Lauren Stephens (Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment) made it two for two at the 2026 Tour of the Gila on Thursday, claiming the Mogollon summit win at the end of stage 2 and increasing her GC lead from six seconds to over one minute.
Ashley Frye (Competitive Edge Racing) crossed the line 13 seconds back to take second, moving up one spot on GC. Emily Gilbert (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28) rounded out the podium at 34 seconds back.
After riding the 71.2-mile course with 3,669 feet of climbing, Frye was now the only rider within two minutes of Stephens in the overall classification, 1:31 back. Gilbert jumped seven spots to third overall, 2:29 down.
Stephens also leads the mountains classification, while her teammate Kylee Hanel, who is sixth on GC, tops the best young rider standings. Olivia Cummings (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28) leads the sprint classification.
In the elite men's contest at theMogollon Road Race p/b Gila Regional Medical Center, Robinson López (GW Erco SportFitness) was the strongest on the Mogollon climb, with ramps maxing out at 19%, claiming the victory in a sprint ahead of USA's Kieran Haug (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling). Colombian compatriot Diego Camargo (Team Medellín-EPM) was three seconds back in third.
After crossing the line in 12th place, 45 seconds down, stage 1 winner Walter Vargas (Team Medellín-EPM) retained the overall lead, though the windy, difficult 92-mile course with 4,252 feet of climbing delivered a GC shake-up for the rest of the top 10 placings.
Fifth on the stage, Henrique de Silva Avancini (Localiza Meoo-Swift Pro Cycling) moved up to second overall, 20 seconds down, while Camargo is now in third, 41 seconds back. Defending champion Haug jumped 10 spots up to fourth overall, at 45 seconds down, while his teammate Tyler Stites, the 2024 winner, remained in fifth place, 53 seconds in arrears.
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Friday brings the Inner Loop Road race p/b Lyman Communications, a 74.1-mile (119.3km) course for the women and 76.2 miles (122.6) for the men, both starting and ending nine miles east of Silver City at Fort Bayard.
Robinson Fabián López of GW Erco Shimano wins stage 2 ahead of Kieran Haug (Modern Adventure Pro) (Image credit: Tour of the Gila)
Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites.
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