After coming into the USA Pro Challenge as a much-talked-about favourite for the overall, BMC’s Rohan Dennis threw a spanner in the conventional wisdom Monday with a late attack during the opening stage, considered by most to be a day for the sprinters rather than for the general classification.
Dennis bridged to the breakaway remnants after the final KOM of the day, however, and then joined Canadian champion Guillaume Boivin (Optum Pro Cycling) in a two-man move that was caught a kilometre from the finish in Steamboat Springs.
Although the 25-year-old Australian’s effort didn’t net a stage win or any time over his GC rivals, it worked out quite well for his team when Taylor Phinney won the stage and BMC’s Brent Bookwalter finished third.
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“I took the opportunity,” Dennis told Cyclingnews after the stage. “It could have paid off. It didn’t for me, but it did for Taylor in the end, so I suppose you could have a crack and it was good training.”
In fact, chasing down the move from Dennis and Boivin used up most of the UnitedHealthcare horsepower as the team was trying to set up Kiel Reijnen for the stage win.
With his team mostly played out in the final kilometre, Reijnen had to begin chasing down moves on his own. Phinney eventually escaped up the right-hand side of the road while a Drapac rider was on the left. Reijnen could never get back on terms with Phinney and he finished second.
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