The day after he was involved in a high-speed downhill crash that knocked Trek Factory Racing’s Matthew Busche out of the race, Cannondale-Garmin’s Ben King decided to test his health by spending stage 4 in a day-long breakaway at the Tour of Utah.
The 26-year-old American joined six other riders in a 150km escape that the peloton caught just 3.5km from the finish, where Optum Pro Cycling’s Eric Young took the win from a bunch sprint.
Showing the obvious signs of his crash, including bandages on his arms and legs, King was one of the more powerful riders in the group, taking a steady stream of pulls and trying to inspire some of his less-willing colleagues to do the same.
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“I crashed really hard yesterday and I just wanted to see how I felt and try to ignore the fact that I crashed so I could do my job for the team,” King told Cyclingnews after the finish at Soldier Hollow. “That’s really what it comes down to for me. If I can’t do my job for the team, then what’s the point of being here?”
Unfortunately for King and his fellow breakaway riders, the group included Hincapie’s Robin Carpenter, who started the day just eight seconds off the lead of UnitedHealthcare’s Kiel Reijnen. Carpenter’s presence in the group meant the peloton was going to keep the escapees in check, never giving them much more than a three-minute advantage throughout the day.
The peloton almost caught the group near the top of the day’s major climb up Wolf Creek Pass, but then they expanded their lead again on the descent.
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