Brent Bookwalter says his preparation for the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah has not been as intense as it was before the Tour of California in May, but the BMC Racing leader who finished third in Utah in 2015 is quietly confident about his chances to pull off the overall win.
"I've had a pretty laid-back approach,” Bookwalter told Cyclingnews Saturday evening at the Tour of Utah team presentation. "I've been riding my mountain bike and I have some altitude time in me. I haven't had the same level of focus in my prep like I had in California, but knowing I have some good experience myself at this race and we have a really deep team, I feel good about it."
Bookwalter, 33, is in the midst of another consistent season with BMC. He finished second on the queen stage at the Tour of the Alps and was second in the Big Bear time trial in California on his way to fourth overall in the first-year WorldTour race.
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From there Bookwalter went to Critérium du Dauphiné in support of Richie Porte, and he raced most recently USA Cycling Pro Road Championships at the end of June, where he finished second to teammate Joey Rosskopf in the time trial.
"I feel good," Bookwalter said of coming off his extended break. "I'm healthy and I think freshened up a little bit since Nationals. I took a little off week and had the rare chance to go back to Asheville in the summer, which I haven't done for a long time. It was good."
Bookwalter's previous crack at the Tour of Utah came in 2015, when he finished on the final podium behind Joe Dombrowski (Cannondale-Drapac) and Michael Woods, who was riding for Optum at the time but has since signed with Cannondale. Without Cannondale and fellow US-based WorldTour team Trek-Segafredo on the start line in Logan on Monday, this could be Bookwalter's year to add a Utah win to his palmares.
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