Lauren Stephens, winner of the 2024 Tour of the Gila is coming straight off a victory at The Growler at Levi’s Gran Fondo on Saturday, and can lead Aegis Biking’s ladies’s crew for her defence on the UCI 2.2 stage race, which takes place in Silver Metropolis, New Mexico from April 23-27.
The ladies’s area could have a complete of 12 squads representing 4 nations, together with USA’s Fount Biking Guild, who completed second general final yr as a crew and returns with final yr’s third-place GC finisher Eleanor Wiseman.
Additionally within the combine are Lauren De Crescenzo, sixth at The Growler, and Kira Payer, third general at Redlands Bicycle Traditional, racing for SpeedBlock p/b Terun. Cara O’Neill, who was tenth at Redlands, will line up with Canadian crew TaG Biking Race Workforce.
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“Tour of the Gila has a particular place in my coronary heart. I raced right here for the primary time in 2009. Interior Loop that yr nonetheless makes my high 5 of hardest races I’ve ever finished,” Stephens advised Cyclingnews.
Stephens first raced the Tour of the Gila 16 years in the past and some years later in her third skilled highway season she received the 26.6km time trial stage in Tyrone and completed third general. This will probably be her fifth professional look on the US stage race, the place she has eight stage podiums and has positioned no decrease than seventh within the GC.
“Earlier than the primary QOM the race had blown to items,” Stephens recounted in regards to the highway stage that follows the Path of the Mountain Spirits Nationwide Scenic Byway from Fort Bayard, which is stage 3 this yr. “I discovered myself within the second group, the winds have been so sturdy I used to be blown off the highway at one level and I bear in mind Alison Tetrick being spun in a 360 going up the ultimate QOM that day.
“That yr was additionally the primary time I wasn’t pulled in a crit. This race confirmed me how powerful our sport is and made me hungry to get higher. Coming again final yr and successful the race is one thing 22-year-old Lauren may have by no means imagined.”
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A multi-discipline rider who has received the final two US Gravel Nationwide Championships and the Pan-American highway race title, Stephens would be the rider to beat. Final yr with Cynisca Biking, she posted a dominant GC victory with two stage wins and the mountains classification title. This yr she will probably be supported by Emma Langley, who completed within the high 20 with Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24 final yr, and 4 different riders.
“This yr I’m right here with a crew Lee Whaley and I put along with the assistance of Michael Engleman [Gila race director]. I’m excited to be again right here racing and to work with a gaggle of younger, gifted riders,” Stephens advised Cyclingnews in regards to the Aegis Biking blended crew, which additionally has assist from native entrepreneur Jon Saari and Leaders of Enchantment podcast proprietor Doug Campbell.
Tour of the Gila particulars
Cade Bickmore (Mission Echelon Racing) raced in 2024 and received stage 4 of the Tour of the Gila (Picture credit score: Velo Photographs/Tour of the Gila)
The boys’s worldwide area for the thirty eighth version of the New Mexico stage race will characteristic 20 groups from 5 nations – Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Nice Britain and the USA. Among the many six UCI Continental-level groups within the area, the second-best general crew Mission Echelon Racing. The US squad brings final yr’s greatest younger rider Jonas Walton and 2023 BYU winner Caleb Classen on the seven-rider roster.
And likewise coming straight from The Growler like Stephens and De Crescenzo are the boys’s runner-up Conn McDunphy, who strains up with Workforce Skyline, and third-placed Marcis Shelton, racing for Workforce California.
“With such a powerful displaying of groups from internationally, Tour of the Gila 2025 is bound to be an thrilling one to observe. Each of those fields are wanting tremendous aggressive,” mentioned Tour of the Gila Race Director Jack Brennan. “With no groups, you don’t have any races. These groups will convey high expertise to New Mexico.”
The 5 days of professional racing in New Mexico begins with a 7.2km time trial in Tyrone, the boys beginning at 9:15 a.m. MDT and the ladies taking the course instantly after. Three highway levels and a criterium full the 5 days of elite competitions, with the 110.9km Gila Monster finale for each women and men that features the normal 11.3km uphill end at Piños Altos.
Race updates will probably be shared on Tour of the Gila social media because the races occur. Following every stage organisers will launch brief video recaps as properly.
Tour of the Gila stays the one UCI stage race for males in the USA this yr. The Tour de Bloom in central Washington state is a UCI 2.2 occasion for ladies solely, going down Could 2-Could 6. One-day UCI races within the US embody Gran Premio New York Metropolis on Could 18 (males solely) and Maryland Biking Traditional, a ProSeries occasion for males and a 1.1-level race for ladies, on September 6.
