Carter Jones continued his
impressive season by taking 8th on GC in what is billed as "America's
toughest stage race", the Tour of Utah.
With over 40,000 ft. of climbing, most of it at high altitude, over the
six stage race, few would argue with the billing.
Carter really opened his account in the race
on stage 3, when he helped drive a 20 man breakaway that put the main
contenders under pressure. On the final
climb of Mt Nebo, Carter pushed on and dropped everyone from the break except
Radioshack's Ben King. Carter and King
rode at the front of the race, taking time out of the group of main contenders
until Lachlan Morton attacked and took the stage. Still, Carter rode himself into the top 10 of
the race on GC and showed he was there to duke it out with the World Tour
teams.
He rode well enough on the brutal
Queen's stage that finished atop Snowbird to keep himself within striking
distance of the top 10, but it was clear the efforts of Thursday’s break were
still having an effect and keeping him from showing his best.
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Carter going into the sprint against Horner and
Schaer!
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Sitting in 11th place overall on the last
stage, he went over the top of the final climb, Empire Pass, in fourth and
riding with the group containing Radioshack's Chris Horner and Matt
Busche. Some dropped riders got back on
the descent of Empire Pass and Carter ended up coming across the finish in 9th
place on the day, but showing he was among the best climbers in the world. That finish on time allowed him to leapfrog from
11th to 8th on GC. His next objective
will be to continue to show his class in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in
Colorado.
PCG
Coach: Stephen McGregor
