TELLURIDE, Colo. -- Just call it a home-mountain advantage. Or you can just chalk it up to two home-team riders who picked themselves off the mat on the hard roads of France.

Team Garmin-Sharp, based just a 61/2-hour cab ride away in Boulder, had one of its best first days in its history in the biggest stage race in the state's history. On a cloudy, cool, perfect day for cycling Monday, the team placed three riders on the podium at the second annual USA Pro Challenge.Wenatchee native Tyler Farrar, who limped to the finish of the Tour de France needing a hospital bed more than a bike, won a sprint finish to earn the yellow jersey.

Tom Danielson, the Boulderite who didn't even make it to Paris after spills turned his shoulders into broken pretzels, led for much of the race and earned the most aggressive rider jersey.Peter Stetina, a Boulder native who shepherded Danielson on a four-man breakaway, earned king of the mountain honors.

For Garmin-Sharp, whose Tour de France rivaled "European Vacation" on the disaster meter, it was one mile-high homecoming."The biggest advantage we have is we have a deep team," Stetina said.

"You have thefavorites like Tejay (van Garderen) and Levi (Leipheimer), and you have a bunch of guys who are really close to that but not the odds-on favorite. The only way we're going to beat those guys is to make the race happen like we did."Said team CEO Jonathan Vaughters, "We came up with a crazy, non-sequitur strategy and pulled it off."The Pro Challenge isn't Farrar's type of race.

The mountainous terrain is to sprinters what opera is to rock stars. But Farrar hadn't won a race all year and hadn't raced in the United States in three years. Who knew he would break the drought climbing mountains like 10,222-foot Lizard Head Pass?

"It's been horrible," said Farrar who lives in Gent, Belgium. "Obviously as a sprinter, we're very much judged by our wins. Seconds, thirds, fourths don't count. It's been a really rough year. As far as crashes go, it's been disastrous. It means a lot to me to get something positive and feel like I'm moving in the right direction."He can thank his good friend Danielson.

Farrar started the morning in Durango, home of his alma mater, Fort Lewis College, and the town gave him an explosive send-off that launched him on a breakaway 9 miles into the 125.7-mile stage.

He and Stetina went off with Italy's Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas-Cannondale's third-place finisher in the Tour de France, and Colombian Eduard Beltran of EPM-UNE.He and Stetina went off with Italy's Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas-Cannondale's third-place finisher in the Tour de France, and Colombian Eduard Beltran of EPM-UNE.With 9 miles left, Danielson and Stetina made a break and had a 35-second lead."I'm pretty familiar with the whole race," Danielson said. "I told everybody, 'I think this is going to be a really hard start. We have an opportunity to mess it up.' Our director this morning, Charlie (Wegelius), said, 'Well, guys, let's try to take it to the race and try to cause a big split and try to make some chaos.' It almost worked, honestly.

 At least it looked awesome." As race CEO Shawn Hunter said, "It was great theater for NBC." Danielson, weighing a wispy 130 pounds, couldn't keep the big plow horses from leading the peloton back to him on a wicked descent into Telluride.With 2.8 miles left, it became a sprint finish, a perfect scenario for Farrar to stretch his wings.

"I knew there was a chance for a sprint, but we weren't riding for a sprint," Farrar said. "Our goal was to try to catch guys napping and get guys like Tom and Pete up the road to take time in GC (general classification or overall standings). I was lucky to hang on to salvage it when they got caught."Tuesday, the race continues skyward. It starts in Montrose and goes 99.2 miles to Mt. Crested Butte and the first of the race's three mountaintop finishes. How long does Farrar figure he can keep the yellow jersey?"