Men's stage podium: 1st Ignacio de Jesús Prado (Canel's Zerouno), 2nd Brayan Sanchez (Team Medellin) and 3rd Alex Hoehn (Above & Beyond Cancer p/b Bike World)(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
A break of 5 riders escaped in the early kilometers to pick up the first intermediate sprint points(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Team Medellin - EPM patrolled the front of the field on the way up to the first KOM points in Pinos Altos(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Lopez tucked behind his Team Medellin - EPM teammates on the way to Pinos Alto(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
The men's field stretches out on the descent after the 3rd KOM at about 12 miles to go(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
A gruppetto of dropped riders makes the left hand turn onto NM 356 at 68.2 miles(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Ignacio de Jesus Prado (Canel's Zerouno) wins stage 2 of the 2023 Tour of the Gila(Image credit: Snowy Mountain Photography)
Canel's celebrates the win as a team(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
A large crash on the way to the 2nd KOM took its toll on the field, a number of riders including Lopez had to abandon. Another segment arrived at the finish with road rash, cuts and bruises(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Men's classification jerseys from left: Caleb Classen (Team California), Torbjørn Røed (Above and Beyond Cancer Cycling Team) and Ignacio de Jesús Prado Juárez (Canel’s – ZEROUNO)(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Ignacio de Jesús Prado (Canel's Zerouno) claimed the bunch sprint at Fort Bayard on stage 2 of the 2023 Tour of the Gila, out-pacing Brayan Sanchez (Team Medellin) and Alex Hoehn (Above & Beyond Cancer p/b Bike World).
“It was a tough day, to be honest,” Prado said. “The group was a bit nervous, and we had several crashes throughout the day. It was a race where you didn’t know what was happening.
“It was very confusing, but in the end, we knew from the day before that this stage always ends in a sprint. So, I am the sprint man, and my team supported me, backed me up all the time, and thanks to them, I was able to achieve a good result today.”
The second stage started under the usual clear blue skies, and riders were ready to race. Attacks came from the first kilometre, with four riders getting a nearly immediate gap with two bridging across.
Colby Lange (Project Echelon), Logan Phippen (Novo Nordisk), Connor Pulvidente (Primal-Audi Denver), Aden Wardrop (SoCal Cycling), Patton Sims (Kelly Benefits/LSV) and Sean Hollenbeck (Expeditors) made the move, but Phippen punctured and dropped back to the field.
Lange claimed the first intermediate sprint and, heading to the first KOM, the breakaway had just over a minute in hand. As the road tilted upward, Wardrop and Sims were dropped, leaving three in front to contest the mountain sprint. Pulvidente took the top spot in Piños Altos as a 10-man chasing group fought to join them.
In the chase group were Andrew Strohmeyer (Kelly Benefits/LSV), Will Cooper, Drake Deuel, Allan Schroeder, John Borstelmann (CS Velo), Will Hardin (Project Echelon), Oscar Sevilla (Team Medellin), and Lars Quadvlieg (Universe), who picked up Sims and Wardrop along the way.
A huge crash that took out most of the peloton, including race leader Miguel Angel Lopez (Medellin), forced a 19-kilometre neutralization of the race that eliminated the second KOM, with organisers leading the remaining riders slowly down the descent before racing resumed.
With the gaps re-established, Hollenbeck, Lange and Pulvidente resumed with 40 seconds on the chasers and 1:50 on the peloton but with a bunch sprint on many minds, the chase caught the leaders, and the peloton soon came along to bring the race together with 40km remaining.
Medellin tried to send Walter Vargas up the road with Tobias Klein (Aevolo) and Efren Santos (Canel's Zerouno), but the move didn't stick.
New race leader Røed claimed the final KOM before the run-in to Fort Bayard before Michael Bouwcamp (Primal-Audi Denver) made a solo attack that was brought back before the finish.
The sprint went to Ignacio de Jesús Prado (Canel's) ahead of Sanchez and Hoehn.
Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.
