Nathan Brown is a native of Colorado Springs, but he doesn’t consider that much of an advantage this week when it comes to dealing with the high elevations of the USA Pro Challenge.

That’s right, Brown is struggling to breathe just like most every other cyclist in this seven-day stage race. Maybe that’s because his time in Colorado Springs was but a fleeting moment – one that the 24-year-old doesn’t even remember.

“I was born there and I spent three months,” he said. “I can’t even really claim it because I spent most of my life in Tennessee.”

And the roads in the Smoky Mountains don’t rise nearly as high as those he’s competing on this week.

“We’re climbing up past 10,000 feet so I had to drop my watts a good 40 watts below what I normally ride at sea level,” said Brown, who finished 51 seconds back of Stage 2 winner Brent Bookwalter on Tuesday at Arapahoe Basin. “That’s what makes a climb so hard. It wasn’t that steep, but when you’re climbing at 10,000 feet, it makes it twice as hard.”

Like father, like son

While Taylor Phinney is quick to admit that a mountaintop finish is not suited to his strengths on a bike, the Boulder resident had to enjoy Stage 2 of the Pro Challenge.

That’s because he was wearing the yellow jersey as overall leader of the seven-day stage race.

“I’ll just kind of prance around in yellow for a couple hours,” Phinney predicted Monday. “And it’s going to be a difficult prance, but that’s how this race is and that’s why we like it.”

It’s not the first time a Phinney has worn yellow in Colorado. In 1988, Phinney’s father, Davis, slipped on the yellow jersey as champion of what turned out to be the final Coors Classic. In his racing career, Davis won 328 times, including two stages at the Tour de France.

“Davis was a great sprinter, and Taylor’s always been a really good sprinter,” said Connie Carpenter, the matriarch of the family who also competed in the Coors Classic.