Also today, the Tour of Utah came though Utah County. (Thanksgiving Point to Mt Nebo - 77 mile stage with a mountain top finish) I had planned on going to see the riders ride up Payson Canyon but I had forgotten about the dentist appointment until I got the reminder call a few days ago.
So as soon as I got out of my dentist appointment, I called Deni and decided that we'd head up the canyon to see if we could catch the about 130 riders. I thought Payson Canyon would be closed due to the race, so we headed to Santaquin canyon, which would bring us back onto Nebo loop about 10 miles from the finish. The estimated time of finish was 2pm. We got to the summit at 1:40pm, however the riders were fast and all 130 of them had already crossed the finish line.
We went ahead to the finish line.
We decided to walk around a bit and they were just about to award the jersey's for the day. So we got a few pictures. I was standing in between 2 riders and they happened to be the winners. One of them (Francisco Mancebo) has ridden the Tour de France and finished in 4th and 5th places 2 different years.
The atmosphere was very casual and laid back. I had my little lens, so I was quite close to snap these photos. Completely different than what I saw at the Tour to France. I walked right in and around the riders today, where in France everything was barricaded with a heavy police presence.
Darren Lill - King of the Mountain.
Jeff Louder (3rd), Darren Lill (1st), and Francisco Mancebo (2nd)
I already have plans to take the day off next year and watch at least one day of the race, assuming they come through Utah County again. A lot of spectators rode their bikes up the Canyon before and after the race, that is something I'd like to do next year as well.
