Hall wins Tour of the Gila overall

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Katie Hall (UnitedHealthcare) secured the overall win at the Tour of the Gila Sunday, finishing second on the Gila Monster stage behind teammate Diana Penuela, who soloed to a 40-second lead over Hall and teammate Leah Thomas in third in a UnitedHealthcare podium sweep.

Sara Poidevin (Rally Cycling), who started the day second overall just eight seconds behind Hall, finished 10th on the stage at 1:10 back but held onto her runner-up general classification result. Thomas finished third overall.

UnitedHealthcare director Rachel Heal said it was one of the most impressive team performances she's seen.

"The break had enough numbers and strength to put us under real pressure, but the girls rose to the occasion and showed huge strength and determination," Heal said. "Diana put in a truly incredible ride, stepping up to a new level, and Katie absorbed the pressure of being the pre-race favourite, racing with a confidence that comes from trust in her team and her strength."

Hall, who finished second last year to then-teammate Tayler Wiles, has stepped up to another level this year after her win last week at the Joe Martin Stage Race in Arkansas. She said winning Gila was very special.

"I love this race and I have been trying to win this for a couple of years now," Hall said. "I couldn't have done it without this group of women, and I am really grateful to them and awed by their strength and calm under fire. Rally brought a big fight today, and I am proud of how my team responded to protect the overall GC."

The Rally game plan was to put as much pressure as possible on Hall and the UHC blue train in hopes they would crack and Poidevin could leap to the top of the overall podium, but in the end UHC proved to be too strong.

"We were just trying to put UHC under pressure the whole day," said Poidevin, who came away with the jersey for best young rider. "Our whole team buried ourselves as much as we could all day; it was a true fight until the end. I was excited to be a part of it. It's great to come away with both the sprint [for Rally's Emma White - ed.] and young rider jerseys. We worked really well together all week."

While Katie Hall and her UHC teammates put in a solid day of work to fend off the multiple challenges to Hall's GC lead, the most impressive ride of the day belonged to Penuela and her successful solo attack 15km from the line.

"For three years I worked hard to believe in my abilities as Rachel and my colleagues trusted me," Penuala said. "Teamwork was always more important to me than my own results, but it was a very happy ending for all of us because we achieved all out goals."

How it unfolded

The 106.1km final stage, better known as the Gila Monster, included 1,710 metres of elevation gain over three KOMs, including the final 3km climb to the finish in Pinos Altos. Two intermediate sprints at 14km and 53.8km were up for grabs as well.

After somewhat conservative racing during the week, Rally and Twenty20-Sho Air came into the day ready to upset the apple cart and rearrange the general classification.

Twenty20's Erica Clevenger took maximum points at the first sprint, which provided the impetus for the day's major threat to UHC's supremacy. An eight-rider move went clear that contained two Rally riders and three Twenty20 riders, with double stage winner Chloe Dygert the highest placed rider at three minutes.

UnitedHealthcare had Lauren Hall in the group, but Heal called her back to the field to help her teammates chase down the dangerous move. Remaining in the move were Rally's Abbie Mickey and Gillian Elsay; Twenty20's Dygert, Shayna Powless and Erica Clevenger; Hagens Berman Supermint's Lily Williams; and Swapit Agolico's Brenda Santoya.

Lauren Hall, Penuela and Elizabeth Banks rode the front to keep the escapees in check, and once the group started nearing the final climb and the gap was in check, Penuela rested while Banks and Lauren Hall continued setting the pace. The break shattered on the climbto Meadwo Creek, and Mickey continued on alone. Her solo move would not last, however, as UHC's relentless chase brought her back.

That's when a rested Penuela made her move from a paired-down lead group of about 10 riders. Penuela opened up a small gap on the climb and never looked back, swooping down the descent an then powering up the final tilt toward Pinos Altos.

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