A massive crash split the field in the men’s race, injuring several riders including Canadians Nicolas Masbourian and Derrick St. John who ride for Silber Pro Cycling. Riders that managed to stay clear of the crash had a gap over the chasers that caught the leaders at the base of the final category 1 climb. Counter attacks up the final summit saw Jamis-Hagens Berman riders sweep the podium.
“Yes, my goal was top five,” said Britton, “After the crash, we assessed the damage, did a head count and found we only had four guys left. Flavio and I were the GC guys who made it through, with Zach and Travis to look after us, which they had already been doing all day.
Women’s Race Report by UnitedHealthcare
Mara Abbott, 3-time overall winner of the Tour of the Gila, soloed to victory for the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team on today’s opening stage of the 2014 Tour of the Gila. Mara’s fantastic 2014 season continues to impress, following her stage win at the Redlands Classic and overall victory at the Vuelta a El Salvador earlier this year.
Today’s road race covered 118 kilometers for the women and 148 kilometers for the men, with plenty of rollers throughout and a category 1 summit finish, making it a challenging start to the 5-day stage race. The women’s race began with a 3-rider breakaway early in the day, which was kept within reach by the pace making of Blue Train riders Rushlee Buchanan and Katie Hall.
Approaching the final category 1 climb, Sharon Laws launched an attack to reel in the remaining two breakaway riders and apply pressure to the peloton. At 5 kilometers from the finish, Mara Abbott made her move, shattering the peloton and leaving only Flavia Oliveira of Team FCS able to follow. The two riders worked together briefly until Mara Abbott gave her final kick with 3 kilometers to go, soloing to victory with 55 seconds to spare at the summit of Mogollon.
Stage winner Mara Abbott commented, “Tour of the Gila is one of my favorite races of the year, and I am so excited to get to compete with this team of riders. Rachel was actually my teammate the first year I won the race, in 2007, so it is really special to be back here with her as my director. Mogollon is the best mountaintop finish in America, and I am very grateful to the Tour of the Gila for having it! I’m proud of the way our entire team rode today… with all of the girls in the top 20 it looks like it could be an amazing week!”
Sports director Rachel Heal added her insight on the day, “Mara has won this stage multiple times and we knew that if we got her safely to the bottom of the climb, the win would be her’s for the taking. The team did a great job of keeping the break in check and delivering Mara perfectly. She finished it off in style! With a team of 5 riders up against teams of 8, we will have to ride strong and smart to take the overall race win, but I’m confident we have the team to pull it off.”
Results
Women
1. Mara Abbott (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) 3:12:53
2. Flavia Oliveira (FCS|Zngine p/b Mr. Restore) 0:55
3. Abagail Mickey (TWENTY16 Pro Cycling) 1:31
4. Annie Toth (Groove Subaru Excel Sports) 1:38
5. E Scotti Wilborne (Team TIBCO to the Top) 1:48
6. Sharon Laws (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) 2:19
7. Katie Hall (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) 2:24
8. Breanne Nalder (DNA Cycling p/b K4)
9. Alison Powers (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) 2:28
10. Andrea Dvorak (Team TIBCO to the Top) 2:35
14. Jasmin Glaesser (Team TIBCO to the Top) 2:55
16. Lex Albrecht (TWENTY16 Pro Cycling) 3:09
18. Laura Brown (Colavita-Fine Cooking) 3:10
38. Felicia Gomez (Pinnacle Training Systems) 7:29
55. Genevieve Krahn (Team Manitoba) 10:25
Men
1. Dan Jaramillo Diez (Jamis Hagens Berman p/b Sutter Home) 3:32:45
2. Matt Cooke (Jamis Hagens Berman p/b Sutter Home) 0:02
3. Grego Obando Brenes (Jamis Hagens Berman p/b Sutter Home) 0:12
4. Rob Britton (Team Smartstop)
5. Carter Jones (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) both s.t.
6. Kirk Carlsen (Jelly Belly Cycling p/b Maxxis) 0:17
7. Flavio de Luna (Team Smartstop) 0:25
8. Maxim Jenkins (Marc Pro-Strava) 0:31
9. Alexis Camacho (Arenas Tlax Mex) 0:32
10. James Oram (Bissell Development Team) 0:37
14. Will Routley (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) 0:54
35. Zach Bell (Team Smartstop) 4:47
40. Jordan Cheyne (Marc Pro-Strava) 6:40
43. Garrett Mcleod (Team H&R Block) 7:15
65. Bruno Langlois (5 Hour Energy p/b Kenda Racing)
81. Christopher Prendergast (Team H&R Block) 20:46
85. Jean-Miche Lachance (Silber Pro Cycling Team) 21:33
101. Ryan Macdonald (Team H&R Block) 23:29
122. Adam De Vos (Team H&R Block) 28:50:00
DNS Ryan Aitcheson (Astellas Cycling Team)
DNF Brecht Dhaene (Astellas Cycling Team)
DNF Cortlan Brown (Astellas Cycling Team)
DNF Nicolas Masbourian (Silber Pro Cycling Team)
DNF Olivier Delaney (Silber Pro Cycling Team)
DNF Derrick St John (Silber Pro Cycling Team)