Robin Carpenter of Hincapie Sportswear Development has won the second stage of the US Pro Tour Challenge.
The stage was 169kms or 105 miles from Aspen to Mount Crested Butte and had Kiel Reijnen of the UnitedHealthcare team in the leader's jersey after his victory on the opening stage.
The stage started without Kevin De Mesmaeker (Novo Nordisk) and Joshua Berry (SmartStop) and Fred Rodriguez (Jelly Belly) who failed to finish the first stage with British rider Graham Briggs (Rapha Condor JLT) finishing the stage outside of the time limit.
When the racing got going on another warm day, Toms Skujins (Hincapie Development) and Matej Mohoric (Cannondale) took an early lead before being caught with 37kms gone.
Ty Magner of the Hincapie Development Team took the first sprint in Basalt and earned himself a fishing rod. and the second in Carbondale before a group of twelve riders were able to get clear.
The group comprised of Michael Torckler (SmartStop), Dion Smith and Joe Lewis (Hincapie Sportswear Development), Kirk Carlsen and Luis Davila (Jelly Belly), Ryan Anderson and Jesse Anthony (Optum), mountain leader Ben Jacques-Maynes (Jamis), Chris Jones (UnitedHealthcare) and Jai Crawford (Drapac), David de la Cruz (NetApp-Endura) and Matej Mohoric (Cannondale) and were together when de la Cruz took the KOM on the McClure summit.
A lead of 4.10 was down to 3.20 with 43.8kms to go as the riders started on the second climb - The Kebler Pass.
Luis Davila attacked with 25.2 miles left and caused split in the breakaway group which was reduced to five riders in Carpenter, Jacques-Maynes, Davila, Anthony, and Torckler, who were pedalling up a dirt road with a lead of 1.10.
Up at the finish line, it was raining heavy and it was cloudy on the road as Torckler went off the back of the group and Robin Carpenter went away on the front, with a lead of fifty seconds.
The rain clouds rolled in across the mountain and as Carpenter got towards the top, the race organisers announced that the race had been neutralised on the descent with 8.9kms left.
Many riders in the peloton started having a go at the UCI official saying that the race should have been neutralised before this and that they had already tackled the dangerous section.
Carpenter was allowed to let go with a forty five second lead and he stayed away, battling his way up Mount Crested Butte to take the win in 4:17:18, six seconds ahead of Alex Howes of Garmin-Sharp and Tejay van Garderen of BMC.
That second place for Howes, gives him the race lead by eleven seconds over Ben Hermans of BMC going into the third stage from Gunnison to Monarch Mountain.