Joe Dombrowski’s win on Snowbird calls to mind a 2012 ride, signals comeback

Joe Dombrowski wins on Snowbird at 2015 Tour of Utah stage 6 in a “comeback” year after iliac surgery (photo: Tour Tracker / Tour of Utah)

Congratulations to Virginia’s Joe Dombrowski (Cannondale-Garmin) on his win at Snowbird today in the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah.

It brings back memories of his 2012 climb up to the same finish line alongside then teammate Ian Boswell (Team Sky).

This year Dombrowski ascended with the help of Cannondale-Garmin teammate Ben King.

“Ben buried himself for a kilometer or two,” said Dombrowksi. “He rode a really hard tempo. When I looked back, no one was left except Franck Schleck and Mike Woods. When Ben swung off, I put in another dig. Frank followed at first, but eventually everyone was gone.”

Everyone. Winning solo, Dombrowski also took the race lead with a margin of 50 seconds going into tomorrow’s final stage.

Thank you @Ride_Argyle and especially fellow Virginian @BenKing89 for nailing it at the bottom for me today! Stoked on this jersey and win!

— Joe Dombrowski (@JoeDombro) August 8, 2015

“This win means a lot to me,” said Dombrowski. “I had a lot of success really early in my cycling career. I started late, and I was really good straightaway. I struggled when I moved up to the WorldTour, and I didn’t really know what was wrong for about a year. Around this time last year, we had finally sorted things out. I had the operation on my iliac artery last August.

“This year, it was like starting from zero, almost like being a neo-pro again,” Dombrowski said. “I’ve had to take my time to build-up and hopefully deliver the results I feel like I’m capable of achieving.

“This is the best thing I’ve done yet in this comeback year, if you will. I’m really happy about it.”

Read Cannondale-Garmin’s full stage report on the team’s website.

Ian Boswell and Joe Dombrowski right after 2012 Tour of Utah Stage 5 finish on Snowbird