The Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment team continued to dominate the women’s 2026 Tour of the Gila, sweeping the podium Sunday on the daunting 65.9-mile (106km) Gila Monster stage 5 with 5,487 feet (1672m) of climbing. The American squad won four of the five stages in New Mexico.
Kylee Hanel rode to a solo stage victory, finishing 56 seconds clear of her teammates, Grace Arlandson and race leader Lauren Stephens. It was Stephens' third consecutive overall title, built on three stage wins and a start-to-finish grip on the leader’s jersey. Emily Gilbert (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28) was fourth, seven seconds later and one second ahead of Ashley Frye (Competitive Edge Racing).
Frye and Gilbert did enough to hold onto second and third place in the final women's standings. Frye finished 2:03 back for second, and Gilbert was third, at 2:57 down.
The Aegis team also took home all the jerseys, for the first time in the 39-year history of the race. Stephens won the mountains classification, stage 4 winner Arlandson topped the sprint standings, and Hanel, fourth overall, was the best young rider. Aegis also won the teams classification.
The overall women's podium with Lauren Stephens (Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment) first, Ashley Frye (Competitive Edge) second and Emily Gilbert (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28) in third (Image credit: Tour of the Gila)
In the men’s Gila Monster stage, Modern Adventure’s Samuel Florez took the win in Piños Altos with teammate Kieran Haug 10 seconds back. Two seconds later, Henrique de Silva Avancini (Localiza Meoo-Swift) finished third, but it was enough to overturn a 17-second deficit and claim the overall title.
De Silva Avancini topped the GC with 24 seconds on defending champion Haug, with Diego Camargo (Medellín-EPM) third at 37 seconds. Overnight race leader Walter Vargas (Medellín-EPM) struggled on the 100.6-mile stage with 9,957 feet of climbing to finish 14 minutes behind the stage winner, dropping to 27th in the final GC.
Stage 2 winner Robinson López (GW Erco SportFitness) topped the mountains standings, stage 4 victor Patrick Welch (APS) won the sprint classification and 20-year-old Florez, fourth on GC, took home the best young rider title. With four riders in the top 10, Modern Adventure won the teams classification.
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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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