Tour of Utah: Final sprint propels Kiel Reijnen to Stage 1 victory in Logan

Logan • His view of the finish line finally coming into focus, his jersey — like every other rider's — sopping wet from riding five-plus hours in a steady downpour, Kiel Reijnen put his head down and pushed. With each rotation of his pedals, Reijnen wouldn't allow himself to lift his head once again and peek at the finish line.

When he finally did, the 29-year-old UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling Team rider let out a loud roar. He balled up his fist and beat his chest, his legs still churning. Afterward, he pointed to his heart, solidifying a frantic victory in a frenetic finish to the Stage 1 of the 2015 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah on Monday.

"My wife always tells me to race with my heart," Reijnen said. "I think that's something that's really hard to do often. It's really easy to put yourself in the box, to say, 'OK, this race suits me, or this race doesn't," and almost predetermine the race before it already happens."

Reijnen did not.

Alex Howes of Cannondale-Garmin finished second behind Reijnen, with Taylor Phinney of BMC Racing finishing third in his first competitive race since May 2014.

With less than a mile remaining of the 132-mile first stage, Reijnen joined a newly formed breakaway with Howes, Phinney, Greg Daniel of Axeol Cycling and Johann Van Zyl of MTN-Qhubeka.

Van Zyl and Daniel had been part of the breakaway that led for most of the rain-soaked Monday morning and into afternoon above Logan Canyon, across the state line into Idaho and back toward Logan Canyon. The peloton stalked for the better part of 100 miles before finally swallowing up Van Zyl and Daniel with 1.1 miles left.

With over 500 meters to go, Reijnen busted through the pack, sprinting by Howes, Phinney and the lot to secure the best victory of his seven-year professional career. After Reijnen finally managed to unclip his shoes off his bike and take a step onto the wet asphalt, his UHC team members tackled him, congratulating their friend for a spectacular finish.

"I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it up to [Phinney] in time to like have momentum or not," Reijnen said.

In the news conference afterward as he explained the way the finish shaped up, Howes interrupted his longtime friend by saying Reijnen "milked [Phinney] like a dairy cow" in the final dead sprint.

For a few seconds during the final sprint it seemed Phinney would write the perfect script for his return to the sport. The 25-year-old raced for the first time since a horrific May 2014 crash that left him sidelined for over a year. Phinney collided with a motorcycle last May and went careening into a guardrail that left him with a compound tibial fracture, a dislocated fiber, a shattered kneecap and a severed patellar tendon.

"It's really nice to be back," Phinney said. "I didn't want to come back before I was at a position where I could be competitive and try and give some people a run for their money."

Phinney, who said afterward that he was often shivering on his bike due to damp and dreary conditions, took notice when Howes and Reijnen made an initial move to the front late in the race. The three live in Boulder, Colo., train together and often compete in friendly sprints around town.

"The biggest surprise [in the pack] was really seeing Taylor — we're really proud of him," said Howes. "That's not sarcasm. It's really good to have him back."

The win, coupled with being on the podium, made Reijnen forget about being waterlogged for over five hours in and around the Logan Valley

"Having those two guys with me on the podium, it's probably … my favorite win," Reijnen said. "To have those guys there was really super cool. We ride together a lot, we hang out together a lot, we compete against each other. That's pretty unique."

ckamrani@sltrib.com

Twitter: @chriskamrani