Abbott opens 2016 Tour of the Gila with win on Mogollon

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Mara Abbott (Amy D Foundation) continued her winning streak in Mogollon, on the first stage of the Tour of the Gila, putting more than two minutes into UnitedHealthcare's Katie Hall, with 2012 race winner Kristin Armstrong in third.

Sara Poidevin (Rally Cycling) came in fourth as the best young rider of the day, while her teammate Heather Fischer donned the points classification lead. With just one classified climb on the stage, Abbott also took the polka dot jersey of best climber.

"It was a good day," Abbott said in understatement after putting 2:31 into her nearest competitor with a probing attack that began on the lower slopes of the climb. "It wasn't a super strong attack, but it was a situation where the string broke and I saw I had a little gap," Abbott said to Cylingnews. "To be able to go from there and hold that gap across the plateau, enabled me to skip the game playing at the beginning of the second pitch, and so that gave me a solid chance to get some more time."

The 86-rider peloton took off from Silver City under clear skies and cool temperatures, heading out on the wide open highway. The fast descent from the Continental Divide kept the peloton together, with the first action happening at the intermediate sprint 29.5km into the stage. Twenty16-RideBiker's Alison Jackson, winner of last year's green jersey, crashed in the dash to the line, and Lauretta Hanson (Colavita/Bianchi) won the sprint ahead of Kirsti Lay (Rally Cycling) and Diana Penuela (UnitedHealthcare).

Despite the high pace, the peloton remained together until the 30 mile mark, when there was a massive crash in the turn back onto highway 180. After the riders picked themselves up, a 10-rider group went clear. Jackson rebounded from her earlier crash to make the group together with Jessica Cutler (Colavita/Bianchi), Allison Linnell (Hagens Berman / Supermint), Heather Fischer and Jessica Prinner (Rally Cycling), Joanne Kiesanowski (Team TIBCO - Silicon Valley Bank), Leah Thomas (Twenty16-RideBiker), Anna Sanders (Visit Dallas DNA), and Nicole Moerig (Podium Ambition p/b Club La Santa).

Fischer claimed the second intermediate sprint, before the breakaway's advantage went out to nearly the two minute mark, but they were reeled in before the base of the final climb.

Abbott, who rides for Wiggle-High 5 during most of the season, is racing again with the Amy D Foundation,a composite team which benefits up and coming racers and was created in honour of Amy Dombroski, who was killed in a training crash in 2013. Although only five-strong and riding together for the first time, they put in an outstanding effort to control the large breakaway.

"It was pretty impressive," Abbott said. "We had a large break get away, and my teammates put a lot of faith in me in the way that they rode, because they rode hard to keep that gap down so I could have a chance at the climb. For them to put that much on the line shows how much they believe in me, and it's a huge honour to have teammates, especially on a composite team, that believe in you that much."

The race might seem to be over after the first stage, but with Armstrong's record in the Tyrone Time Trial more than two minutes quicker than Abbott's personal best, there is still plenty of room for the general classification to change, Armstrong said.

"Mara wasn't here in 2012. Her speciality is climbing, and it's an average of 8 per cent, so it wasn't a surprise," Armstrong said. "I was just trying to minimize my losses. Friday (the time trial) is a big day, and we have a big day in front of us. Her team had to go to the front and work today, so we're going to keep chipping away every day. We have a really strong team here. We look forward to Friday, we have a lot of cards to play."

Armstrong holds the record for the current time trial course at 37:13, while Abbott's best time was last year's effort at 38:35 in calm conditions. The winds are predicted to pick up over the course of the week, and could favour Armstrong, but she is happy to let the leadership on her team change hands before then.

"We have three time trialists on my team - me, Leah Thomas, and Allie Dragoo - and there are four days left. I think everyone assumes that we're walking in and working for Kristin Armstrong, but again, when we come out on Friday, or even tomorrow on the Inner Loop, I'm perfectly happy letting any of the girls go off the front. On Friday any of us can take time. I'm super excited, because I love when we can race our bikes."

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