BMC’s Schar Battles Cramps to Steal Stage 2 in Utah

Michael Schar, from BMC Racing, won the Tour of Utah’s second stage, 130miles from Panguitch to Torrey. The stage is the longest on the 2014 edition and featured over 10,000′ of climbing, including four KOMs including the Boulder Mountain climb with a summit of over 9,000′ at 108miles.

peloton/ToU

Schar was the sole surveyor of an early break of strong riders – Jens Voigt (Trek Factory Racing), Ben Day (UnitedHealthcare), Darren Lapthorne ( Drapac), Ramiro Diaz (Funvic-Brasilinvest)and Joey Rosskopf (Hincapie Sportswear).

With a maximum lead of almost seven minutes the breakaway splintered on the many climbs, with Schar eventually dropping Rosskopf on Boulder Mountain. Despite suffering from cramps on the descent Schar held on during the final 20miles, only winning by two seconds over the hard charging field. Jure Kocjan of Team SmartStop won the bunch kick followed by Serghei Tvetcov of Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis. While not enough to claim the stage win, Kocjan was able to take the leader’s jersey from stage one winner, Belkin’s Hofland.

Tomorrow the peloton will tackle a relatively flat day with a single KOM early in the 118mi day from Lehi to Miller Motorsports Park.

Stage 2 Results
1 Schär, Michael BMC Racing Team 5h 3m
2 Kocjan, Jure SmartStop Pro Cycling 0:02
3 Tvetcov, Serghei Jelly Belly Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:02
4 Reijnen, Kiel UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:02
5 Skujins, Toms Hincapie Sportswear Development Team 0:02

Overall standings after Stage 2
1 Kocjan, JureSmartStop Pro Cycling 9h 54m 2s
2 Schär, Michael BMC Racing Team 0:02
3 Tvetcov, Serghei Jelly Belly Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:08
4 Reijnen, Kiel UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:12
5 Tanner, Putt Bissell Development Team 0:12