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Logan • The Tour of Utah's opening stage on Monday included an ascent of Logan Canyon, a loop around Bear Lake and a climb back up to the top for the long rapid descent down the canyon and into downtown Logan.
One hundred thirty-two miles in all.
And a virtual photo finish at the end.
Georgia native Ty Magner outsprinted Great Britain's Chris Lawless to win the first stage and claim the yellow jersey. Barely.
"It ended up being pretty chaotic in the end," said Travis McCabe, who finished third. "It was a drag race all the way to the finish. "
For a sizeable portion of the race the breakaway pack consisted of eight riders, but five miles from the finish line the pack was cut down to two — with Miguel Angel Benito and Andrei Krasilnikau in the lead. However, they soon got sucked back into the peloton, and as the group made its final move to the finish line, Magner knew it was time to make his push.
Magner and his Holowesko Citadel teammates made it a point throughout the stage to not try to be in the lead the entire time. Instead, they wanted to apply pressure from within the peloton until the last 10 miles, when the team would make its move.
"We as a team were able to sit back and watch all these other teams in the front pool working, and we saved all our bullets for the finish circuits," said Magner. "Basically [teammate] John Murphy gave me an incredible lead out there the last 500 meters coming out of the corner. Super fast sprint and I was super stoked to hold these guys off."
Lawless lamented his inability to overtake Magner at the end, but the winner said some of the chaos down the stretch also played a role.
"It was all over the place, that last [1.2 miles], really, " said Magner. "You're going [50 miles] per hour, you have a left hand turn in a five-lane road that becomes one-lane road so it was just a fight into that corner. It was really hard for teams to have control of the sprint."
Magner and Murphy lost each other in the crowd approaching the finish, but they knew not to worry.
Cutting through the peloton by swinging to the right, Magner was able to catch up with McCabe and then met up with Murphy again.
Monday marked Magner's first stage win at the Tour of Utah since 2013 — his first year participating in the race. He said winning Stage 1 "takes the pressure off the entire week."
"It's huge," said Magner. "I can't remember the last road race I won … [and] to win a super challenging, hilly road race means a lot."
Moving forward, Magner knows nothing in these bike races is predictable. However, he does have his eyes set on some possible accomplishments down the road.
"Stage 4 [South Jordan] looks like it could probably sprint [and is something I have a target on] but its hard to tell," said Magner. "Whatever happens tomorrow on the mountain top, I could be riding the front the rest of the week."
Twitter: @kendra__andrews —
Leaders and schedule
Monday's Stage 1 • 132 miles from Logan to Logan, around Bear Lake Pos. Rider Time 1. Tyler Magner 4:56:49 2. Christopher Lawless same time 3. Travis McCabe same time 4. Mihkel Raim same time 5. Martin Elmiger same time Tuesday's Stage 2 • 94 miles from Brigham City to Snowbasin, with an elevation gain of 6,900 feet. Start time • 9:45 a.m.