The Mexican Team Tecos-Trek takes two podium spots at the Tour of the Gila's opening stage.
Team Tecos-Trek continued its domination of Southwestern road cycling Wednesday by taking two of the top three spots on the first stage of the Tour of the Gila, a 94.1-mile stage that ended with a brutal climb to Mogollon, New Mexico.
Colombian Gregorio Ladino Vega won the stage after gliding away from a select group at the base of the climb. He quickly gapped the group, which included Toyota-United's Chris Baldwin and Heath Blackgrove and built up a gap of about a half minute by the top of the 2,100-foot climb.
Baldwin finished sixth.
Ladino's Mexican team swept last week's La Vuelta de Bisbee in Arizona, winning the top four places overall.
Colavita's Anthony Colby was next across the line Wednesday. He spent most of the climb being marked by Ladino's teammate, Bernardo Colex, who took third.
Colby said his team is well-positioned to protect, or improve, his overall position.
"We don't have the numbers of some teams, but we are a strong, intelligent team. We'll be able to mark the moves," he said. "Second place is a good place to be."
In the women's race. a 73.1-mile journey that ended with the same climb, Canadian Leah Goldstein bridged to Colavita's Kristin McGrath in the final kilometer of the climb. McGrath had been in a break for most of the day and then dropped her companions at the base of the climb.
But she could not match Goldstein in the final meters of the climb.
The Mogollon climb, held on a steep, narrow road that finishes at over 7,000 feet elevation, is a tradition in the 22-year-old Gila race, but traditionally concludes the second stage, following the opening Tyrone time trial.
In recent years the winners of the time trials have often ridden defensively for the rest of the five-day race. Organizers hope the new order of stages will create a more exciting overall competition.
Thursday the riders attack the Inner Loop Road Race, a hilly 80-mile ride. The Tyrone time trial is Friday, the downtown Silver City Criterium is Saturday and the mountainous Gila Monster road race concludes the race Sunday.
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