Tour of Gila, the premier domestic high altitude stage race, gets underway tomorrow, and the BISSELL Pro Cycling Team looks to build on their strong history with this race. Riding for BISSELL will be team leaders, Burke Swindlehurst and Tom Zirbel. Burke has won Gila 3 times. Last year, he won the queen stage known as the Gila Monster and finished second overall. Tom hopes to be able to carry on with the form he showed last year when he won the time trial and was race leader going into the final stage. Tom was one of six riders involved in a severe crash on a descent where he suffered a broken collarbone. This year, Tom hopes to be able to test his fortitude on the tough final day of climbing. Also joining Burke and Tom for BISSELL will be Ben Jacques-Maynes, Jeremy Vennell, Omer Kem, Graham Howard, Sheldon Deeny, and Paul Mach.
The Tour of Gila starts with an opening 94 mile point-to-point course from Silver City to Mogollon, New Mexico. The second stage of 80 miles will take the riders in a clockwise loop through the Town of Baynard. This stage has four major climbs and takes the riders up and over the continental divide. The third stage is a 16.15 mile individual time trial unlike any other with 4.4 miles of climbing at 2.7% and almost a mile at 8% grade. The strong BISSELL time trialists look to make this their stage. The fourth stage is the Downtown Silver City Criterium and includes 40 laps totaling 43 miles. The final day of racing promises to be the most excruciating for the riders with 105.7 miles and altitudes approaching 7500 feet.
The race will assuredly live up to its reputation as an extremely challenging early season stage race with grueling climbs and hair raising descents. To add to the race’s media attention, this year it has been rumored that Astana riders, Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, and Chris Horner will be using Gila to prepare for the upcoming Giro d’Italia. No matter who rides this year’s Gila, it promises to be a great event and BISSELL looks for a great race. |
