Riders went from Loveland to Fort Collins in an exciting day of riding that included the race’s last KOM competition. In a fast and furious sprint to the finish, Peter Sagan took the stage win and Colorado resident Tejay van Garderen held onto the Leader Jersey.
The race passed close to Rocky Mountain National Park.
“I’m having an amazing time racing here in Colorado on the roads that I used to train on in high school – it’s unbelievable,” said van Garderen. “The crowds here are incredible. Colorado is a cycling-crazy state.”
“Today’s stage of the USA Pro Challenge gave us the chance to showcase another beautiful part of the State of Colorado to the world,” said Shawn Hunter, CEO of the USA Pro Challenge. “We saw impressive crowds cheering on the riders at the start line in Loveland all the way to the packed streets of Fort Collins this afternoon. The number of people that came out to watch the race today was amazing!”Several attacks came early in the stage, including one from 2013 Tour de France Champion Chris Froome (GBR) of Sky Procycling, but nothing stuck. After reeling a big group in, the intact peloton reached the second Clif Bar Sprint Line of the day in Loveland, where Christopher Jones (USA) of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team crossed the line first, followed by Kirk Carlsen (USA) of Bissell Pro Cycling and Marsh Cooper (CAN) of Optum Presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies.
After one more unsuccessful break attempt, Michael Rogers (AUS) of Team Saxo-Tinkoff showed his strength once again and pulled away from the group. He was followed by several riders that would comprise today’s main breakaway, including:
Thomas Dekker (NED) of Team Garmin-Sharp
Andrew Talansky (USA) of Team Garmin-Sharp
Joshua Edmondson (GBR) of Sky Procycling
Tiago Machado (POR) of RadioShack Leopard Trek
Bruno Pires (POR) of Team Saxo-Tinkoff
Timothy Duggan (USA) of Team Saxo-Tinkoff
Simon Geschke (GER) of Team Argos-Shimano
Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (COL) of Columbia
Javier Megias Leal (ESP) of Team Novo Nordisk
Christopher Jones (USA) of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
Jeffry Louder (USA) of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
Jonathan Patrick McCarty (USA) of Bissell Pro Cycling
Kirk Carlsen (USA) of Bissell Pro Cycling
Jesse Anthony (USA) of Optum Presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies
At about 22 miles until the end of the stage, things started to heat up. Cannondale continued to lead the front of the peloton, ensuring their sprinter Peter Sagan (SVK) would be ready for the final run into Fort Collins, and with that speedy tempo, the gap started to shrink. Seizing the moment, two riders – Carlsen and Machado – attacked the break and were soon joined by Geschke and Duarte. But Geschke didn’t stop there and attacked the newly formed break of four with about 16 miles to the finish. Before long though, he was joined by several other riders, including Dekker, Edmonson, Rogers and Megias Leal.
As the remaining riders from the original break of 15 left in the second group got reabsorbed by the field, the situation consisted of the break out front, chased by Machado and Pires, followed by the field. With the break riding through a swarm of fans on the small, rolling, uncategorized hills leading to the slightly downhill finish in Fort Collins, Geschke went back to the field as well.
With about eight miles to go, a crash took down Andy Schleck (LUX) of RadioShack Leopard Trek and Tom Zirbel (USA) of Optum Presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies, but they were both able to recover and finish the stage.
With the end of the stage nearing, the peloton chased down the breakaway and began to set up for a fast, final sprint into Downtown Fort Collins. Teams started lining up their sprinters and sending them off the front, but in an all-out, intense sprint to the finish, 2013 Tour de France Green Jersey Winner Peter Sagan won the stage.
“Today I’d like to thank all my teammates, they did great work all day, especially in the front for the breakaway,” said Sagan. “All the riders from my team did their best. I’m very happy to have won this stage.”
Stage 6 Results
· First – Peter Sagan (SVK) of Cannondale Pro Cycling
· Second – Luka Mezgec (SLO) of Team Argos-Shimano
· Third – Greg Van Avermaet (BEL) of BMC Racing Team
GC Standings
· First – Tejay van Garderen (USA) of BMC Racing Team
· Second – Mathias Frank (SUI) of BMC Racing Team
· Third – Tom Danielson (USA) of Team Garmin-Sharp
Jersey Winners
· Smashburger Leader Jersey – Tejay van Garderen (USA) of BMC Racing Team
· Clif Bar Sprint Jersey – Peter Sagan (SVK) of Cannondale Pro Cycling
· Nissan King of the Mountains Jersey – Matt Cooke (USA) of Jamis-Hagens Berman p/b Sutter Home
· FirstBank Most Courageous Rider Jersey – Simon Geschke (GER) of Team Argos-Shimano
· Colorado State University Best Young Rider Jersey – Lachlan David Morton (AUS) of Team Garmin-Sharp
