The last turn of the Tour of the Gila's criterium is key for daredevil sprinters with the nerve to attack into the narrow left-hander and charge to the finish less than 300 meters away. The riders enter the turn at top speed thanks to a wide-open descent, and a mistake means high-siding it into a raised Old Western-style sidewalk on the outside of the turn.

On Saturday, to the glee of the spectators who assemble on the sidewalk, the men's and women's winner each attacked coming into the turn and held their advantage to the line.

In the men's race, Toyota-United's Aussie fast man Henk Vogels bombed into the corner with a two-bike length gap over the pack and held off a late charge by Alejandro Borrajo (Colavita-Sutter Home).

"I hit out in my 11 and that was it," Vogels said.

Vogels, a hero at the Gila.

Photo: Action Images

In the women's race, Tibco's Rachel Heal attacked into the corner earlier in the race to take a prime. In the final lap, when she was in a four-woman breakaway, she repeated the tactic.

"If you get a gap going into it, it's kind of a drag race from there, but you've got a headstart," she said.

The criterium had little effect on the GC standings in the men's or women's category. In the women's race, race leader Leah Goldstein's Value Act team surrounded her and worked to control a few attacks by GC threats in the Cheerwine and Aaron's team.

Aaron's Alison Testroete, not much of a GC threat in 19th place, initiated the successful break with four laps to go. She was soon joined by Heal, Suz Weldon (Proman) and Leda Cox (America's Dairyland). None were GC threats and they worked together to establish a tenuous lead. Heal was able to sit in for much of the final lap. After she attacked through the final turn, she accelerated all the way to the line. "I wasn't taking any chances," she said with a smile.

Tostroete earned her second second place of the Gila, after taking the runner-up spot in Thursday's windy Inner Loop road race.

Going into Sunday's difficult Gila Monster stage, Goldstein is confident she can retain the pink leader's jersey she took on the tough Mogollon climb of stage 1. For women, the Gila Monster is 72 miles, concluding with a tough climb to the town of Pinos Altos.

"Tomorrow's going to be the big day. I know in this race anything can happen so you never take anything for granted," Goldstein said. "It's a good stage for me, I like the climbs ... I don't think anyone can climb away from me, but it's prior to the climb that I worry about," she said.

Men's race

Race leader Tom Zirbel's Bissell team vigorously patrolled the front of the men's criterium, ensuring that Zirbel, who is unlikely to prevail in Sunday's hilly final stage, could at least start the final stage in pink.

Team Tecos Trek, with riders in second and third place, was aggressive all day, but Bissell did not allow any break with dangerous riders get a chance.

Two thirds of the way through the 43-mile criterium, a seven-man break of lower-ranked riders formed, the best placed of them Toyota's Heath Blackgrove, at 5:44 down on Zirbel. Bissell continued to charge through at the front, but allowed the break to gain almost a minute before the sprinters reeled it in with one and a half laps to go.

Toyota-United had been sitting in all day, thanks to Blackgrove's presence in the break. But Vogels had told his teammates early on that he was feeling good, and when the break came back, they went to work.

"I had Chris Wherry punch it on the descent around the back, and I had Jonny Clarke sitting on the back of my wheel, swinging, to make sure no one could get on my wheel," Vogels said. "(Clarke) did a good job but Wherry did a bomb just before the last corner."

Translation: Vogels, one of the world's most accomplished lead-out men, got a massive lead-out into the last corner from Wherry. Vogels then railed the turn and rolled his 53-11 gear into Toyota-United's first win of the week.

Vogels said Friday's announcement that Toyota would not renew its three-year contract with the team was not a major motivator for Saturday's performance.

"To tell you the truth I don't think we thought about it that way. The boys are just racing day by day, and we plan to win as many races as possible this year and then continue on next year with the team that we have now."