Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda won the Tour of Utah team time trial on Wednesday to give Christian Vande Velde the individual lead, finishing the three-lap, 21.7km stage at Miller Motorsports Park in 22 minutes, 35 seconds.
Vande Velde leads the overall standings at 5:48.16, followed by fellow US riders and teammates Thomas Danielson and David Zabriskie. Australia’s Rory Sutherland, the winner of the first stage on Tuesday, tumbled to 10th when his UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team finished fifth.
“The biggest thing is racing,” Vande Velde said. “You can practice as much as you want, but racing is always a different animal. We’ve been a part of so many races together that some things become second nature. You’re ready. You anticipate what’s going to happen before it happens.”
Rabobank was second at 23:08.09, followed by Radioshack-Nissan-Trek at 23:13.07.
“You win team time trials not by going extremely fast, but by never going slow,” said Charlie Wegelius, the Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda team manager. It’s about keeping a constant level.”
Two-time defending Tour of Utah champion Levi Leiphemier was in danger of falling out of contention after just two stages. Leipheimer is in 42nd place, 2:04 behind Vande Velde.
The third stage yesterday was a 137.6km leg from Ogden to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. The ride features three mountain climbs.
ENECO TOUR
AFP, BRUSSELS, Belgium
Dutch racer Theo Bos of the Rabobank team won the third stage of the Eneco Tour of the Low Countries on Wednesday as he saw off John Degenkolb of Denmark and Australian Heinrich Haussler in a sprint finish at Genk in Belgium.
Bos covered the 188km in 4:14.49.
Belgian Jens Keukeleire of Orica-GreenEdge retained the leader’s jersey ahead of yesterday’s fourth stage, a 213km ride from Heers in Belgium to Bergen-op-Zoom in the Netherlands.
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