Just two days after La Vuelta de Bisbee, our riders Garrett McAllister and David Paquette set the focus on SRAM’s Tour of the Gila (April 28-May2). The stage for the five-day Tour of the Gila (pronounced “Hee-La”) is set in the mountains between Silver City, NM and the Gila National Forrest. Now in its 24th year, the Tour of the Gila has proved to be an ideal training ground for many of the pros looking to perform well in the upcoming Amgen Tour of the California. As such, the Gila has attracted many of the best riders, in all categories from around the country, to come out and test their fitness against each other and the mountains. Well known cyclists of today, such as two-time Gila Champion Levi Leipheimer, Lance Armstrong, Dave Zabriskie, Tom Danielson and Darren Lill, have graced the roads along side riders striving in be the next Greats of the sport.
This year’s tour threw down some of the nastiest weather conditions in Gila history and some of the worst that many riders have seen in their riding careers. Winds throughout the week blew consistently at 20-25 mph but on day two’s Inner Loop stage, the gusts topped over 60mph forcing more than a few into the ditch or to the ground. Temperatures hovered in the mid to high 40s and stage 5, the Gila Monster stage, saw an impressive accumulation of snow. Despite the weather and a few bouts of bad luck on stage 2 (Paquette went down in a crash and McAllister suffered a broken wheel), our boys showed a lot of strength and courage against such fierce competition. From here, it’s back to the Midwest as these two join up with the rest of team.
SRAM Tour of the Gila Overall Results
Pro,1:
1 Leipheimer, Levi 13:47:05 Team Mellow Johnny’s
2 Danielson, Tom @ 0:00:59 DZ Nuts
3 Zabriskie, David @ 0:01:09 DZ Nuts
Cat 2:
1 Krause, Greg 15:14:36 Groove Subaru Cycling
2 Krieg, Sam @ 0:00:24 Idaho Kidney/ICE
3 Ferrara, Fortunato @ 0:01:21 Jackal Pack
19 Paquette, David @ 0:22:39 Team Wisconsin/MC2
Cat 3:
1 Toftoy, Jonathan 11:52:59 Synergy
2 Hemesath, Andrew @ 0:11:29 Team 5280 Magazine
3 Haas, Dean @ 0:12:08 Black Sheep Junior Cycling
46 McAllister, Garrett @ 0:41:24 Team Wisconsin/MC2