Borrajo, Rowney claim Gila criteriums

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Men's Crit

Jamis-Sutter Home showed downtown Silver City how to accomplish a perfect leadout today, with two of their sprinters, Alejandro and brother Anibal Borrajo snatching first and second place from a powerful Bissell Racing team.

Early on, former Columbian Time Trial Champion and track Olympian Marlon Perez spent the majority of SRAM Tour of the Gila’s stage four criterium alone, attacking just minutes into the 43.4 -mile crit and impressively holding his lead at around one minute.
The committed solo break was reeled back into the group by Bissell Racing Team with 12 laps to go, clearly on a mission to set up their sprinters Frank Pipp and Eric Young for the win.

After a flurry of counterattacks, one notably by Franciso Mancebo in a hunt for precious bonus seconds, the Bissell lead out train was bested by Jamis-Sutter Home, who successfully won the battle for the coveted last lap positioning.
Borrajo said this was his first win of the year, and hopefully not his last. He most recently finished second to Hilton Clarke (United Healthcare) at the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium a few weeks ago in Charlotte.

“Finally, I win a race,” he said.

His brother Anibal told Cyclingnews the victory was not only incredible, but also an emotional one for their family.

“Just a couple days ago we found out our older brother passed away,” he said. “We really wanted to get this victory for him.”

Overall race leader Rory Sutherland successfully stayed out of trouble today, sitting a comfortable top ten through the bulk of the race. He said his team did a fantastic job making sure he remained protected and safe, considering the course wasn’t an easy one.

“With a lot of wind in a criterium it creates a lot of bunching up which makes it dangerous in the corners,” he said. “I know what to do and I know how to keep safe as long as others don’t knock me off. We didn’t come here with anyone with serious speed, we came here with bigger goals.”

Tomorrow’s final stage will be the ultimate decider of whether Sutherland holds onto his red jersey. Just 33 seconds separate him from Joe Dombrowski (Bontrager-Livestrong) and one minute 25 seconds from last year’s winner Francisco Mancebo (Competitive Cyclist).

Women's Crit

Cinco De Mayo celebrations played a part in making downtown Silver City feel full of life during SRAM’s Tour of the Gila Pro Women’s criterium which saw Loren Rowney (FCS/Rouse Racing) outsprint Optum duo Carmen Small and Christina Gokey Smith.
With approximately 27 miles on the cards, the aggressive race was immediately driven by Team Tibco, causing some riders to drop of the pace in just the second lap.

Race leader Kristin Armstrong (Exergy/TWENTY12) was present at the front for the first half of the race, but slid back in the pack for the rest of the race after chasing down a few attacks, playing it safe and conserving for tomorrow’s testing stage up the Gila Monster.
Throughout the race, shifting winds and high speeds continued to test the racers as attack after attack was attempted and brought back by teams Optum, Exergy TWENTY12, and Now and Novartis, all eager to set up their sprinters for the final lap.

That didn’t faze FCS/Rouse Racing as they patiently waiting for the right moment, and managed to execute it perfectly.

“Amy (McGuire) Kaelly (Simpson) and Anna (Sanders) were fantastic. The plan was to make sure that every move that a Now, Exergy or Optum team member in it to make sure we were present, and the girls did that really well,” race winner Rowney said.

Rowney, who is guesting for Rouse Racing Team, said if the race came down to a bunch sprint, Rouse had to place themselves strategically in NOW or Exergy’s leadout train in order to be in contention for the win.

“Ideally, after reconning the course this morning and watching a few of the men’s races, I knew you had to be second wheel out of that last turn,” she said. “But I ended up sixth wheel, but I just went into it so fast that I used my momentum and just started sprinting.”

Because the field hesitated slightly before the finish, Rowney was able to use that to her advantage and power away to victory.

“It felt really good,” Rowney said. “It was good to see for women’s cycling, the fans loved it.”

In her just first professional season, Rowney has already proven herself to be a serious crit contender by winning the first stage of the Tour of Redlands while racing with her new team Specialized-Lululemon. She said she’s looking forward to putting her great form to good use at the upcoming Women’s Exergy Tour at the end of May.

“The girls have been racing so well in Europe that I can’t wait to get back with the team and race with them again,” she told Cyclingnews.

Tomorrow, the women will encounter the last stage up the Gila Monster climb. It will be the final test for Optum to overturn Exergy racer Kristin Armstrong’s 4.46-minute lead over Carmen Small.

The U26 jersey will also be hotly contested with current leader Jasmin Glaesser (Colavita) just 12 seconds ahead of Exergy racer Tayler Wiles.

Full Results