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HEBER, Utah - Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - U.S. National Road Champion Chris Wherry won his second consecutive stage in the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, the KJZZ Individual Time Trial, finishing ahead of Toyota-United teammate and U.S. National Time Trial Champion Chris Baldwin. Wherry finished the stage in 15 minutes 50.67 seconds, blistering the mostly flat course with an average speed of 31.9 miles per hour - eight hundredths of a second faster than Baldwin. The race leader entering the day's stage, Sergey Lagutin of Team Navigators Insurance stopped the clock with the third fastest time of the day, 18 seconds behind Wherry.
The stage win gives Wherry the overall lead as he moves ahead of Lagutin by 14 seconds on General Classification. Baldwin's second place finish today moved him to third overall at 26 seconds off the leader. Utah professional and hometown favorite Jeff Louder of HealthNet-Maxxis finished the day's stage 25 seconds behind Wherry, moving him up one place to fourth overall, 30 seconds behind the yellow jersey.
Priority Health rider Tom Zirbel, who left the starting gate in 34th position, posted the day's best time to that point, finishing in 16 minutes 30.10 seconds. His time held up as riders continued to cross the line behind him, and it wasn't until Wherry, Baldwin and Lagutin finished that Zirbel was knocked from a podium position. His finish was fast enough for fourth on the stage, three seconds ahead of fifth place Louder.
Other race favorites include Utah rider Burke Swindlehurst, who finished the day 10th, at 45 seconds behind Wherry, Scott Moninger, who finished the stage 37 seconds behind the winner in seventh place, and Swindlehurst's Navigators teammate Cesar Grejalis in ninth place at 42 seconds back. Today's stage separated many of the favorites from the pack as the race heads into the mountains for Stage Four. Tomorrow's 94-mile 101.9 THE END Road Race will allow the strong men to shine in the race's first mountain stage beginning in Provo. The racers will finish at nearly 8,000 feet on the Nebo Loop summit after 20 miles of climbing.
For a complete listing of results, stage dates, times, maps and finish festivals visit www.tourofutah.com.
