The 2015 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah has featured a sprint finish at every stage thus far, and Stage 5 in Salt Lake City was no different.
Michael Woods of team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies broke off from the peloton on the last turn and sprinted away for the victory with a total time of 2 hours 3 minutes 50 seconds.
"It's the biggest win of my career. It was a surreal moment for sure," Woods said. "I couldn't believe it."
The win was enough to make Woods the overall leader as he takes the yellow jersey away from Jure Kocjan, who finished in 13th place. It was the second straight stage win for Optum at the Tour of Utah after teammate Eric Young won Thursday's stage at Soldier Hollow.
"I didn't really expect to be in the yellow [jersey] going into the stage tomorrow; I thought I'd be trying to get into yellow on Saturday," said Woods. "But you can never pan for these things and you always want to seize a win when you get that opportunity."
Italian Sonny Colbrelli of Bardiani CSF and Stage 1 winner Kiel Reijnen from UnitedHealthcare came in second and third respectively, followed by Colombia's Daniel Martinez in fourth and Axeon Cycling's Ruben Guerreiro in fifth.
As the race was winding down, a severe storm came roaring through, knocking down the start/finish arch on 500 North while the award ceremony was underway, according to Tour of Utah spokesperson Frank Zang. One person was injured in the incident, and the unidentified person was taken to the University of Utah hospital.
The last lap was highlighted by an attempted breakaway from Natnael Berhane from MTN-Qhubeka, who started the seventh go-round by distancing himself from the pack in an all-out effort to go for the win. The peloton eventually caught him with about a mile left, and a frantic sprint for the finish ensued as the Eritrean fell back in the group and Woods and company surged ahead for the podium. Berhane finished in 26th place, 26 seconds after the Canadian Woods.
"I tried to be in the best position as possible, just steady pace for as long as possible until I hit it out. I hit it out with maybe 200 meters to go. It was a tough last 200 meters, but I managed to hold the rest of the peloton off," Woods said.
For most of the seven-lap circuit, a breakaway group of eight riders pushed the pace, getting out ahead of the peloton by as much as one minute 10 seconds.
About midway through lap five as the riders were coming down the hill around Bonneville Boulevard, Italian Stefano Pirazzi and South African Songezo Jim mounted an attack to separate from the break. Things got a little interesting at this point in the race; as Pirazzi and Jim took the lead, two chase groups formed between them and the peloton. The other six from the aforementioned group trailed behind about 15 seconds while 21-year-old BMC trainee Kilian Frankiny tried to bridge the gap from the peloton, albeit unsuccessfully, as the young rider from Switzerland couldn't quite close the gap. Robin Carpenter also attacked the leaders, making short-lived contact with the lead group before the three of them were swallowed up by the chasing peloton in the second-to-last lap.
There was a bit of a shake-up at the top of the general classification standings, with Woods taking the overall lead, followed by Brent Bookwalter, who moved up one spot from third, and then Kocjan, who dropped two spots to third. Reijnen, who wore the yellow jacket for the first three stages, reemerged in the top five in fourth pace, and New Zealander Dion Smith is now in fifth place.
Some other jerseys also changed riders after Stage 5, with Songezo earning the orange Most Aggressive Rider jersey. Smith nabbed the Best Young rider jersey away from Carpenter, who held both coming into the day. Daniel Gregory of Axeon held on to the King of the Mountain jersey as there were no KOMs in today's race, and Reijnen was tabbed as the best sprinter.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race past Salt Lake City Temple Square during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race past Salt Lake City Temple Square during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race past Salt Lake City Temple Square during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race past Salt Lake City Temple Square during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race past Salt Lake City Temple Square during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race up Wall Street in Capitol Hill during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race up Wall Street in Capitol Hill during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race up Wall Street in Capitol Hill during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah's Michael Woods races to the finish line to win Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race up Zane Avenue in Capitol Hill during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race up Zane Avenue in Capitol Hill during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race up Zane Avenue in Capitol Hill during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah's Michael Woods races to the finish line to win Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race to the finish line during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah's Michael Woods races to the finish line to win Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race on North Temple Street during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race on North Temple Street during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race on North Temple Street during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race up Zane Avenue in Capitol Hill during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race up Zane Avenue in Capitol Hill during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah riders race up Zane Avenue in Capitol Hill during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah rider Tommy Nankervis gets an unexpected hand as he races up Zane Avenue in Capitol Hill during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Tour of Utah rider Tommy Nankervis gets an unexpected hand as he races up Zane Avenue in Capitol Hill during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah Friday August 7, 2015.
Tour of Utah riders race past Salt Lake City Temple Square during Stage 5 of the cycling race Friday, Aug. 7, 2015, in Salt Lake City. (Chris Detrick/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)
Tommy Nankervis, center, gets an unexpected hand as he races up Zane Avenue in Salt Lake City during Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah cycling race Friday, Aug. 7, 2015. (Chris Detrick/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP) DESERET NEWS OUT; LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; MAGAZINES OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT
