Tour of Alberta: Tanner Putt wins 2nd stage, Colin Joyce remains in the lead

American rider Tanner Putt of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team won the second stage. Colin Joyce remains in the lead

The only rider sporting short sleeves for the duration, American Tanner Putt, shrugged off the elements, took off early in the race and went the distance, winning Stage 2 of the 2016 Tour of Alberta in a time of 4:06:46.

“It did motivate me,” Putt, riding for Team UnitedHealthcare, said of the conditions. “I had a good feeling going into the break today, especially with the weather being so bad. Sometimes the breakaway is a bit of an advantage so I really wanted to take my chances in the break."

“The only time I regretted it was in the beginning, I started with arm warmers and had to take them off after like 5k.”

The 24-year-old nicked the line just two seconds ahead of Team Canada’s Alexis Cartier, with whom he rode for most of the race, for his first victory as a professional.

“We played a bit of cat and mouse,” Putt explained, “Attacked each other a bit, and then at 1k to go I knew it would come down to us sprinting it out. Once I hit out at 250 (metres), I knew I had it.”

American Colin Joyce, who was wearing the yellow jersey due to his Stage 1 win, finished 15 seconds behind Putt. The 22-year-old Joyce, of Pocatello, Idaho, successfully defended his yellow, green and white jerseys as the over-all individual, sprint and young rider leader. Italian Danilo Celano remained atop the Lexus of Edmonton King of the Mountain standings, while Alex Cataford is now the top Canadian rider.

“Nice sunny summer day, right?” Joyce described, rolling his eyes. “It started all right, then it rained and got really, really cold. And then I looked over at Tanner and he wasn’t wearing anything besides a jersey so I felt pretty bad about myself. We know Tanner’s crazy."

“It’s awesome to see him win, he definitely deserved that win. He rode so hard today. It was very impressive.”

The stage began in the vast provincial playground that is Kananaskis. Over a course covering 182 kilometres, it wound through Cochrane, north on Hwy 766 and into Olds.

“It’s beautiful,” said Putt, originally from Park City, Utah. “I’ve never been in this part of Canada. I did the tour of Alberta in 2014 but I’ve never been up in the mountains. I grew up a ski racer and never got up here to ski. It was so beautiful to start."

“Once we got to about 30k to go, we started hitting some heavier rain and it got a bit colder. I knew being out front with just one other guy, we’d be working the whole time.”

Putt and Cartier broke away from the group early on and rode as a tandem ahead of the peloton for most of the race. The two enjoyed a tailwind into Olds, keeping a close eye on the guys over a minute behind them.

With around eight kilometres to the finish, Canadian Ryan Roth broke away from the peloton, probably hoping that the field would come along with him in order to give Putt and Cartier a scare. But no one else budged, so Roth eventually moved back to the safety of the pack.

Shortly thereafter, U.S. riders Tyler Williams (Axeon Hagens Berman) and Evan Huffman did distance themselves from the group to finish third and fourth, respectively.

The third stage will begin on Saturday at Rocky Mountain House, a 181.2-km stretch en route to Drayton Valley.

“I didn’t know there was more rain coming,” smiled Putt, when alerted to the possibility, “But that would be great. Looking forward to it, maybe more breakaways.”

Putt, born in Park City, Utah, arrived together with Canada's Alexis Cartier and proved to have the most energy left to win the final sprint.

The victory is the first professional win ever for Putt, 24, whose biggest victories until now were the overall classification of the Tour of Belize in 2009 and the USA National Road Race Championships U23 in 2013 and 2014.

Axeon Hagens Berman rider Joyce, who won the opening stage on Thursday, remains at the top of the General Classification with a seven-second advantage over Alex Howes.

Tour of Alberta Stage 2 Results, Top 20

1 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 4:06:46 
2 Alexis Cartier (Can) Team Canada 0:00:02 
3 Tyler Williams (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:00:10 
4 Evan Huffman (USA) Team Rally 0:00:13 
5 Colin Joyce (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:00:15 
6 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling   
7 Kristofer Dahl (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:00:17 
8 Felix Cote Bouvette (Can) H&R Block Pro Cycling   
9 Travis McCabe (USA) Holowesko/Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear   
10 Pierrick Naud (Can) Team Rally   
11 Joseph Lewis (Aus) Holowesko/Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear   
12 Benjamin Perry (Can) Silber Pro Cycling   
13 Kristoffer Skjerping (Nor) Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling   
14 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo   
15 Marco Zamparella (Ita) Amore & Vita - Selle SMP   
16 Mackenzie Brennan (USA) Holowesko/Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear   
17 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Trek-Segafredo   
18 Alexander Cataford (Can) Silber Pro Cycling   
19 Edgar Miguel Lemos Pinto (Por) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team - Al Ahli Club

General classification after stage 2 Tour of Alberta

1 Colin Joyce (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 6:30:19 
2 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling 0:00:07 
3 Robin Carpenter (USA) Holowesko/Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear 0:00:09 
4 Evan Huffman (USA) Team Rally 0:00:11 
5 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:15 
6 Alexander Cataford (Can) Silber Pro Cycling   
7 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Team Canada   
8 Daniel Eaton (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team   
9 Angus Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis   
10 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Silber Pro Cycling 0:00:21 
11 Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:01:50 
12 Tyler Williams (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:02:09 
13 John Murphy (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:02:16 
14 Travis McCabe (USA) Holowesko/Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear 0:02:18 
15 Toms Skujins (Lat) Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling 0:02:19 
16 Pierrick Naud (Can) Team Rally 0:02:20 
17 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Trek-Segafredo   
18 Benjamin Perry (Can) Silber Pro Cycling   
19 Kristoffer Skjerping (Nor) Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling   
20 Felix Cote Bouvette (Can) H&R Block Pro Cycling