Philip Deignan leads the select group up the final climb at the Tour of the Gila yesterday
By Graham Healy
Philip Deignan (Unitedhealthcare) has had an excellent start to the Tour of the Gila (UCI 2.2) in New Mexico. The Donegal man finished in 4th place on the opening 148-km stage from Silver City to Mogollon Road yesterday.
The stage finished with a very steep 15-km climb to the former mining town of Mogollon, with the climb reaching 19% in parts. An early break which had gained thirteen minutes at one stage, still had a few minutes to spare starting the final climb but that dwindled rapidly as attacks from the bunch started.
It was an attack by the Colombian rider Javier Acevedo (Jamis-Hagens Berman) which proved decisive, and he finished 12 seconds ahead of Chris Baldwin (Bissell) to take the stage and leader’s red jersey.
Lucas Euser (Unitedhealthcare) was a further 12 seconds back, with team mate Deignan finishing on the same time. They in turn were 15 seconds ahead of the next finisher, Francisco Mancebo (5-Hour Energy).
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Unitedheathcare director Mike Tamayo said his team’s performance was near perfect, with the men in blue also taking the team prize on the stage.
“Our team is happy with third place and getting on the podium. We’re also happy about Phil’s fourth place finish and we’re motivated for the rest of the week. The Tour of Gila is special to us. This is a great race and we’re proud to have won it before and happy to be here again with a strong team that has spent a lot of time racing in Europe this year.”
Stephen Clancy (Team Novo Nordisk) is also taking part, and finished in 135th position, eighteen minutes back.
It was a successful day for Gavin Mannion (Bontrager) whose father Tommy hails from Galway, as he finished in 9th place as leading young rider. In the women’s race Olivia Dillon (NOW and Novartis for MS) was 43rd on the stage.
The men's race continues today with a 122-km flatter road stage, followed by a time-trial on Friday and a criterium on Saturday. Therefore, Sunday’s hilly stage offers Deignan his best chance for a stage win, in the race which was won last year by his then-team mate Rory Sutherland. The Unitedhealthcare team are in a good position to challenge for the overall with two men in the top 4, and they also lead the team classification.
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