Brent Bookwalter has done his fair share of grunt work. That’s why the BMC rider is relishing his time in the cycling spotlight this week at the USA Pro Challenge.

Bookwalter is riding with the yellow jersey on his back as leader of the seven-day stage race. It’s not a position with which he is accustomed, but he’s thrilled to be learning on the fly.

“When I’m out training, I don’t think about just riding in the wind for guys and lining them up for victories,” said Bookwalter, who likely would have been reduced to those duties had teammate Tejay van Garderen elected to defend his Pro Challenge title. “I think about winning myself and leading races myself. It doesn’t happen very often. But now that I’m here, I’m really enjoying it.”

The goal is to keep the overall lead – whether that means the jersey stays with Bookwalter or is handed over to teammate Rohan Dennis. The Australian trails Bookwalter by six seconds and sits in second.

“Every day that we can maintain this lead – not only the lead but to have two guys up there in the top two or three – that’s a successful day,” Bookwalter said.

Short, suspenseful

Organizers of the Pro Challenge have made a concerted effort to shorten the lengths of stages. The cyclists are certainly appreciative. And they say the fans should be too.

“The short stages is always the most action,” said Laurent Didier, a rider from Luxembourg. “In the mind of the riders, they know when it’s short, it’s going to be more intense.

“And it’s more spectator-friendly.”

All distances are relative, of course. Thursday’s route measures 129 miles.

Jersey leaders

In addition to his stage victory Wednesday, Kiel Reijnen of United Healthcare took over the lead in the Sprint jersey standings. Other leaders include: Will Routley, King of the Mountains; Hugh Carthy, Best Young Rider; Laurent Didier, Most Aggressive Rider; Alexandr Braico, Best Colorado Rider.