
The course included another sprint in the town of Dolores that transitioned into a steady 30-mile climb that summited Lizard Head Pass at 10,222 feet. Riders then descended into Telluride for 15 miles before the finish.
The stage was a marked departure from last year’s prologue time trial stage from the Garden of the Gods into downtown Colorado Springs. The race’s only time trial will be the final day in Denver.
“It almost worked, honestly,” said Danielson, who has retained the red King of the Mountain jersey. “At least it looked awesome. Bummed it didn’t work out I thought we were going to win. But we’ll try again tomorrow.”
Daniel Petty: dpetty@denverpost.com, 303-954-1081,
