Nathan O’Neill (Health Net-Maxxis) and Rachel Heal (Webcor) won the opening stage of the 2007 Tour of the Gila on Wednesday.

O'Neill covered the hilly, 16.15-mile Tyrone Time Trial in 34 minutes, 13 seconds. Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health) took second at 15 seconds back with Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) third at 1:29.

Heal finished in 39:47, 15 seconds ahead of runner-up Dotsie Bausch (Colavita-Sutter Home). Mara Abbott (Webcor) took third at 30 seconds back.

In its 21st edition, the May 2-6 Tour of the Gila will again send riders racing around the small southwestern New Mexican town of Silver City. This year, a record 510 professional and amateur athletes have signed up.

For 2007 the race bears the name of New Mexico state senator Ben D. Altamirano. The Democrat who represents Socorro, Catron and Grant counties was integral in funneling state monies from the New Mexico Department of Tourism into the race to bump up its prize purse and budget.

“We’ll never approach the budget of a Tour de Georgia or a Tour of California, but this is a great start for us,” said Michelle Geels, who co-directs of the race with her husband, Jack. “Hopefully this nice new chunk of money will be reoccurring.”

While the race may not boast the spending power of America’s two biggest stage races, it does boast similarly talented fields of domestic pro men’s teams. With few conflicts on the National Racing Calendar schedule, big American teams such as Health Net-Maxxis, Toyota-United and Navigators Insurance have brought their “A” squads.

“We’re going to see more quality here than we’ve seen in years,” said Scott Moninger (BMC), a two-time winner of the Tour of the Gila. “With the Tour of Utah getting canceled, teams are going to be more willing to come down here. Teams that usually sent two or three guys are going to be bringing full rosters.”

Health Net-Maxxis comes into Silver City as the team to watch. Along with O’Neill, the domestic peloton’s top stage racer in 2006, the men in green have all-rounders Ryder Hesjedal and Jeff Louder and climbing specialist Doug Ollerenshaw. Looking to take down Health Net-Maxxis will be Moninger (BMC), Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health), Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance), Andrew Bajadali (Jelly Belly), Michael Creed (Slipstream-Chipotle) and defending Gila champ Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United).

The women’s field does not have the same depth in numbers or quality. With many of the NRC’s best women competing in the lucrative USA Crits Southeast series, or racing abroad with the U.S. national team in Europe, the Tour of the Gila will be a battle of the best of the rest.

Webcor comes into the race as the team to beat with Heal, U23 national road champ Mara Abbott and talented all-rounder Amber Rais.

Along with the pros, the Tour of the Gila is an important goal for aspiring regional racers. Category I racers compete alongside the pros, but Gila has races for Cat. II, III and IV-V riders. For many racers in the Rocky Mountain region, Gila is the only multi-day stage race they will attend.

“If you’re a Colorado guy this race definitely goes on your schedule — people expect to see you there,” said Ryan Hamity, a Cat. I racer on the Einstein’s Bagels team who lives in Boulder, Colorado. “A lot of Cat. II’s use it to upgrade because you don’t have to race the pro field. And it’s a more of a selection race than a team-tactics race. You get to test your strength against the big guys.”

In 2006 Hamity’s then-teammate Jason Donald scored an impressive victory on the Gila Monster road race, the last stage of the Tour. That result earned him a contract with Slipstream-Chipotle for 2007.

“If you’re a good altitude guy and a time trialist, you can get yourself put on the national stage at Gila,” Moninger said. “You go back to 2002 and it was the ride that put Tom Danielson on the map.”

Wednesday’s time trial kicked off five days of what is arguably America's hilliest stage race. Pro men cover 330 miles and more than 22,000 feet of climbing from Wednesday to Sunday. On Thursday, racers tackle the 92-mile Silver City to Mogollon Pass road race. This point-to-point race features 2100 feet of climbing over the last 10 miles on a narrow, twisting switchbacked road. After that climb racers face the 73-mile Inner Loop Road Race. Saturday will test the racers’ criterium skills in downtown Silver City.

Much of the race’s climbing is offered up during the finale, the 106-mile Gila Monster Road Race, which sends riders up the 7500-foot Continental Divide.

2007 Ben D. Altamirano Tour of the Gila
May 2-6, Silver City, New Mexico
Stage 1 Tyrone Time Trial
Pro Men
1. Nathan O’Neill (Aus), Health Net-Maxxis, 34:13
2. Ben Jacques-Maynes, Priority Health, 34:28
3. Chris Baldwin, Toyota-United, 35:42
4. Roman Kilun, Health Net-Maxxis, 35:00
5. Jeff Louder, Health Net-Maxxis, 35:15
6. Ryder Hesjedal, Health Net-Maxxis, 35:16
7. Michael Creed, Slipstream-Chipotle, 35:18
8. Tom Petersen, Slipstream-Chipotle, 35:20
9. Scott Moninger, BMC, 35:26
10. 10. Stefano Barberi, Toyota-United, 35:27

Women
1. Rachel Heal, Webcor, 39:47
2. Dotsie Bausch, Colavita-Sutter Home, 40:02
3. Mara Abbott, Webcor, 40:17
4. Amber Rais, Webcor, 40:40
5. Anne Samplonious (Can), Expresscopy.com, 40:55
6. Leah Goldstein (Can), Symmetrics, 41:17
7. Lea Hobson, Cheerwine, 41:29
8. Beverley Harper, Webcor, 41:39
9. Sarah Tillotson, Colavita-Sutter Home, 41:48
10. Nicole Evans, Lipton, 41:55