Tour of Utah: Louder wants repeat

Standing atop the podium as the winner of the Tour of Utah, in his arms his young daughter Milana soaking in the applause as if it were for her, Jeff Louder slipped on the yellow jersey and smiled.

Jeff Louder was in his place.

There, in front of his friends, his peers and his family, he had won what is lovingly referred to as "America's Toughest Stage Race."

In a way, he had arrived.

"It was a long time coming," Louder, a 31-year-old Salt Lake City native and resident, said, "before I got to this point where I could try to win a stage race."

Louder has been a professional cyclist for more than 10 years. He's sacrificed himself to thousands of hours of training, climbed the highest peaks his bike can take him to and spent multiple tours in Europe developing against the toughest competition in the world.

Winning in Utah, he said, is the highlight to his career so far.

"It's probably the closest thing to a classic European stage race we have in America, and everyone wants to show they can compete well in a tough race like that. So, for me to win it last year, that was really special."

Racing for the BMC Pro Cycling team — a Swiss-based, but United States registered Professional Continental team (roughly the equivelent of a Triple A squad in baseball) — Louder has raced the Dauphine Libere, Paris-Roubaix and several other top European classics against the likes of George Hincapie and Tom Boonen and hopes to return next season.

Winning the 2008 Tour of Utah was certainly a feather in his cap.

But for Louder, the win didn't come with the same prestige as it might have for others.

"When I won last year, it was almost like some people didn't give me quite as much credit," he said. "These were my home roads and I've grown up riding them. It was kind of a home field advantage, I guess."

Knowing some of his competitors might view him with a "Well, he was supposed to win in Utah, wasn't he" degree is skepticism, Louder opened the 2009 season with a bang, capturing the Redlands Cycling Classic stage race victory in the spring.

"That solidified my belief that I could go up against anybody in the country," he said, "and win."