Abbott and Britton win overall titles at Tour of the Gila

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It was Canada Day in the final stage of the Tour of the Gila, as compatriots Rob Britton (Team SmartStop) and Michael Woods (Optum Pro Cycling) were the big winners in Pinos Altos. Britton snatched the overall title from the overnight leader Rafael Montiel (Orgullo Antioqueno), who ran into trouble on the final climb and dropped off the overall podium. Woods helped to drive a select group of contenders and then out-sprinted best young rider Daniel Jaramillo (Jamis-Hagens Berman) to take the stage victory. Colombian champion Robinson Chalapud (Orgullo Antioqueno) was third on the stage.

Jaramillo held on for second overall, while Jelly Belly's Gavin Mannion rocketed up from sixth overall to third in the general classification after his teammate Lachlan Morton, Phil Gaimon (Optum) and Montiel were distanced.

Mara Abbott, leading the composite Amy D Foundation team, soloed to her fifth career Tour of the Gila victory, and her third edition in a row, while Unitedhealthcare's Katie Hall leapfrogged Lauren Stephens (Tibco-SVB) and Jasmin Glaesser (Optum), taking second on the stage and overall classification. Stephens held on for third overall, while DNA Cycling's Breanne Nalder was third on the stage.

Optum's Michael Woods came into the race hoping for a high overall finish, but was just off the podium in fourth. "The goal going in was to try and go guns a-blazing, and my goal was to try to shake the race leader and maybe try to get a gap," Woods said. "But I couldn't get any separation, his team was pretty strong. But when we did get a gap, Rob Britton just drove it, and his teammate Chris Butler helped him a lot. It was super impressive, and pretty cool to see Rob win."

Once the overall classification was out of the picture, Woods turned his focus to nabbing the stage victory instead. "I just stayed relaxed because I knew I had a good kick, and I used it at the end. This is my first time doing this race, but I was here for a week before the race, and I had a lot of time to check the course out. I rode this finishing stretch a couple times, and I knew it would be a good finish for me.

"The race was a goal for me, and I really wanted to win on the first day. My legs were there, but unfortunately the group stayed away. I wanted to come away with a win and have good prep for Tour of California."

Britton, who finished a frustrated third place overall in last year's race, missing out by four slim seconds, was relieved to take the overall victory this time and also hoped the result boded well for California next week.

"It feels pretty good," Britton told Cyclingnews. "It's a pretty good day. When 26 seconds went by after I crossed the line and he wasn't there, I knew I had it. It was an amazing day."

SmartStop was well represented all day, putting three riders into a 27-man early breakaway and then Butler and Evan Huffman into the split that went on the Anderson Vista climb with 40km to go.

"It was the team that did all the work, all I had to do was not get dropped at the end," Britton said. "Coming up the Sapillo climb, over the top Woods just kept hitting it and eventually [Montiel] just cracked and came off. Once I heard that, I went to the front and I tried to put pressure on, but everyone sat on me for the remainder of the climb from like 25km to go to 10km to go. [Montiel] came back after the descent so I went back and hit it again and got him on the final climb. I had Chris with me, and put everything into it and just gassed it. The gap went out and it was just the two of us. Nobody else did a single turn. Once it came back, everyone stared at us. Chris rode out of his skin, and I just had to represent for the final 3k."

Montiel ran into trouble on the steep climb out of Sapillo creek, and by the time the select front group reached the penultimate climb he had lost 30 seconds, despite mountains leader Cristhian Montoya hanging back to help him. With 5km to go the gap was out to a minute and it was clear the race victory had slipped through his fingers.

Orgullo team director Gustavo Carrillo was still proud of Montiel and the team for riding well all week. "Rafael had a bad day today, but he had a great time trial, which we did not expect. Today the team rode perfectly. We sent [Montoya] back to escort Rafael, but he was getting dropped even at tempo," Castillo said. "Hats off to Smartstop, though. Rob Britton is a worthy winner."

Joe Schmalz (Hincapie Sportswear) kicked off the main breakaway with an attack before the first sprint, with Ben Jacques-Maynes (Jamis-Hagens Berman) and Danny Summerhill (UnitedHealthcare) just behind across the line. They were joined by a large group of riders with two from the race leader's Orgullo Antioqueno squad in two.

The breakaway included Will Routley (Optum), Gregory Brenes and Ben Jacques-Maynes (Jamis - Hagens Berman), Isaac Bolivar and Daniel Summerhill (UnitedHealthcare), Dylan Girdlestone and Martin Kohler (Drapac), Adam De Vos and James Gene Piccoli (H&R Block), Joe Schmalz, Joseph Lewis and Jonathan Hornbeck (Hincapie), Robinson Chalapud and Cristhian Montoya (Orgullo Antioqueno), Evan Huffman, Kristofer Dahl, and Travis McCabe (Team Smartstop), Steve Fisher and Lachlan Morton (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis), Chris Putt (Axeon Cycling Team), Samuel Hunter Snipe Grove (Incycle Cannondale), Luis Lemus (Airgas-Safeway), Torey Philipp and Stefano Barberi (California Giant/Specialized), Chad Beyer (Superissimo), Nicola Dal Santo (Amore & Vita) and Taylor Shelden (AltoVelo/SeaSucker).

They built up a two-minute advantage after the first climb, but the peloton kept them on a tight leash, bouncing the gap between one and two minutes through the valley, knowing that the climb to Anderson Vista, the highest point of the race was waiting for them at the halfway point in the stage.

The group was caught after they turned around at the Gila Cliff Dwelling visitor's center, and the attacks began on the climb back up to Anderson Vista, with all the top riders in the GC out front. Chris Horner (Airgas-Safeway) lit up the start of the third climb, a steep 5km ascent from Sapillo Creek, pulling away a group of five. "I thought that when the group was five or six of us we were going to go to the line for sure, but guys quit working and it all came back together. I thought I could win the stage from that group," Horner said.

But it was not to be. The race leader began to come unglued before the KOM sprint, and was distanced for good on the undulating hill that followed, leaving Britton to ride away to the victory.

The top three from today's stage (Jonathan Devich)

Five for Abbott, queen of the Gila

Mara Abbott has made it a habit of winning the Tour of the Gila, and as a world-class climber has parlayed her abilities into three straight overall victories. Coming into the day, the Wiggle-Honda rider, who guest rode for Amy D Foundation this week, was only eight seconds ahead of her nearest competitor, but by the end of the day she had put to rest any doubt that she is the queen of the Gila. Although Katie Hall (UnitedHealthcare) was able to hang with her for a few kilometers, Abbott won by 37 seconds over Hall, with breakaway rider Breanne Nalder (DNA Cycling p/b K4) in third, three minutes back.

Jasmin Glaesser (Optum), who had been second overall, went on the attack early in a last-ditch effort to distance Abbott, but the gamble did not pay off, and she tumbled off the podium.

Hall was the story of the day, having come into the stage in fourth place, 1:31 behind, but she unleashed her climbing legs and followed Abbott to the front to leapfrog over Lauren Stephens (Tibco-SVB) into second.

"It feels like progress," Hall said to Cyclingnews. "This is my best result so far. Last year I was working for Mara, and this year I got a chance to race for myself. I have finished fourth twice this year, so this is the first time I've made an NRC podium. I'm really happy about it."

"We wanted to win, but Mara was so strong. I got the chance to climb as hard as I could, and was able to move up into second. It was good. Linda made the break with Jasmin, who was third in GC, and she's a good climber too. Getting her in the break all day really tired her out I think. Linda was a strong GC threat as well, so having her in the break and getting a head start on the climb was good for us, because they could have stayed away to the line, and we would have been happy with that. When we hit the hill, I just hung as long as I could with Mara, and was able to pass the break and move up in the GC."

The field was all together coming into the first sprint and Stephens picked up the three-second bonus available ahead of Brianne Walle (Optum) and Olive Dillon (Visit Dallas Cycling p/b Noise4Good), and stayed together to the first Queen of the Mountain where Flavia Oliviera (Visit Dallas Cycling p/b Noise4Good) picked up the full points.

The attacks started after the descent, with Glaesser being joined by another Unitedhealthcare overall contender, New Zealand champion Linda Villumsen, and Nalder. The trio gained a minute lead before Abbott's team Amy D Foundation started to chase.

Glaesser picked up the next intermediate sprint for three seconds, as the breakaway's gap increased to more than two minutes. A chase group formed near the base of the final climb, however, that included top climbers Abbott, Oliviera and Hall.

Once they caught the three breakaway riders on the first part of the climb, Abbott made her winning move, and was followed by Hall. While the Unitedhealthcare rider held on as long as she could, Abbott soon dispatched her and rode solo down the descent and back up to the finish line in Pinos Altos to take the stage victory and the overall title. Hall finished just 37 seconds behind her, with Nadler three minutes back.

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