2018 Tour of Utah Stage 6 Results & Recap
Stage 6 of the 2018 Tour of Utah is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Kuss wins 2018 Tour of Utah\nBy Clara Beard
Sepp Kuss wrapped up yellow on the final day of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, winning his third stage of the race after an assault on Empire Pass, the finale of the 124 kilometre stage. No one could stay with the Lotto NL Jumbo rider after he accelerated out of the breakaway group, through the remnants of the early break, and on to a solo victory.
Brent Bookwalter came out of nowhere to finish second place on the stage, eight seconds back, while Jack Haig (Michelton Scott) took third. Hugh Carthy (EF Education First finished fourth a few more seconds behind and Keegan Swirbul (Jelly Belly) was the first continental pro to finish the final stage, taking fifth place.
Kuss took off on Empire Pass with 16 kilometers remaining and initially took Haig along with him when they tracked down solo leader on the road, Nate Brown (EF Education First).
"When Jack went I was feeling okay, but he definitely had me on the ropes there," Kuss said at the press conference. "I was just kind of pulling through with him to keep pace on the climbs; it's kind of pitchy.”
"Then when I could see Nate up ahead I thought maybe I could go again for the stage win, and it broke my heart a little bit to pass him because he's one of the good guys," Kuss said. "But I just had the idea to go again for the win. I've never ridden that descent before, so I didn't really know what to expect from the corners. It was a bit wet as well, so I didn't want to take any chances at all. I knew the guys behind, especially Brent, would probably take some chances, so I just tried to ride a safe descent and try to make it to the finish line."
Kuss scaled the summit of Empire Pass in first, locking up the KOM standings as well, and took no chances on the slick 8.8 kilometre descent into Park City.
"After that descent in the cold rain, my legs just totally locked up," Kuss said. "The fans were so loud that I couldn't really hear anything behind me, like anybody switching gears or anything, so I thought if they passed me I wouldn't even know because it's just so loud. I was just trying to drive all the way to the line. It was really something."
Travis McCabe (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) sealed the Utah Sports Commission points jersey and Luis Villalobos won the WCF Insurance Best Young Rider competition after a solid ride amongst the world tour teams. Nate Brown (EF Education-Drapac p/b Cannondale) was awarded the Larry H. Miller most aggressive jersey and TJ Eisenhart (Holowesko Citadel) was voted the overall fan favorite.\n
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