SILVER CITY, NM (April 29, 2014) –The 28th Annual Silver City's Tour of the Gila presented by SRAM internationally sanctioned race will once again host 21 teams and close to 200 riders. The race runs from April 30-May 4, 2014. Last year's UCI Men's winner, Phillip Deignan, runner up Phil Gaimon, and Francisco Mancebo are all now racing on the ProTour. Thus, the men's race is wide open. Here are just a few of the riders you should look out for.
Coming off of tough European spring classics, look for UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling (UHC) to be in excellent form and ready to race. UHC had a very successful year at the Gila in 2013 when they won the crit with Kiel Reijnen and the overall team classification. Besides Reijnen, watch for their climber Lucas Euser with Chris Jones to back him up, while their famous blue train is always a danger during stage 4.
Jamis Hagens Berman p/b Sutter Home are back after carrying the leader jersey last year for four stages with Janier Acevedo. Acevedo has moved up to the ProTour, but their squad with the experience of Luis Amaran, who has raced the Gila for several years, to Matt Cooke who won the King of the Mountain jersey in Colorado last August and Daniel Jaramillo, will also be a threat.
Tom Zirbel (Optum p/b Kelly Benefits), current US Time Trial National Champion and three-time TT victor here at Gila, is back to snag his fourth win on the 16.15 mile course in Tyrone. His teammate Carter Jones, won the King of the Mountains jersey at the Amgen Tour of the California last year while both are backed by a strong team including Will Routley and Jesse Anthony to name a few.
The Tour of the Gila is honored to have current Road National Champion Freddie Rodriguez (Jelly Belly) take the start line for its 28th edition as well as the current Mexican National Road Champion and climbing specialist Luis Enrique Davila. Then there is their teammate, Matthew Lloyd who is the past winner of the KOM jersey at the 2011 Giro d'Italia.
Other strong UCI Continental teams are 5-hour Energy p/b Kenda Pro Cycling with Chad Beyer who was runner up in 2012 but also new to the team, Jake Keough, is sure to make his presence known during stage 4 criterium. Besides Frankie Andreu's squad, new Director Sportif Mike Creed's Team SmartStop has had a very strong spring. Travis McCabe is coming off wins supported by a his team at Joe Martin in Arkansas and the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic prior to that. McCabe is here to support his team, especially their climbers.
Bissell Development Team may be young but do not let their age fool you. The team comes to this race with U23 National Road Champion Tanner Putt and James Oram, who's made it known he's specifically targeting this race as a high priority this season. Based on years past, any one of the team's riders could surprise us.
Not to be outdone, Hincapie Sportswear Development Squad has shown its strength after winning stages recently in California with Dion Smith, against the top teams. They will return with Australian Joe Lewis, past winner of the sprinter's jersey and crit winner and aggressive GC contender Joey Rosskopf.
Stages for the 2014 Silver City's Tour of the Gila powered by SRAM include:
Stage 1, Silver City to Mogollon Road Race – Wednesday, April 30
Stage 2, Fort Bayard Inner Loop Road Race -Thursday, May 1
Stage 3, Dan Potts Memorial Tyrone Individual Time Trial – Friday, May
Stage 4, Downtown Silver City Criterium – Saturday May 3
Stage 5, Gila Monster Road Race – Sunday, May 4
Full Men's Roster for the Start of the 2014 Tour of the Gila:
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
1-*Isaac Bolivar
2-Jonathan Clarke
3-Benjamin Day
4-Lucas Euser
5-Christopher Jones
6-Jeff Louder
7-Kiel Reijnen
8-Daniel Summerhill
5-Hour Energy
11-Bruno Langlois
12-Christian Parrett
13-David Williams
14-Robert Sweeting
15-John Hornbeck
16-*Gavin Mannion
17-Taylor Shelden
18-Chad Beyer
Airgas Cycling
21-*Justin Mauch
22-*Connor McCutcheon
23-*Kevin Gottlieb
24-*Matthew Lyons
25-*Dakota Schaeffer
Astellas Cycling Team
31-Brecht Dhaene
32-*Ryan Aitcheson
33-Cortlan Brown
34-Andrew Baker
35-Max Korus
36-Matt Green
Bissell Development Team
41-*Tanner Putt
42-*Ryan Eastman
43-*Gregory Daniel
44-*Keegan Swirbul
45-*James Oram
46-*Clement Chevrier
47-*Nicolai Brochner
48-*Chris Putt
Hincapie Development Team
51-Chris Butler
52-*Joseph Schmalz
53-Joseph Rosskoph
54-*Toms Skujins
55-*Dion Smith
56-Oscar Clark
57-*Tyler Magner
58-Joe Lewis
Jamis-Hagens Berman
61-Gregory Obando
62-Luis Amaran
63-Tyler Wren
64-*Robbie Squire
65-Carson Miller
66-*Daniel Jaramillo
67-Matt Cooke
68-Eloy Teruel Rovira
Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
71-Freddie Rodriguez
72-Sean Mazich
73-Kirk Carlsen
74-*Jacob Rathe
75-*Steve Fisher
76-*Luis Davila
77-Matthew Lloyd
78-Serghei Tvetcov
Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies
81-Eric Young
82-Jesse Anthony
83-Alexandar Candelario
84-Michael Freidman
85-Tom Zirbel
86-Carter Jones
87-Will Routley
88-Bjorn Selander
Silber Pro Cycling Team
91-Aurlien Passeron
92-Jean-Michel Lachance
93-William Blackburn
94-*Benjamin Chartrand
95-*Robert Ralph
96-*Nicolas Masbourian
97-*Oliver Delaney
98-Derrick St John
Team Smart Stop
101-Travis McCabe
102-Julian Kyer
103-Cameron Cogburn
104-Zach Bell
105-Rob Britton
106-*Flavio de Luna
107-Michael Torckler
108-*Josh Berry
California Giant/Specialized
111-*Yannick Eckmann
112-*David Kessler
113-*Tobin Ortenblad
115-*Torey Philipps
116-*Ansel Dickey
118-Stefano Barberi
Canyon Bicycles-Shimano
121-Morgan Schmidt
122-Mitchell Peterson
123-*Logan Phippen
124-*Hunter Huffman
125-ErikSlack
126-Gabe Varela
127-Bryce Young
128-Kaler Marshall
Hagens Berman U23 Cycling Prog
131-*Colby Wait-Molyneux
132-*Sebastian Tillini
133-*Owen Gillott
134-*Daniel Gay
135-*Stephen Bassett
136-*Michael Dessau
Horizon Organic/Einstein Bros.
141-*Emerson Oronte
142-Fabio Calabria
143-Chris Winn
144-Josh Yeaton
145-*Kit Recca
146-Clayton Feldman
147-*Mac Cassin
148-*Jackson Long
Team Rio Grande Cycling
151-*Camilo Zambrano
152-*Andrew Hemesath
153-Jim Peterman
154-*Nick Bax
155-*Riley Majeune-Fagan
156-*William Buick
157-*Michael Sheehan
158-*Brett Peterson
Marc Pro-Strava
161-Max Jenkins
162-Rolando Gonzalez
163-Christopher Harland-Dunaway
164-William Myers
165-Coulton Hartrich
166-*Jordan Cheyne
167-Shawn Gravois
168-Keith Wong
Arenas Tlax-Mex
171-Eder Areanas Moachorro
172-*Mizrain Mora
173-*Ivan Lizardo
174-*Sergio Escutia
175-*Alexis Camacho
176-Javier Gonzalez
177-*Christian Quicobal
178-Alejandro Padilla
BMW Development Team
181-*Gerardo Medina Robles
182-*Ryan Miller
183-*Collin Berry
184-*Ian Moore
185-*Tyler Brandy
186-*Rene Corella Braun
Landis/Trec
191-Drew Miller
192-*Michael Dziedzic
193-Jared Gilyard
194-Paul Thomas
195-Tim Carolan
196-*Dennis Ramirez
197-Lewis Elliot
198-*Cole House
Team H&R Block
201-Garret Mcleod
202-*Adam de Vos
203-*Christopher Prendergast
204-*Kyle Buckosky
205-*Fererico Marchiori
206-*Ryan MacDonald
*Indicates under 23 rider