Garmin-Sharp’s Tom Danielson put in an epic effort to hold off the entire field to win Stage Three of the USA Pro ChallengeDanielson bridged to an 18-rider breakaway on the Cat 1 climb up the 12,102-foot Cottonwood Pass, pushed the pace in the breakaway over the 12,060 Independence Pass until he dropped every other rider, and time-trialed to the finish line to win by a mere two seconds ahead of the charging peloton.
Danielson needed 13 seconds to take the yellow jersey away from BMC’s Tejay Van Garderen, who led the chase to catch the Garmin rider.
In the end Van Garderen’s effort was insufficient; Garmin’s Christian Vande Velde finished just a few places ahead of the BMC rider, and captured yellow. Vande Velde is the third rider to wear the jersey in three stages.
Stage Four is another tough stage, heading back over Independence pass and ending with a mountaintop finish. Garmin has attacked furiously in every stage so far; defending yellow might be beyond them.
It seems likely the jersey might pass to yet another rider and team tomorrow.
For Danielson, this was his first win since 2009, and his first stage race win since 2006—he had won hill climbs and team time trial events, but never a serious race stage. The win is all the sweeter because he made a similar titanic effort in Stage One, only to be caught three miles from the finish.
