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Photo
credit: VeloNews
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Carter Jones got his first professional stage race GC
win at the UCI 2.2 Tour of the Gila, in Silver City New Mexico. Acknowledged as one of the toughest stage
races in the United States, the Tour of the Gila finishes off with the Gila
Monster stage, which covered 103 miles and almost 9,000 ft of climbing at
altitude. Carter started the week of
racing in the chaotic 100 mile Silver City to Mogollon stage 1 in which
approximately 75% of the field was involved in two major crashes. The second pile up required Carter to make a
bike change and 15 km chase to get back to the front group. Despite the chase, Jones finished 5th,
12 seconds out of the lead. In the third
stage individual time trial, Carter finished 4th on the stage and
moved into the overall lead by a mere 2 seconds. This was an especially dangerous position as
the Jamis-Hagens Berman team had three accomplished climbers in the top 10 all
within 38 seconds. In the stage four
criterium, United Healthcare’s Ben Day lapped the field and moved into the
overall lead, dropping Carter to second place, 28 seconds back. Again, a difficult situation as Day was
supported by the very strong professional continental United Healthcare
squad. On the final Gila Monster stage, Carter’s
Optum team played a savvy tactical game and Jones rode from a position of
strength to finish ahead of Day and his closest rivals to take the overall, his
first GC win in a UCI race of his professional career.
For more details see http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-the-gila-2014/stage-5/results
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Photo
credit: VeloNews
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PCG Coach: Stephen McGregor
