Canel's ZeroUno go 1-2 with Corte and Parra on stage 5 at Piños Altos
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Eduardo Corte Cordero and Heiner Parra Bustamante (Canel's Zerouno) cross the line hand-in-hand(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
A break of 8 riders formed early in the men's race including Brooks Wienke (Aevolo), Ricky Arnopol (Project Echelon), Cyrus Monk (Meiyo CCN Pro Cycling), Andrew Frank (Team California), Will Harden (Project Echelon Racing), Nicolas Cote (Yoeleo Test Team p/b 4Mind Project), Tobias Klein (Aevolo), Ethan Sittlington (Toronto Hustle)(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Matteo Dal-Cin and his Tronto Hustle teammates worked the front of the field to keep the race in check early on(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
In a suprise twist, Sean Gardner (CS Velo), who started they day 2:07 behind the leader in 6th place, finished 3rd exactly 2:07 ahead of race leader Matteo Dal-Cin (Toronto Hustle). The 4 second time bonus for 3rd place gave Gardner the overall GC victory(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Matteo Dal-Cin (Toronto Hustle) had nothing left at the end, needing help to get off his bike (Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
A hot stage with the temperature and windspeed rising throughout the afternoon(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Alan Schroder, Xander White, Scott Sunderman (team mechanic), and Tanner Ward envelope Sean Gardner in a hug when the announcement was made that Sean won the overall GC(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Sean Gardner (CS Velo) overall winner(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Final Classification podium: Heiner Parra Bustamante (Canel's Zerouno) in polka dots, Jarod Scott (Aevolo) in white, Sean Gardner (CS Velo) in red, and Tyler Stites (Project Echelon) in green(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Stage 5 podium: Eduardo Corte Cordero (Canel's Zerouno) in 1st, Heiner Parra Bustamante (Canel's Zerouno), Sean Gardner (CS Velo) 3rd.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Canel's ZeroUno went 1-2 on stage 5 at Tour of the Gila with Eduardo Corte and Heiner Parra coming over the line together on the challenging stage 5 finale at Piños Altos.
Sean Gardner (CS Velo Racing) finished in third ahead of Torbjørn Røed (Yoeleo Test Team p/b 4Mind). Gardner's performance led to overall victory at the Tour of the Gila, as he overhauled overnight leader Matteo Dal-Cin (Toronto Hustle) on the final day of racing.
“At the base of the Gila Monster, three of the Canel’s guys – I just followed their wheels – they lit it up at the bottom, and then we got a gap and we just tried to hold on until there,” Gardner said in a media release. “They were flinging some attacks on this last little rise, and I did my best to hold on.”
Holding on for third was enough to shift Gardner into the race lead, but it was tight enough that he didn't actually know he would end the tour in red when he crossed the line with the final margin to Dal-Cin being just four seconds.
"I was nursing some pretty good cramps," said Dal-Cin. "I gave it everything in the chase and I was so spent in the end. No complaints, left it all on the road and the stronger man won today.”
Sunday's 162km Gila Monster stage from Silver City to the summit of the 11km climb to Piños Altos included 9,131 feet of climbing and the steepest climb topped out at an elevation of 7,493 feet. There were also two intermediate sprints and five categorised climbs that culminated at Piños Altos.
A breakaway of eight emerged in the opening kilometres of the race that included Ethan Sittlington (Toronto Hustle), Cyrus Monk (MEIYO CCN Pro Cycling Team), Nicolas Côté (Yoeleo Test Team p/b 4Mind), Brooks Wienke and Tobias Klein (Aevolo), Andrew Frank (California), Richard Arnopol and William Hardin (Project Echelon) and Peter Behm (Rio Grande).
The breakaway pushed their lead out to 1:30 ahead of the first intermediate sprint that was located at just 14km into the race with Monk taking the full points.
The first ascent came at 22.4km into the race and Arnopol led the breakaway over the top as they increased their lead to nearly five minutes on the main field. Klein was the highest place on GC at eight minutes back, and so the move was not a direct threat to the overall classification contenders.
The second intermediate sprint was at Camp Thunderbird at 53km mark and Hardin took the points.
The men's route then turned on to the second ascent, and 11km climb to Copperas Vista of the Gila Cliff Dwellings, that crested at the 88km mark where Arnopol again crested the ascent first to take the mountain points.
Three riders from the breakaway Klein, Hardin and Monk, separated themselves from the others on the third ascent that crested at the 121km mark before descending toward Sapillo Creek.
The trio only had 1:20 on the reduced field and they were caught inside the final 30km of the race.
The race then climbed to the fourth ascent at Wild Horse Mesa at the 138km mark where Parra took the mountain points ahead of Røed, and his Canel's ZeroUno teammates Efren Santos and Corte, along with SC Velo's Gardner.
Garner was the highest placed in the overall classification at 2:07 behind Dal-Cin at the start of the day.
Canel's ZeroUno led the select group onto the final climb, attacking until two teammates cleared the breakaway. Corte came across the line just ahead of his teammate Parra to take the stage win, with Gardner in third and Røed in fourth.
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