Blevins wins stage 2 at Tour of the Gila

Hagens Berman Axeon's Chris Blevins rode a successful breakaway to victory on stage 2 of the Tour of the Gila, winning a five-up sprint ahead of Daniel Jaramillo (UnitedHealthcare), Cormac McGeough (Jelly Belly-Maxxis) Cullen Easter (303 Project) and Janier Acevedo (UnitedHealthcare), who climbed to third overall with his result.

Stage 1 winner Oscar Sanchez (Canel's Specialized) retained his overall lead by 11 seconds over Rally Cycling's Rob Britton. Acevedo is now 55 seconds back in third, as Alex Evans (Mobius Bridgelane) slipped to fourth at 1:04 back.

While Blevins came away with the stage win, UnitedHealthcare may have been the big winner by moving Acevedo onto the GC podium, while the team's Gavin Mannion is fourth at 1:21.

"We tried to race aggressively today," UnitedHealthcare director Sebastian Alexandre told Cyclingnews before the podium ceremony. "Yesterday was very negative until the climb, so our plan today was to play our cards and just go from the gun to try and make a successful break. It worked well with two guys there. We couldn't win the stage, but it was a well-deserved win by the Axeon kid. It was good work for almost everybody in the break."

Blevins, the reigning U23 cyclo-cross champion and a top-level mountain biker, scored his biggest road race win from a late breakaway in the San Dimas Stage Race earlier this year. On Thursday, Blevins relied on his smarts to make the breakaway and his legs to take the win.

"It was a bit strung out," Blevins explained to Cyclingnews about the moment the break took shape. "There were a lot of us up the road and the pack was kind of chasing back on, so in that moment I knew that was the perfect opportunity for something to go.

"UHC was up at the front, so I knew that they were going to jump in," Blevins said. "Acevedo went and I was right on his wheel, and then the five of us were off and immediately it stuck. We worked really well together, and the biggest advantage was having that tailwind on the whole way back."

With two UnitedHealthcare riders in the finale, Blevins had to play his cards perfectly, and he did.

"I didn't jump first actually," Blevins said. "It's such a long drag up here. Even at 300 metres it's much further than you think. So Jaramillo jumped first and I had to put in a big dig to get onto his wheel. Thankfully we still had some time and I was able to sit in for a second and then go by at like 50 metres."

How it unfolded

The 122km Inner Loop Road Race looks on paper like a day for the sprinters, but UnitedHealthcare stacked the deck and rode the breakaway all the way to the finish.

The stage, which climbs immediately out of the historic military hospital at Fort Bayard, featured two intermediate sprints at 9.2km and 66.8km. Three KOMs came at 18.7km, 32.5km and 102.8km. The lumpy course threw climbs at the riders intermittently, but there was plenty of flat ground for the rouleurs to show off their power.

With the first sprint less than 10km into the day, racing was hot from the start, with H&R Block's Oliver Evans taking top honours. The fight for the sprint launched the day's first breakaway, as six riders, including Acevedo, made their way up the road.

Attacks kept coming from the field, however, as Acevedo collected maximum points at the first KOM. The lead group soon swelled to 18, which may have been too much for both the GC men and the opportunists, and five riders escaped the breakaway group on a slight rise as the rest of the escapees faded back into the peloton.

In the five-rider lead group were UnitedHealthcare's Acevedo and Jaramillo, Hagens Berman Axeon's Blevins, Jelly Belly's McGeough and 303 Project's Cullen Easter. The new five-rider group cooperated well together, and their gap was quickly over a minute as Acevedo and Jaramillo swept up the two top spots at the second KOM.

The leaders reached a maximum gap of 4:20 with about 55km, and with Acevedo starting the day 2:21 down on race leader Sanchez, the sprinter's teams and those worried about Acevedo's GC position started to take up the chase. Acevedo beat Blevins in the second intermediate sprint, but the gap was coming down consistently at that point and it looked like the peloton was on track to spoil the escapees' day.

Acevedo claimed the claimed maximum points on the third KOM at High Spot, but his group's lead dipped below three minutes for the first time. With just 12km to go, the gap was holding at 2:45, then the breakaway turned into a full-on tailwind and the prospect for success brightened considerably.

Rally, Aevolo and Silber went to the front for their sprinters, but they left it too late as the tailwind was working against their chances. The leaders still had more than two minutes on the peloton with 3km to go, and it was clear the winner would come from the breakaway.

In the finale, Blevins was able to counter Jaramillo's jump and then power past the Colombian to win the stage by several bike lengths.

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