Dennis Pulls on Yellow

Aug 20, 2015 – Rohan Dennis of BMC Racing Team took his first win since winning the opening stage of the Tour de France last month and secured the leader’s jersey for BMC Racing Team.

USA Pro Challenge/Meg McMahon

Wednesday’s 126-mile ride from Aspen to Breckenridge was designated as the Queen’s Stage, and Dennis turned out to be king. By winning the stage, Dennis hit a rare trifecta, taking over the Smashburger Leader’s Jersey, the Lexus Sprint Points jersey, and the Sierra Nevada King of the Mountains jersey. BMC Racing teammate Brent Bookwalter, leader of the race the past two days, said he couldn’t sustain power of Dennis up the steep 18% grades on the final climb up Moonstone Road.

“I was definitely in the red. I kept looking at my power and making sure I didn’t go too far into it,” said Dennis. “I was sort of letting go a little bit. I rode my own tempo. Robbie Squire attacked. I was using Robbie as a carrot.”

Dennis held off Bookwalter and Hincapie’s Robbie Squire, who attempted to break away on the final climb, to win.

Rohan added, “I was playing mind games with myself. I was waiting for the 1k to go to the KOM and I never saw it. Then I saw the 200-meter, the crowd was going nuts. I kicked it into a B gear and went. It hurts still. I’m not gonna lie.”

“It was crazier than I remember,” said Bookwalter, about the masses lining the final climb up Moonstone Road. “The climb was harder than I remember. The turns kept coming and coming, and the climb just kept going and going. It didn’t disappoint in that regard. It was brutal.”

For the jerseys, Rohan Dennis (AUS) of BMC Racing Team takes the Smashburger Race Leader Jersey, Lexus Sprint Points Jersey and Sierra Nevada King of the Mountain Jersey. The Colorado State University Best Young Rider Jersey goes to Hugh Carthy (GBR) of Caja Rural-Seuros RGA and FirstBank Most Aggressive Rider Jersey was awarded to Robbie Squire (USA) of Hincapie Racing Team and Edward Jones Best Colorado Rider Jersey keeps close to Alexandr Braico (MDA) of Jelly Belly P/B Maxxis once again.

Final kilometers of Stage 4
https://youtu.be/CKZ7vzduZkQ

Stage 4 Results & GC Standings
First – Rohan Dennis (AUS) of BMC Racing Team
Second – Brent Bookwalter of BMC Racing Team
Third – Robbie Squire (USA) of Hincapie Racing Team

Jersey Winners
-Smashburger Leader Jersey – Rohan Dennis (AUS) BMC Racing Team
-Lexus Sprint Jersey – Rohan Dennis (AUS) BMC Racing Team
-Sierra Nevada King of the Mountains Jersey – Rohan Dennis (AUS) BMC Racing Team
-Colorado State University Best Young Rider Jersey – Hugh Carthy (GBR) of Caja Rural-Seuros RGA
-FirstBank Most Aggressive Rider Jersey – Robbie Squire (USA) of Hincapie Racing Team
-Edward Jones Best Colorado Rider Jersey – Alexandr Braico (MDA) of Jelly Belly P/B Maxxis

STAGE 5 TOMORROW:
Friday, Aug. 21 – Breckenridge (Time Trial)
Start Time: 1:00 p.m. MT
Estimated Finish Time: 3:50 p.m. MT
Satellite Feed Time: 5 p.m. – 5:15 p.m MT / 7 p.m. – 7:15 p.m. EST

Completely new for 2015, the Breckenridge Time Trial will test all of a rider’s skills and will produce a truly worthy winner.