May 2/12 19:33 pm - Tour of the Gila: Women Stage 1 report and results

Posted by Editoress on 05/2/12
 

Today's stage was fast and furious with a twist and a U turn.

The ladies of Exergy TWENTY12 were fired up for the opportunity to get on the podium today. This time last year Kristin Armstrong barely made it through the stage as she came down with a nasty stomach virus which took her out of the race. Sweet revenge played out on the vicious slopes of the Mogollon.

The race was very aggressive from the start with Now & Novartis animating very early into the stage. This worked out well for us.
Exergy TWENTY12's  Jackie Crowell followed the wheel of the first intermediate sprint winner and Kristin Armstrong was right behind, they had a gap and then began to drive the pace quickly establishing what was to be the winning break. The break got up to 1:15 very quickly with Exergy TWENTY12 doing the lion's share of the work.  At this point I went to Comm 1 and asked if I could proceed to the break, the answer was an unexpected one.."We are not sure where they are!" The break had been led off course and were now behind the race.

The chief official had to think quickly and determined that the race would be neutralized until the break was back and they would restart the race. After a short discussion the official quickly made the decision to give the break the 1:15 they had already earned when being led off course. This was the correct thing to do, this still put the break at a disadvantage as the peloton could quickly organize the chase.

Kristin got to the front of the break and made an extremely spirited effort to gain more time. Jackie Crowell took over and the two Exergy TWENTY12 teammates took the break almost to the base of the climb gaining well over 2 minutes  loosing three riders in the process. Jackie made an incredible effort in the final few K leading to the climb.

Armstrong, Powers and Wilcoxson headed up the 10k climb. The majority of the final climb is over 10% with a couple of 14% pitches ending at almost 7000 feet. Armstrong rode away from her break mates and set into her own pace to take a comfortable win. Tayler Wiles came over the line in a solid 8th place winning the best young rider jersey.

" I am very happy to take the win for my team today,  they rode very well.  Jackie Crowell was exceptional in the break and set me up nicely for the 10k Mogollon ascent" Commented Armstrong, "  I settled into a steady rhythm on the climb taking the altitude into consideration"

" Having Kristin with me in the break made my job crystal clear.  The two of us worked well together while the others sat on.  It was a hard effort, but it was calculated.  Hearing "Awesome job" from Kristin let me know we were in a good spot tactically." Stated Crowell, " Now we are going into stage 2 with over a two-minute lead on second place.  We have a strong team here, and I have a lot of faith in our ability to defend."

Report courtesy Exergy TWENTY12 UCI Professional Cycling Team

Results from the first stage of the Tour of the GIla in Silver City, New Mexico