Stage 5

Stage 5 of the Tour of Gila is a 105 mile race containing 5 categorized climbs. The brutal stage had only 89 finishers, less than half the number that started the stage race. It began fast as soon as we rolled out of Silver City and the neutral beginning was waved off. 

Stephen's view

This race drew every ounce of energy from me. I made it through the early crosswind/rollers/first climb and was then confident I could race through the valley. The pace was held high as breakaways tried to form and teams tried to get their sprinters points for an intermediate sprint in the valley. The sprinter's jersey was closely contested. On the third and biggest climb of the day, I couldn't hold the pace of the 20-25 leaders and formed a group with about ten other riders. We picked up some guys dropped from the lead group and were caught by others as we rode tempo up the final two climbs. I was happy to finish 37th on the day and simply to finish this stage race. I'm hoping that the strength gained up at elevation will have me flying at Joe Martin Stage race. We're all really motivated for this race and making an impression on how it goes. 

Danny's view

Well I had a chance to check the scenery on the last day of Gila. 5 categorized climbs was never going to amount to a fantastic day for me! As the field split into 3 groups I was in the 2nd one which eventually turned into the groupetto. More and more guys dropped out until there were 4 of us left and we all decided that we would finish no matter what. We lost a lot of time but got to check the scenery and could see where a wildfire was burning from the top of one the climbs. By the end of the stage race there were about 180 starters and only 90 finishers. That shows you how hard Gila really was. I was pretty happy to finish this year espicially since climbing is far from my greatest strength on the bike. We are all looking forward to Joe Martin Stage race.