Genevieve Jeanson continued her sweep through the southwest Wednesday as she dominated a tough 15.7-mile time trial that opened New Mexico’s Tour of the Gila Wednesday. Though renowned as a tough sprinter, Health Net’s Gord Fraser proved he was no slouch in a hilly time trial as he took the men’s event.

Kicking off in Silver City, New Mexico Wednesday, Jeanson (Rona-Esker) left few doubters as she cruised to an apparently easy win in the first stage of the 17th running of the Tour of the Gila, a 15.7 mile out-and-back climbing time trial with a time of 40:00:68. Ex-teammate Manon Jutras (Saturn Cycling) came up 1:27 short in her bid to begin the road racing portion of this week’s festivities at the top of the GC board.

Can the Jeanson train be stopped? Will we see another display of dominance at the Tour of the Gila like we’ve seen this year alone at races like Valley of the Sun (where Jeanson swept every stage), Pomona, Redlands, or Sea Otter (all overall wins)? Or will Jutras, who has shown that she can defeat Jeanson in individual stage wins, put the entire race together for Saturn Cycling?

If neither of those scenarios come to pass, maybe the challenge could come from further behind, in the form of the pink and black peloton of the T-Mobile Women’s National Team. Katrina Grove is a mere 2:31 behind the leader and has mountain bike pro Sue Haywood on her team for this race.

700 cyclists of all categories lined up for Wednesday’s time trial, named for a local cyclist killed during a training ride. The windy and warm out-and-back course featured long sections of both climbing and descending.

Jeanson, Fraser take Gila opener

In the men’s event, Gord Fraser put on a show of his own -- a fiery display of power -- coming in 36:17:56. Drew Miller (Trek/VW All-Stars) clicked into second place 37 seconds down. Michael Ley (Team Rio Grande) took third at 43 seconds behind Fraser.

On Thursday, the Tour of the Gila offers up a classic point-to-point road race. The Silver City to Mogollon Pass Road Race covers 70 miles and only ends after racers climb 2100 feet in the last 10. Weather conditions call for the same warm and clear skies as Wednesday but, in this dry, desert climate where there’s not enough vegetation density and ground friction to slow it down, the winds could again play a factor. The biggest challenge the wind presents is in how it can easily fatigue lead team riders. With three tough stages to follow, Trek/VW and HealthNet will have to decide carefully how they play the race off the front of the main peloton.

For smaller teams and unsupported riders, Thursday’s stage, if played neutrally by the top two teams, could provide the perfect platform for a break to stick. Maybe we’ll see a domestic reprise of Simone Bertoletti’s solo breakaway to win the first stage of the Tour of Romandie, an epic attack that lasted eighty percent of that day’s racing miles and earned Bertolli his first professional win since 1997. A similar early and aggressive break in the Tour of the Gila will need to be allowed a significant gap for it to live ahead of either Fraser or Miller on a 10-mile incline though.

The stage should favor Miller. He has had a couple of days to recover from his fantastic uphill-finish win at La Vuelta de Bisbee and should once again have fresh legs for climbing. The Trek group has surrounded Miller with talent and is providing him with the type of support club team racers aren’t used to (massage, clean hotel room, someone else to deal with the bikes, etc.). Since he’s turning heads in the pro peloton since they first started seeing Miller hanging on the big climbs in Redlands, he’s no secret surprise card the Trek team can play. He’ll need to ride, and be ridden for, like a top pro to pull a second win in a row out from under Fraser and Mike Sayers of Team HealthNet.

Once the climbing starts, look also for the mountain biker’s names to start popping up. U.S. Olympian and former U.S. National Champion, Travis Brown will be on a road bike this week. As will current U.S. Mountain bike National Champion Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (RLX Polo-Sport). Also present in the women’s race should be five-time Australian National Mountain bike Champion Mary Grigson and emerging mountain bike star Kelli Emmett.