Trek-LIVESTRONG's Taylor Phinney Pulls On Yellow at Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Prologue

Team Trek-LIVESTRONG came out swinging in the Tour of Utah Prologue. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) August 19, 2010 - SALT LAKE CITY - Team Trek-LIVESTRONG came out swinging in the Tour of Utah Prologue, presented by the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau, with Taylor Phinney and Alex Dowsett taking the top two positions. The course followed a 2.8 mile out and back course finishing near the steps of the state capitol.

The seventh rider to start, Robert (Bobby) Lea of ON THE RIVET presented by Ion Sports Nutrition, posted up the time to beat early on in the day with a time of 6:15.07. One hundred riders would go by before Dowsett would finish taking the lead with 6:05.45. It wasn't long before Phinney came in beating last year's course record of 6:12, previously held by Brent Bookwalter of Team BMC, today's third place finisher, by ten seconds.

"Taylor Phinney is fast," said Bob Roll famed racer turned commentator.

George Hincapie of BMC Racing, Levi Leipheimer of Mellow Johnny's, Rory Southerland of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling presented Maxxis, and defending Tour of Utah Champion Francisco Mancebo of Canyon Bicycles all had strong showings. But at the end of the day, only two racers pulled on winner's jerseys. Phinney will start tomorrow in the yellow AT&T Leader's Jersey, Jeff Louder, previous tour winner of team BMC, will start in the red Siegfried & Jensen Best Utah Rider Jersey.

"Honestly with the race being so hard it has become a race people train for," continued Roll, "Terry McGinnis had the right idea. Create a great race and the riders and sponsors will follow."

Tonight's Prologue was dedicated to McGinnis, the Tour of Utah's executive director during the 2008 and 2009 races. McGinnis died of cancer in October 2009.

Tomorrow's stage, the University of Utah Health Care Ogden to Research Park road race, will set the precedent for the rest of the difficult Tour with two category one and two European style climbs starting the Utah Toyota Dealers Association King of the Mountains competition and 86 miles through Utah's Wasatch Mountains.

For a complete list of results, go to www.tourofutah.com

About the 2010 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah
Deemed "America's Toughest Stage Race," the 2010 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah presented by Zions Bank, is a six-day, six-stage, 325-mile professional bicycle road race with nearly 30,000 feet of climbing. The race takes place August 17-22, 2010 along the Rocky Mountain's Wasatch Range through some of Utah's most beautiful and challenging terrain. The Tour will attract 19 professional cycling teams totaling 144 cyclists competing for a cash/prize purse of $45,000. The 2010 Tour of Utah will be accompanied by a colorful, rolling festival celebration that will take place at the finish line. More than 30,000 spectators are expected to line the racecourse and attend the festivals in Ogden, Park City, Provo, Salt Lake City and Tooele, and 60,000-plus race fans are expected to follow online.

Local Media Contact:
Linda Luchetti, Media Director, 801.325.2570 (wk) / 801.455.9163.7515 (cell), lluchetti ( @ ) lhm dot com

National & International Media Contact:
Chip Smith, SOAR Communications, 801.656-0472 x1 (wk) / 801.597.7515 (cell), csmith ( @ ) soarcomm dot com

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