Francisco Mancebo Claims Tour of Utah, Rock Racing Takes Top Team Honors

August 24th, 2009 by Al Fresco View Comments

Photo courtesy Brian Hodes, VeloImages

Following a monstrous effort on yesterday’s “queen stage” at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah which comfortably preserved his overall lead, Rock Racing’s Francisco Mancebo sealed the victory after today’s fifth and final stage. Mancebo maintained a 46 second advantage over second place finisher Darren Lill of Team Type 1.

Rock Racing leaves Utah as the top team, owning spots on the podium for three of five stages including a dramatic Stage 1 win that saw Mancebo and teammate Oscar Sevilla ride to victory in a 1-2 solo Rock Racing finish.

Mancebo’s win is Rock Racing’s 32nd of the year to go along with 67 podium (top three) placings. It is also the Spaniard’s first overall title at a stage race in the United States.

“This was a very important win for me and for the team,”said Mancebo, a first time competitor at the Tour of Utah. “The terrain was challenging and the caliber of riders was extremely high. There are a lot of young, talented riders here in the U.S. and it was a very good race .”

“Mancebo is an unbelievable rider and this is an unbelievable team,” said Rock Racing owner Michael Ball. “We rode this race with technically only six riders,” he said, referring to the loss of Nic Sanderson and David Vitoria who were forced to pull out due to injury and illness and replaced at the last minute by riders Sergio Hernandez and Enrique Gutierrez, who were not part of the team’s pre-tour training camp in Reno, Nevada.

“Training camp and twelve days at altitude really paid off,” said Ball. “It brought these guys to another level and I am extremely happy with everything we’ve accomplished this week. I’m pretty excited about what’s going to happen next year.”

The Tour of Utah marks Rock Racing’s last U.S stage race for the 2009 season. The team’s U.S. riders will compete at the USPRO Championships next weekend in Greenville, SC while the remaining squad heads back to Europe. The team will end its season at the Vuelta Chihuaha Internacional October 4-11 in Mexico, a race Mancebo won in 2007.