Photo by Mitch Clinton

SILVER CITY, NM (May 3, 2014) - Luis Amaran (Jamis-Hagens) won the downtown criterium for Stage 4 at Silver City's Tour of the Gila, finishing ahead of Bjorn Selandar (Optum) and Ben Day (UnitedHealthcare). A four-man breakaway established early, ended up lapping the field. The break included the podium winners and Canadian National Road Champion Zach Bell (SmartStop) who ended up crashing on the final laps after the break ended up lapping the field. Day began the day 1:58 down from the leader, Optum's Carter Jones, but after gaining time bonuses on top of the minute plus the breakaway had established, he finished the day ahead of Jones by 28 seconds.

Jamis-Hagens Berman were happy with the win. "We came here with a focus on the overall classification," Amaran's teammate Tyler Wren added. "Last year, when Jamis Hagens-Berman had the jersey going into the final stage with Janier Acevedo, we were a little over confident, and we learned a lot from that experience. I think tomorrow we're in a lot better situation with three cards to play in Gregory, Daniel, and Matt Cooke. Our plan is to win the race." All three riders sit within a minute of the overall. Due to his win, Amaran is now in the lead of the PNM Sprint Jersey.

Optum came away disappointed but optimistic for tomorrow's Gila Monster. Bjorn Selandar explained at the finish today, "We were just tagging moves, and I slipped in. It wasn't a terrible situation but nothing that we are happy about. We lost the jersey but anything can happen tomorrow."

Optum leading the chase during the downtown crit during stage 4.Photo: Mitch Clinton

The Gila Monster has over 9,000 feet of climbing with just over 100 miles while teams will look to their pure climbers to produce results. Luis Davila (Jelly Belly) showed his climbing form after picking up all of the KOM points on Stage 2, he remains tied with Jaramillo (JSH) for the Freeport-McMoRan jersey. Ben Day (UHC) is not considered a pure climber, but he has a strong team to support him in Lucas Euser and Kiel Reijnen among others.

We will have to wait and see if UHC isab le to retain the overall with stiff competition from Jamis-Hagens who is seeking revenge after getting so close last year. Jelly Belly has also shown that they are strong following Luis Davila's KOM performance in Stage 2. UnitedHealthcare is now leading both the men and women overall GC with Day and Abbott respectively.

Racing begins at 8:40 tomorrow with the Women Pro 1,2 starting first, followed by the men.

UCI Men Results

Top 3 on Stage 4 - Downtown Silver City's Criterium

Luis Amaran (Jamis-Hagens)
Bjorn Selander (Optum)
Ben Day (UHC)
Town of Silver City Leader's Jersey: Ben Day (UHC)

PNM Sprinter Leader Jersey: Luis Amaran (JSH)

Freeport-McMoRan King of the Mountain Jersey: Daniel Jaramillo (Jamis-Hagens)

Southwest Bone & Joint Institute Best Young Rider: Daniel Jaramillo (Jamis-Hagens)

Full Results:

http://www.tourofthegila.com/luis-amaran-wins-downtown-criterium-unitedhealthcare-slides-gc/