Sutherland Wins Stage Six, Leipheimer Takes Yellow in USA Pro Challenge

Rory Sutherland of Pro Continental team United HealthCare beat out all the big-named riders from all the big ProTour teams to win Stage Six of the USA Pro Challenge.

Sutherland, an Australian who has lived in Boulder Colorado and ridden of United HealthCare for years, rode with a 14-rider breakaway in the first few miles of the 102-mile stage and stayed through repeated attacks and over the big Boulder Canyon climb and the shorter, sharper Lee Hill Road ascent.

Sutherland waited for the day’s final climb, the five-mile, fourteen-percent haul up Flagstaff Mountain; then when RadioShack’s Jens Voigt (this man is amazing—he has been in a break in every stage, road almost the entirety of Stage Five solo, and started the break in Stage Six) attacked near the bottom of the climb, hoping to launch teammate George Bennett, Sutherland pounced.

The UHC rider passed Voigt, gapped the breakaway riders, and stayed ahead of the fast-approaching peloton to take the biggest win of his career.

Sutherland’s winning strategy? “First I just wanted to make it to Boulder to see my friends of family; then I wanted to help Timmy [Duggan] get up to Nederlands to see his friends and family,” Sutherland told NBS Sports’ Bob Roll.

“I know this climb well enough that I knew I had to go from the bottom to the top. I know where to go easy; I know where to go hard. I’ve done it I don’t know how many times; that was the most beautiful one I’ve ever done.”

The victory, over some of the sport’s biggest teams and best riders, “proves that we’ve been working hard all year, we’ve been working hard for years. I’ve been with the organization for six years,” Sutherland continued.

“This has been a rough week for us, the race was maybe harder than we expected, and we had some bad luck here and there, I didn’t have the legs most of the week. Last night I dreamt all night of the finish line here. I had a terrible night’s sleep, I woke up at five wide awake thinking about it, so I figured, might as well get up and start planning the day.”

Sutherland told Roll this was easily the biggest win of his career. “This is a 2HC race, it’s nationally televised, and for me to win in the town where live on the climb that I know so well and I train on, with my friends and family here—I don’t think we could have asked for anything better than this,” he concluded.

The biggest winner of the day wasn’t Rory Sutherland; it was defending champ Levi Leipheimer. Leipheimer suffered a broken leg in April when an elderly driver hit the cyclist on a training ride. The 38-year-old Omega Pharma-Quickstep leader, took only five weeks to recuperate before riding the Tour of California, and then rode the Tour de France.

Throughout the USA Pro Challenge, the Omega Pharma-Quickstep rider was quiet, content to follow BMC’s Tejay Van Garderen and Garmin’s Christian Vande Velde as they battled for the yellow jersey. On the final climb of the final rioad stage, Leipheimer made his move. He saw that Van Garderen wasn’t responding well to attacks from the peloton, so the more experienced rider waitied for the right moment and exploded away, catching all but three of the breakaway riders in the final mile-and-a-half, finishing fourth and taking the yellow jersey by nine seconds.

“I can’t take credit for planning it exactly like that, but obviously it was in my mind to do that,” he told NBC Sports.
Leipheimer rode the whole event at a disadvantage; Omega only sent six riders out of a possible eight, and one, sprinter Francesco Chicchi, retired early in the race, leaving Leipheimer with little support. The remaining teammates did their best, and Leipheimer appreciated it.  

“The guys have gone above and beyond what they could do this week,” he said. “We were down a lot of guys, but this is for them. I’m very happy.”

Leipheimer won the inaugural pro Challenge when race leader Tejay Van Garderen, then only 23, faded near the end of that race’s long, uphill time trial. This year’s final time trial is flat and very short, only nine miles, which might favor the younger rider. The Omega team leader acknowledged that he still faced a considerable challenge.

“I’m not comfortable, I’ve got some great guys breathing down my neck, but I can say that I’m motivated and I’m very proud to wear this jersey tomorrow,” Leipheimer said.

The race will be more than just a test of legs. Van Garderen let the pressure get to him in 2011, and it cost him the win. In Stage Six this year, he faded in the final crucial miles, losing yellow and precious time to his rivals.

Still Van Garderen at 24, is much younger than his top two rivals, 36-year-old Christian Vande Velde of Garmin-Sharp and Leipheimer, 38. After his excellent fifth-place showing at the Tour de France this year, Van Garderen should have the confidence to handle the pressure, and his young legs might recover more quickly form today’s exertions.

However, Best Young Rider Joseph Dombrowski of Bontrager Livestrong is only one second behind the BMC rider. Dombrowski is only 21, and is as eager as anybody to win this race. Also, he doesn’t face the same pressure Van Garderen did last year or this year; Dombrowski is so young no one expects him to win, while Van Garderen was and still is looking for his first big stage race victory.

Garmin’s Christian Vande Velde is only nine seconds behind Levi Leipheimer, and he can also ride a good time trial. With the stage being so short and flat, endurance won’t be so much of an issue. Perhaps these two riders will finish the stage before accumulated fatigue becomes an issue.

On top of all that, both Vande Velde and Leipheimer have been through  it many, many times. Both have won major stages and endured major disappointments. Both really want to win, but both probably fear losing a lot less.

Van Garderen must be questioning himself; having faded and lost the race in the final stage last year, and now having cracked on the final climb and lost the yellow jersey this year, the young rider might be questioning his legs, and his focus. The 24-year-old is still looking for his first big win; the pressure he will put on himself might be the biggest obstacle to his own success.