Colorado Classic: Petilli attacks, Mirza 18th

The hilly course of the first stage of the Colorado Classic, Colorado Springs-Colorado Springs (150,4 km) did not select the peloton and the massive sprint epilogue gave to John Murphy the victory on McCabe and Owen.

UAE Team Emirates was close to the big target thanks to Simone Petilli, who escaped from the peloton at 30 km to the arrival and, together with Santaromita and Senni, led the race until -2 km.

The Italian trio could not avoid the neutralization of their action and the bunch sprinted on the final straight which had become wet because of the pouring rain (photo @VelonCC).
Mirza was the best rider for the UAE Team Emirates, obtaining the 18th place: “Today the stage was not easy, because of the series of hills we climbed, the altitude and the rain which poured down in the final 50 km. I thanks my team mates for their support in the final lap of the race circuit, they led me in the front positions and I’ll try to do the best in the sprint“.

Stage 1 results
1 John Murphy (Holowesko-Citadel) 3h33’30”
2 Travis McCabe (United Healthcare) s.t.
3 Logan Owen (Axeon Hagens Berman) s.t.
18 Yousif Mirza (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.

General classification after stage 1
1 John Murphy (Holowesko-Citadel) 3h33’20”
2 Travis McCabe (United Healthcare) 4″
3 Logan Owen (Axeon Hagens Berman) 6″
18 Yousif Mirza (UAE Team Emirates) 10″