# 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge

The 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge was the second edition of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge stage race. The race took place from August 20–26, and was rated as a 2.HC event on the UCI America Tour. The race began in Durango, wound its way through the Rocky Mountains at heights of up to 12,000 feet (3,700 m), and finished in the streets of downtown Denver.
Americans swept the podium, with Christian Vande Velde winning the race, Tejay van Garderen finishing second, and Levi Leipheimer finishing third.

## Participating teams

Included in the participating team rosters were many of the top 2012 Tour de France riders; Vincenzo Nibali (3rd), Tejay van Garderen (5th), Cadel Evans (7th), Janez Brajkovič (9th), Andreas Klöden (11th), Chris Horner (13th), Levi Leipheimer (32nd), and Christian Vande Velde (60th). The USA Pro Cycling Challenge invited six UCI ProTeams, and UCI Professional Continental Teams; as well as five UCI Continental Teams.

## Stage Results

Stage results :
| Stage | Date | Route | Terrain | Length | Winner |
| 1 | 20 August | Durango – Telluride | Medium-mountain stage | 125.6 mi (202.1 km) | Tyler Farrar (USA) |
| 2 | 21 August | Montrose – Crested Butte | Mountain stage | 99.2 mi (159.6 km) | Tejay van Garderen (USA) |
| 3 | 22 August | Gunnison – Aspen | Mountain stage | 130.5 mi (210.0 km) | Tom Danielson (USA) |
| 4 | 23 August | Aspen – Beaver Creek | Mountain stage | 97.2 mi (156.4 km) | Jens Voigt (GER) |
| 5 | 24 August | Breckenridge – Colorado Springs | Medium-mountain stage | 117.9 mi (189.7 km) | Tyler Farrar (USA) |
| 6 | 25 August | Golden – Boulder | Mountain stage | 103.3 mi (166.2 km) | Rory Sutherland (AUS) |
| 7 | 26 August | Denver | Individual time trial | 9.5 mi (15.3 km) | Taylor Phinney (USA) |

### Stage 1

August 20, 2012 — Durango, to Telluride, 125.6 miles (202.1 km)
The opening road race for the pro challenge began in Durango.
| | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Tyler Farrar (USA) | EF Education–EasyPost | 4h 42' 48" |
| 2 | Alessandro Bazzana (ITA) | Team Type 1–Sanofi | s.t |
| 3 | Damiano Caruso (ITA) | BMC Racing Team | s.t |
| 4 | Fred Rodriguez (USA) | Team Exergy | s.t |
| 5 | Rory Sutherland (AUS) | UnitedHealthcare | s.t |
| 6 | Gavin Mannion (USA) | Bontrager–Livestrong | s.t |
| 7 | Kiel Reijnen (USA) | Team Type 1–Sanofi | s.t |
| 8 | Alex Candelario (USA) | Optum–Kelly Benefit Strategies | s.t |
| 9 | Chris Horner (USA) | RadioShack–Nissan | s.t |
| 10 | Camilo Castiblanco (COL) | EPM–UNE | s.t |

### Stage 2

August 21, 2012 — Montrose to Crested Butte, 99.2 miles (159.6 km)
| | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Tejay van Garderen (USA) | BMC Racing Team | 3h 52' 24" |
| 2 | Christian Vande Velde (USA) | Garmin–Sharp | s.t |
| 3 | Ivan Rovny (RUS) | RusVelo | + 6" |
| 4 | Levi Leipheimer (USA) | Omega Pharma–Quick-Step | + 8" |
| 5 | Ramiro Rincón (COL) | EPM–UNE | + 8" |
| 6 | Damiano Caruso (ITA) | Liquigas–Cannondale | + 12" |
| 7 | Alessandro Bazzana (ITA) | Team Type 1–Sanofi | + 12" |
| 8 | Chris Horner (USA) | RadioShack–Nissan | + 12" |
| 9 | Janez Brajkovič (SLO) | Astana | + 12" |
| 10 | Lucas Euser (USA) | SpiderTech–C10 | + 12" |

### Stage 3

August 22, 2012 — Gunnison to Aspen, 130.5 miles (210.0 km)
| | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Tom Danielson (USA) | EF Education–EasyPost | 5h 02' 06" |
| 2 | Damiano Caruso (ITA) | Liquigas–Cannondale | + 2" |
| 3 | Jakob Fuglsang (DEN) | RadioShack–Nissan | + 2" |
| 4 | Gavin Mannion (USA) | Bontrager–Livestrong | + 2" |
| 5 | Janez Brajkovič (SLO) | Astana | + 2" |
| 6 | Andreas Klöden (GER) | RadioShack–Nissan | + 2" |
| 7 | Javier Gómez (COL) | EPM–UNE | + 2" |
| 8 | Ivan Rovny (RUS) | RusVelo | + 2" |
| 9 | Christian Vande Velde (USA) | EF Education–EasyPost | + 2" |
| 10 | Christopher Baldwin (USA) | Bissell | + 2" |

### Stage 4

August 23, 2012 — Aspen to Beaver Creek, 97.2 miles (156.4 km)
| | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Jens Voigt (GER) | RadioShack–Nissan | 3h 54' 00" |
| 2 | Andreas Klöden (GER) | RadioShack–Nissan | + 2' 58" |
| 3 | Tejay van Garderen (USA) | BMC Racing Team | + 2' 58" |
| 4 | Levi Leipheimer (USA) | Omega Pharma–Quick-Step | + 2' 58" |
| 5 | Oliver Zaugg (SWI) | RadioShack–Nissan | + 2' 58" |
| 6 | Christian Vande Velde (USA) | Garmin–Sharp | + 2' 58" |
| 7 | Ivan Rovny (RUS) | RusVelo | + 2' 58" |
| 8 | Joseph Dombrowski (USA) | Bontrager–Livestrong | + 2' 58" |
| 9 | Janez Brajkovič (SLO) | Astana | + 2' 58" |
| 10 | Ramiro Rincón (COL) | EPM–UNE | + 3' 03" |

### Stage 5

August 24, 2012 — Breckenridge to Colorado Springs, 117.9 miles (189.7 km)
| | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Tyler Farrar (USA) | Garmin–Sharp | 3h 58' 27" |
| 2 | Taylor Phinney (USA) | BMC Racing Team | s.t |
| 3 | Alessandro Bazzana (ITA) | Team Type 1–Sanofi | s.t |
| 4 | Alex Candelario (USA) | Optum–Kelly Benefit Strategies | s.t |
| 5 | Hugo Houle (CAN) | SpiderTech–C10 | s.t |
| 6 | Mathias Frank (SWI) | BMC Racing Team | s.t |
| 7 | Alex Howes (USA) | Garmin–Sharp | s.t |
| 8 | Andreas Klöden (GER) | RadioShack–Nissan | s.t |
| 9 | Damiano Caruso (ITA) | Liquigas–Cannondale | s.t |
| 10 | Róbigzon Oyola (COL) | EPM–UNE | s.t |

### Stage 6

August 25, 2012 — Golden to Boulder, 103.3 miles (166.2 km)
| | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Rory Sutherland (AUS) | UnitedHealthcare | 4h 06' 12" |
| 2 | Fabio Aru (ITA) | Astana | + 20" |
| 3 | Jens Voigt (GER) | RadioShack–Nissan | + 26" |
| 4 | Levi Leipheimer (USA) | Omega Pharma–Quick-Step | + 45" |
| 5 | Tim Duggan (USA) | Liquigas–Cannondale | + 52" |
| 6 | Christian Vande Velde (USA) | Garmin–Sharp | + 1' 02" |
| 7 | Joseph Dombrowski (USA) | Bontrager–Livestrong | + 1' 02" |
| 8 | Andreas Klöden (GER) | RadioShack–Nissan | + 1' 02" |
| 9 | Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) | Liquigas–Cannondale | + 1' 02" |
| 10 | Ramiro Rincón (COL) | EPM–UNE | + 1' 02" |

### Stage 7

August 26, 2012 — Denver, 9.5 miles (15.3 km)
The final stage was an individual time trial held through the streets of downtown Denver.
| | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Taylor Phinney (USA) | BMC Racing Team | 17' 25" |
| 2 | Christian Vande Velde (USA) | Garmin–Sharp | + 10" |
| 3 | Tejay van Garderen (USA) | BMC Racing Team | + 19" |
| 4 | Peter Velits (SVK) | Omega Pharma–Quick-Step | + 21" |
| 5 | Tom Danielson (USA) | Garmin–Sharp | + 29" |
| 6 | Tom Zirbel (USA) | Optum–Kelly Benefit Strategies | + 31" |
| 7 | Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) | Liquigas–Cannondale | + 37" |
| 8 | Tanel Kangert (EST) | Astana | + 40" |
| 9 | Levi Leipheimer (USA) | Omega Pharma–Quick-Step | + 43" |
| 10 | David Zabriskie (USA) | Garmin–Sharp | + 45" |

## Classification leadership

| Stage | Winner | General classification | Sprints classification | Mountains classification | Young rider classification | Most Aggressive | Team classification |
| 1 | Tyler Farrar | Tyler Farrar | Tyler Farrar | Tom Danielson | Gavin Mannion | Peter Stetina | Optum–Kelly Benefit Strategies |
| 2 | Tejay van Garderen | Tejay van Garderen | Tyler Farrar | Tom Danielson | Joseph Dombrowski | Rafael Abreu | EF Education–EasyPost |
| 3 | Tom Danielson | Christian Vande Velde | Damiano Caruso | Tom Danielson | Joseph Dombrowski | Francisco Colorado | EF Education–EasyPost |
| 4 | Jens Voigt | Tejay van Garderen | Damiano Caruso | Tom Danielson | Joseph Dombrowski | Jens Voigt | RadioShack–Nissan |
| 5 | Tyler Farrar | Tejay van Garderen | Tyler Farrar | Tom Danielson | Joseph Dombrowski | Vincenzo Nibali | RadioShack–Nissan |
| 6 | Rory Sutherland | Levi Leipheimer | Tyler Farrar | Jens Voigt | Joseph Dombrowski | Rory Sutherland | RadioShack–Nissan |
| 7 | Taylor Phinney | Christian Vande Velde | Tyler Farrar | Jens Voigt | Joseph Dombrowski | Peter Stetina | RadioShack–Nissan |
| Final | Final | Christian Vande Velde | Tyler Farrar | Jens Voigt | Joseph Dombrowski | Peter Stetina | RadioShack–Nissan |

## General classification

| | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1. | Christian Vande Velde (USA) | Garmin–Sharp | 25h 57' 34" |
| 2. | Tejay van Garderen (USA) | BMC Racing Team | + 21" |
| 3. | Levi Leipheimer (USA) | Omega Pharma–Quick-Step | + 24" |
| 4. | Andreas Klöden (GER) | RadioShack–Nissan | + 1' 08" |
| 5. | Janez Brajkovič (SLO) | Astana | + 1' 14" |
| 6. | Jakob Fuglsang (DEN) | RadioShack–Nissan | + 1' 24" |
| 7. | Tom Danielson (USA) | Garmin–Sharp | + 1' 28" |
| 8. | Matthew Busche (USA) | RadioShack–Nissan | + 1' 32" |
| 9. | Peter Stetina (USA) | Garmin–Sharp | + 1' 28" |
| 10. | Joseph Dombrowski (USA) | Bontrager–Livestrong | + 1' 40" |