Women’s Race: Doebel-Hickok wins UCI Women’s Tour of the Gila Tyrone Time Trial, cuts GC lead to 14 seconds
SILVER CITY, New Mexico (April 29, 2022) — A massive time gap between the top two leaders in the UCI Women’s Tour of the Gila was all but obliterated Friday when Krista Doebel-Hickok (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) gained two minutes and 18 seconds on Lauren De Crescenzo (CINCH Rise) in the Tyrone Time Trial.
Only 14 seconds were left on the table between the top two after Doebel-Hickok clocked a smoking time and De Crescenzo went into damage-control mode after suffering a flat and having put in a 67-mile solo effort on the previous stage.
“Coming into today, honestly I had just given up on the red jersey and was just stoked to have the polka dot and a couple days secured in that,” Doebel-Hickok said. “My [directeur sportif] and all my staff were like ‘you’re going to have a great TT,’ and I was like, ‘no, it’s going to be awful,’ and then I went and did what I could do and it was great.”
Earlier in the week on Stage 1, Doebel-Hickok climbed to the top of Mogollon for the red leader’s jersey, only to lose it on Stage 2 to De Crescenzo, who appeared to have a nearly unbeatable lead of two minutes and 32 seconds going into Stage 3’s time trial.
Although De Crescenzo still wears the red jersey, time bonuses in Saturday’s Stage 4 Downtown Silver City Criterium will come into play – whether Doebel-Hickok can gain time on De Crescenzo or if her teammates can help prevent De Crescenzo from picking up time bonuses.
Either way, the two teams, EF Education-TIBCO-SVB and CINCH Rise, will have their work cut out for them on Stage 5’s Gila Monster with 5,610 feet of elevation gain.
“Yeah, today didn’t go as I had hoped ー I flatted,” said De Crescenzo, who also had a mechanical on Stage 1 at the base of the Mogollon climb. “I kind of paid the price with my legs from yesterday … I paid the price. I’m excited; tomorrow’s the crit. I’m very excited for the Gila Monster, but I have a little bit of time before the Gila Monster. But the race is interesting now with 14 seconds on GC. I’m excited.”
The script flipped for other riders who made gains on the day, picking off GC rivals and moving up into podium contention, including Maddy Ward (InstaFund Racing), who shaved off two minutes and 16 seconds, moving from fifth place into third on GC after a second-place finish in the time trial.
“I was aiming for sub-40 and I got 39:36, came in second, only two seconds off of Krista who got first,” Ward said. “I started off really hard. I just kept my speed over the top so I could get up to speed and carry momentum as soon as I could on the downhill, and just try my best to hold a high speed on the descents and stay steady on the climbs and it paid off in the end.”
Emily Marcolini (3T/Q+M Cycling Team), who came close to winning GC at Redlands Bicycle Classic the week before, improved to fifth from seventh place on GC, but still has a deficit of over four minutes to the top spot.
“I felt pretty good today,” Marcolini said. “I definitely feel tired. I feel the last two weeks of racing for sure, and the altitude, but I just went out there and rode as hard as I could but still within myself and just hoped that it was enough to have a good ride for today. The wind was a little bit tricky especially through the top part up there, but I was able to hold my power fairly well and have a good ride.”
Despite all of the leap-frogging after Stage 3, Diana Peñuela, DNA Pro Cycling Team’s GC rider from Colombia, kept her exact same time gap from Stage 2 at four minutes and 23 seconds back from the leader. Unfortunately, she dropped two places into sixth on GC.
Her teammate and current Best Young Rider, Anet Barrera from Mexico, flew across the line, setting a new best time before it was shattered by other GC contenders. Barrera placed sixth on the day and cut one minute and two seconds from her GC deficit but will stay put in eighth place.
“I think it was a really good result,” Barrera said in Spanish. “My training has really helped me prepare for the competition. My team gave me the right equipment and I just pushed the pedals, so I’m really happy with it and I’m looking forward to the last two days.”
The UCI Women will get more time to rest between now and tomorrow afternoon’s Stage 4 Downtown Silver City Criterium where precision racing skills and tactics will be on full display for a crowd of local and international spectators alike.
“So crits I used to hate them, and then I did a bunch of them and now I really love them, and we have a really good, strong team to take them on, so I’m actually really excited for tomorrow and it will be a little bit of a more chill day, a shorter day,” Doebel-Hickok said.
Women’s Stage 3 results:
- Krista Doebel-Hickok – EF Education – TIBCO-SVB
- Maddy Ward – InstaFund Racing
- Emily Marcolini – 3T/Q+M Cycling
GC Standings After Stage 3:
- Lauren De Crescenzo – CINCH Rise: 7:17:51
- Krista Doebel-Hickok – EF Education-TIBCO-SVB: 7:18:05
- Maddy Ward – InstaFund Racing: 7:20:06
U25 Standings After Stage 3:
- Anet Barrera – DNA Pro Cycling Team: 7:23:03
- Kira Payer – DNA Pro Cycling Team: 7:29:01
- Kyleigh Spearing – CINCH Rise: 7:35:33
Sprinter’s Jersey Standings After Stage 3:
- Lauren De Crescenzo – CINCH Rise: 20 pts
- Maggie Coles-Lyster – DNA Pro Cycling Team: 13 pts
- Krista Doebel-Hickok – EF Education – TIBCO-SVB: 12 pts
QOM Standings After Stage 3:
- Krista Doebel-Hickok – EF Education – TIBCO-SVB: 21 pts
- Lauren De Crescenzo – CINCH Rise: 15 pts
- Emily Marcolini – 3T/Q+M Cycling: 13 pts
Team Classification After Stage 3:
- EF Education – TIBCO-SVB: 22:09:20
- DNA Pro Cycling Team: 22:09:43
- InstaFund Racing: 22:30:13
Men’s Race: Simpson, Project Echelon dominate UCI Men’s Tour of the Gila Tyrone Time Trial as Dal-Cin robs GC
Project Echelon Racing’s team of time-trial specialists led by George Simpson put on a clinic Friday at the UCI Men’s Tour of the Gila Stage 3 as Matteo Dal-Cin (Toronto Hustle) took over the overall race lead.
Simpson stood atop the day’s podium while his teammates Tyler Stites and Stephen Vogel took third and fourth respectively. Only Dal-Cin ruined the Project Echelon podium party by clocking in a time that was good enough for second.
“We’ve been talking about it and looking at the wind and prepping for this all week, because I think we’re all kind of dorks about it,” Simpson said. “But we had great weather; I think the wind was pretty calm, and I think it’s always interesting at altitude because this is a hilly course and you have to go hard on the climbs. But if you go too far in the red, you’re going to go bang at some point.
“I think we had a great GC ride with our guy Tyler [Stites]. I fortunately was able to get the win. This was my fifth time doing this time trial, and I always wanted it, so it feels really good,” he said.
Heading into the time trial, Dal-Cin needed to close a 10-second, general-classification time gap on Toby Roed (Yoelo Test Team pb 4MIND Project) from Norway, who wore the red leader’s jersey. Thanks to his efforts Friday, Dal-Cin now has a 47-second cushion and the lead.
But second place on GC is another story. Before Friday, Heiner Parra Bustamante (Canel’s ZEROUNO) from Colombia, was six seconds back from first place, a thin margin that Stites destroyed in a blistering time-trial performance. Stites, who was in seventh on GC after Stage 2, now finds himself in second place after Stage 3. Parra Bustamante now is down three minutes and 49 seconds.
“Project Echelon prides ourselves on doing good in the TTs, so I think we lived up to that today,” Stites said. “[I] just tried to claw back some time in the GC, and it looks like I’m sitting second now, which is good, and anything can happen on Sunday because there is so much climbing. I’m just going to rest up now and give it my best on Sunday.”
Parra Bustamante said he and his team were slightly unsatisfied with their performance today.
“This isn’t our kind of race, so we tried to lose the least amount of time possible,” Parra Bustamante said in Spanish. “Tomorrow during the crit, we will try to save as much as we can so we can hopefully win the final stage, which is super hard.”
Roed, who still maintains a podium position, currently in third on GC, said he’s looking ahead to the Gila Monster stage, perhaps where he can match his Stage 1 performance where he out-climbed his competition.
“So, the TT was hard, of course, but I felt I did as good as I could, and I definitely got it all out there,” Roed said. “I ended up suffering a bit on the way back in the headwind, but I [am] happy I didn’t lose too much, and I’m just excited for Sunday to get some more climbing in and hopefully put some more time in the other guys on Sunday.”
Meanwhile, Landis/Trek’s Samuel Gilletly moved into fourth place on GC and 25 seconds back from a podium spot.
“I felt good out there, I’m really new to riding a TT bike,” Gilletly said. “I was really happy finishing in fifth and surprised that I moved up as much as I did. I’m just taking it one day at a time. It’s a really hard race and much bigger than anything I’ve done before. [I’m] super happy having Stephen [Schaefer] to ride with. I just followed him down the descent yesterday, and I’m hoping we can stick together as much as possible on Stage 5.”
Xander White (CS Velo) from New Zealand leap-frogged Jared Scott for Best Young Rider and moved into fifth on GC. The Kiwi was in nearly every significant move during Stage 2 and appears keen to manufacture any gains he can in the remaining two stages.
The UCI Men will get more time to rest between now and tomorrow afternoon’s Stage 4 Downtown Silver City Criterium where precision racing skills and tactics will be on full display for a crowd of local and international spectators alike.
Men’s Stage 3 Results:
- George Simpson – Project Echelon Racing
- Matteo Dal-Cin
- Tyler Stites – Project Echelon Racing
GC Standings After Stage 3:
- Matteo Dal-Cin – Toronto Hustle: 7:01:54
- Tyler Stites – Project Echelon: 7:02:41
- Toby Roed – Yoeleo Test Team p/b 4MindProject: 7:02:57
U23 Standings After Stage 3:
- Xander White – CS Velo: 7:03:26
- Jared Scott – Aevolo Cycling: 7:03:34
- Caleb Classen – Team California/HMS: 7:05:57
Sprinter’s Jersey Standings After Stage 3:
- Tyler Stites – Project Echelon Racing: 16 pts
- Xander White – CS Velo: 13 pts
- Nacho Prado – 12 pts
KOM Standings After Stage 3:
- Heiner Parra Bustamante – Canel’s Zerouno: 20 pts
- Toby Roed – Yoeleo Test Team p/b 4MindProject: 15 pts
- Matteo Dal-Cin – Toronto Hustle: 15pts
Team Classification After Stage 3:
- Project Echelon Racing: 21:13:18
- CS Velo: 21:13:21
- Toronto Hustle: 21:19:56