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Tour of the Gila begins Wednesday
Neither Nathan O’Neill nor Mara Abbott will be on hand to defend their crowns on Wednesday when the 2008 Ben D. Altamirano Tour of the Gila kicks off in Silver City, New Mexico.
But there will be plenty of horsepower in the elite men’s and women’s fields as the race gets under way with the Silver City-Mogollon Road Race.
Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United), runner-up here last year and second at the 2008 Redlands Bicycle Classic, will be in Silver City with an eight-man team that includes Justin England, Chris Wherry and Henk Vogels.
Also in the mix will be Gregorio Vega (Tecos), fresh off his win at La Vuelta de Bisbee; Burke Swindlehurst (Bissell), third at Redlands, who missed last year’s Gila with a stomach bug; Luis Amaran and Tyler Wren (both Colavita-Sutter Home), seventh and ninth at Redlands; and Alejandro Borrajo (Colavita-Sutter Home), sixth at the Sea Otter NRC.
Meanwhile, half the top 10 from the ’07 women’s race is returning for 2008, including fourth-placed Amber Rais (TIBCO) and Cheerwine teammates Anne Samplonius (sixth), Leigh Hobson (seventh) and Marisa Asplund (eighth), who closed out last year’s Gila with a win in the brutal Gila Monster Road Race while racing for TIBCO.
Other riders to keep an eye on include Kelly McDonald (Touchstone Climbing), winner of the women’s race at Bisbee; Julie Beveridge (Aaron’s), 10th at Redlands), Rachael Heal (TIBCO), third at the Sea Otter NRC and Stacy Marple (Cheerwine), sixth at Sea Otter NRC).
Stages
Wednesday’s opener starts in Silver City and finishes 73.1 miles away in the mountains near Mogollon, with 2100 feet of climbing in the final 10 miles, including grades as steep as 14 percent.
Stage 2, the Inner Loop Road Race, is a rolling, clockwise loop that starts and finishes at the Fort Bayard Medical Center. Men will race 80 miles, women 77.9.
Friday brings stage 3, the Dan Potts Memorial Tyrone Individual Time Trial, 16.15 miles for men and women on an out-and-back course that starts and finishes at Tyrone.
Stage 4 is the Downtown Silver City Criterium, run on a 1.08-mile rectangle with a hill rising 35 feet over 100 meters and a 1/5-mile descent. Men race for 40 laps, women 25.
Sunday’s finale is the Gila Monster Road Race. Men will race a 105.7-mile course with more than 9100 feet of climbing that starts in Silver City and finishes with a category-4 ascent to Pinos Altos. Women will cover a 71.8-mile course with 5610 feet of climbing, also ending at Pinos Altos.
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