Fortune favoured the brave on stage 2 of the Tour of the Gila for Ireland's Olivia Dillon, left; a strong solo attack landing her 2nd on the day.
An aggressive ride by Ireland’s Olivia Dillon has carried her to a podium finish at the Tour of the Gila; a major international stage race which forms part of the UCI’s America Tour.
Dillon, who has arguably been the leading female road rider for Ireland for many years, attacked the field solo on stage 2.
And while she was caught and beaten to the line by a rider who came from behind, she dug in and hung on to 2nd place after what was a fantastic ride.
Competing for the Visit Dallas team, Dillon took off from the bunch alone on the 75 mile stage in New Mexico, which featured 5,800 feet of climbing.
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The peloton did not respond to her attack and she pulled out a lead of several minutes on her own while mopping up points in the climbers’ classification in defence of her team mate’s lead in that competition from stage 1.
Eventual stage winner Annie Ewart (Optum-Kelly Benefit) was to crash coming down a descent in the bunch and while she got patched up and got back on to the peloton, Dillon was ripping it up solo out front at that stage.
The injured Ewart then attacked the field and caught the Irish woman, with the two combining very well from that point.
The stage 3 time trial should suit Dillon, who has been national TT and road race champion in the past.
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They continued to build a lead, with their gap going over the seven minute marker at one stage.
Back in the bunch, after initially not responding to Dillon on her own and then when Ewart joined her; the field began to apply the pressure needed to bring the escape back.
The Amy D Foundation composite team began driving along in defence of Mara Abbott’s race lead and the gap to the duo out front began to tumble.
Up front, Ewart managed to shake off Dillon on a climb with around 5 miles remaining.
Despite the field closing right down on the two leaders, Ewart took the victory, with Dillon 2nd just 19 seconds back.
The Irish woman dug deep to hold off the bunch, which was just six seconds behind her on the line, where Alison Jackson (Twenty16-Sho-Air) rounded out the podium.
Today’s stage 3 is a 16.15km time trial, which should suit Dillon who is a former national time trial champion.
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