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O’Neill, Abbott win Tour of the Gila

Moninger, Asplund take Gila Monster

By VeloNews.com
Published: May. 6, 2007
The men's podium
The men's podium
Photo: Tom Spross

The final stage of the 2007 Ben D. Altamirano Tour of the Gila ended with two pairs of winners — stage winners Scott Moninger (BMC) and Marisa Asplund (Tibco), and overall winners Nathan O'Neill (Health Net-Maxxis) and Mara Abbott (Webcor).

The infamous Gila Monster stage began at Gough Park in Silver City and finished in Pinos Altos. The pro men’s field followed a 105.7-mile loop to its turnaround point at the Gila Cliff Dwellings Visitor Center, then went on to the finish in Pinos Altos, climbing 9131 feet. Pro women followed an abbreviated loop of 71.8 miles, bypassing the Gila Cliff Dwellings but tackling 5610 feet of climbing. Much of the course was held in heavy winds on narrow mountain roads, with the finish at the end of a difficult Category 4 climb.

Though Moninger and Asplund took the stage wins, the Gila Monster stage did little to shake up the general classification, with O’Neill and Abbott retaining their pink leader's jerseys.

Moninger won the stage out of a bunch sprint from 10 select riders, including O'Neill and his Health Net teammate Ryder Hesjedal; Mike Creed, Lucas Euser and stage 3 winner Tom Peterson (Slipstream-Chipotle); Anthony Colby (Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home); Hernan Muñoz (P&S-Halcones); David Salomon (P&S-Halcones); and Redlands Classic overall winner Andy Bajadali (Jelly Belly).

Moninger wins the stage and takes third overall
Moninger wins the stage and takes third overall
Photo: Tom Spross

Slipstream-Chipotle stressed the pace up the climb to the Gila Cliff Dwellings Visitor Center midway through the race. With the group whittled down, Hesjedal took the front on the final climb and strung out the group. A few riders took digs, but Hesjedal swallowed up everything. Moninger came around in the final meters, crossing the line three seconds ahead of runner-up Colby and 15 ahead of O’Neill.

“Nathan was down to just one teammate, Ryder, but they had obviously been keeping him in the wings all week for this very job,” Moninger said. “It was pretty windy out there, but Ryder didn't seem to be tired at all.

“With 15 miles to go, I was content to just wait. I know this stage pretty well, and I've won it a time or two. I kind of know how to time everything. I was confident that if it stayed together I could win the stage.”

Health Net-Maxxis team director Mike Tamayo said the team “rode amazingly all week.”

“Today, Hesjedal in particular was a rock star. He rode a hard tempo for most of the last 35km, with Nathan on his wheel and dragged him to about 3 km to go, and Nathan just took over from there,” he said.

Moninger had a unique perspective, watching Health Net dominate the race — he won the race in 2004 for Health Net when it was a lower-priority race for the squad.

"It’s ironic because it was never a race that was too high on our priority list when I was on Health Net,” Moninger said. “I always came down here with a skeleton crew, and the race seemed more like an afterthought then. But they obviously brought their best stage racers here.

Asplund wins the women's finale
Asplund wins the women's finale
Photo: Tom Spross

“I think the Tour of Georgia took it out of some teams, and other guys were hurting. Altitude stage racing favors our team, with guys like Jonathan Garcia and Scott Nydam, but without those guys here I was having to just ride the wave and let the other teams control things.”

The Toyota-United team of second-place overall finisher Chris Baldwin, who won the race in 2006, sorely missed high-altitude climbing specialist Burke Swindlehurst. Swindlehurst, a three-time overall Gila winner, did not start Saturday's criterium after suffering from a 24-hour stomach bug.

“We really felt Burke's absence today,” said Toyota-United team director Kirk Willett. “It's hard when you're down to three climbers on a stage like this because all three have to have a good day. The team classification would have been nice to have, but we did a good job of defending Chris's second place overall.

“As an athlete, it’s always good to know you have good form in a tour like this. So it's got to give Chris confidence going into all the stage races we have coming up.”

Baldwin agreed. “It was pretty hard to make much happen today. It was a big blow not having Burke today. He's really, really good at riding this stage.

"I lost to a far superior rider (O'Neill). We took some shots at him, but he certainly earned the win. I'm pretty pleased, though. I feel like I haven't gotten many results this spring, so I'm happy with my result."

In the women’s race, Asplund took off as part of a six-woman break that went at mile 11 and stayed away the entire day. It was the biggest career win for the 29-year-old, who is from Durango, Colorado, and in her second year as a pro. She attacked on the third switchback of the final 15-mile climb and soloed in for the victory.

"Once we had a three-minute gap I knew we were good, and I knew that I had good legs and if I got to the base of the climb with that gap I was good,” said Asplund, who also won the same stage as a Cat. V rider in 2005.

"The whole team has been working for a win this weekend. We didn't have [sprinter] Brooke [Miller] here, but we found a way to win a stage."

2007 Tour of the Gila
Silver City, NM
Stage 5
Men
1. Scott Moninger, BMC, 105.7mi in 4:34:16 (23.15 mph)
2. Anthony Colby, Colavita-Sutter Home , at 0:03
3. Chris Baldwin, Toyota-United, s.t.
4. Tom Peterson, Slipstream-Chipotle, s.t.
5. Hernan Muñoz (Col), P&S-Halcones, s.t.
6. Nathan O’Neill (Aus), Health Net-Maxxis, at 0:15
7. David Salomon (Mex), P&S-Halcones, at 0:21
8. Mike Creed, Slipstream-Chipotle, at 0:33
9. Joel Avila (Mex), Arenas TLax, at 0:51
10. Justin England, Toyota-United, s.t

Women
1. Marisa Asplund, Tibco, 71.8mi in 3:34:52 (20.03 mph)
2. Amber Rais, Webcor, at 1:59
3. Melissa Holt (NZ), Expresscopy.com, at 2:07
4. Sarah Tillotson, Colavita-Sutter Home, at 2:11
5. Brooke Ourada, Cheerwine, at 2:26
6. Mara Abbott, Webcor, at 2:43
7. Rachel Heal, Webcor, s.t.
8. Dotsie Bausch, Colavita-Sutter Home, at 3:17
9. Leigh Hobson, Cheerwine, s.t.
10. Anne Samplonius (Can), Expresscopy.com, s.t.

Final overall
Men
1. Nathan O’Neill (Aus), Health Net-Maxxis, 13:58:43
2. Chris Baldwin, Toyota-United, at 1:42
3. Scott Moninger, BMC, at 2:18
4. Hernan Munoz (Col), P&S-Halcones, at 2:37
5. Tom Peterson, Slipstream-Chipotle, at 3:13
6. Anthony Colby, Colavita-Sutter Home, at 3:26
7. Ryder Hesjedal (Can), Health Net-Maxxis, at 4:26
8. Justin England, Toyota-United, at 4:32
9. Andy Bajadali, Jelly Belly, at 5:05
10. David Salomon (Mex), P&S-Halcones, at 5:14

Women
1. Mara Abbott, Webcor, 13:20:39
2. Rachel Heal, Webcor, at 0:25
3. Dotsie Bausch, Colavita-Sutter Home, at 1:39
4. Amber Rais, Webcor, at 1:57
5. Brooke Ourada, Cheerwine, at 2:58
6. Anne Samplonius (Can), Expresscopy.com, at 3:07
7. Leigh Hobson, Cheerwine, at 4:03
8. Marisa Asplund, Tibco, at 4:24
9. Sarah Tillotson, Colavita-Sutter Home, at 6:08
10. Leah Goldstein (Can), Symmetrics, at 6:20

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