In stage four of the Tour of the Gila women’s race, Galen Bolard took the win in the Downtown Criterium, edging out race leader Lauren Stephens (Aegis) in a photo-finish sprint.
Stephens positioned her safely in the front of the peloton in the fast and furious race held in downtown Silver City until the final dash to the line. Fount Cycling Guild’s Minori Minagawa took third.
Stephens remained atop the general classification with one stage to go with 1:48 on Sidney Swierenga (Tag Cycling Race Team). Her teammate Emma Langley is in third, 2:25 in arrears.
In the men’s contest, Eric Brunner (Competitive Edge) took the win in a bunch sprint ahead of Brandon Rojas Vega (GW Erco Shimano) and José Muñiz Vazquez (Olinka-Specialized).
In the final twelve laps, Project Echelon Racing and Olinka-Specialized joined forces to reel in Patrick Welch (Above and Beyond Cancer), who had been solo off the front for most of the race.
Brunner, Wednesday’s Individual Time Trial winner, is now trailing Keiran Haug by just 18 seconds on the general classification. Jose Ramon Muniz (Olinka-Specialized) sits in third place at 1:03 down.
The Tour of the Gila concludes on Sunday with the daunting Gila Monster Road Race. Due to safety concerns linked to weather across southwest New Mexico on Sunday afternoon, the UCI men will bypass the Gila Cliff Dwellings offshoot and will tackle the same 110.9 km course as the UCI women. Race officials, organisers, and participating UCI men’s teams all agreed to this change.
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