The SoCalCycling.com Team has been fortunate to compete at the Tour of the Gila for the past two years. Now in its 36th edition, SoCalCycling.com Team Director Frank Sarate competed at the Tour of the Gila several times in the late 80s as a young, up-and-coming Category 1 racer. Over the years he has strived to make it possible for the SoCalCycling.com Team to compete at the Tour of the Gila so that the Team can experience a high-caliber UCI stage race and challenge themselves against some of the best North American Pro/Am cycling teams.
The behind-the-scenes work from Team Management to make it possible for the SoCalCycling.com Team to attend the early season races and the Tour of the Gila includes solidifying the Team roster, sponsor activations, planning and travel logistics, as well as building all of the SoCalCycling.com Team’s custom bikes so they were race ready to carry them over the finish line. After a successful and busy Spring racing campaign that included the Tucson Bicycle Classic, Tour de Murrieta, SLR Road Race, Redlands Bicycle Classic, and Sea Otter Classic the Team made the 10-hour drive to historic Silver City, New Mexico where they were fit and excited to race the 36th Tour of the Gila where they thrived each stage.
A huge thank you to the SoCalCycling.com Team sponsors for making it all possible – SoCalCycling.com, Chargel, Pactimo, Full Speed Ahead, Vision, ABUS, Monster Hydro, KMC Chain, Rocky Mounts, Token and Echelon Design.
Also a special thank you to Maddi Bivens and Lare Wardrop for lending a hand with feeds and support.
SoCalCycling.com Team rider Aden Waredrop shares his experience racing at the 2023 Tour of the Gila:
Tour of Gila is known as one of the hardest stage races in North America and I couldn’t have been more excited to race. All winter I planned with my coach to be in the best form possible for when the race started on April 26th. I spent a few weeks in the town of Silver City to learn the roads and get acclimated to the high elevation where the race started. Sadly I ended up getting sick shortly before the race started and lost a lot of fitness but still started with high hopes of helping my SoCalCycling.com Team teammates Conn McDunphy (Ireland) place well in the GC and Theo Obholzer (Great Britain) in the sprint stages.
Stage 1 – Mogollon Road Race presented by Grant County – 92 Miles
Stage 1 was a 151 km course with around 1700 meters of climbing. The stage is rolling downhill for the first 120 km until a long steep final climb known as the Mogollon climb. The race started very fast with the first 50 km being finished in under an hour. The race slowed after a small breakaway was able to sneak away. Team Medellin-EPM controlled the race and kept the breakaway on a short leash. After the breakaway was pulled back with around 40 km left to race the major GC teams came to the front to position their best climbers at the front going into the final. The SoCalCycling.com Team managed to hold our own at the front and rode well together. I was still fighting illness and couldn’t hold the pace with the front group and lost a lot of time. Conn McDunphy managed to ride into a solid 28 place only losing 2:27 to 5th place.
Stage 2 – Inner Loop Road Race presented by Brian & Lynn Robinson,/sw Bone & Joint Institute – 76.2 Miles
Stage 2 is a 120 km course with 1700 meters of climbing. My plan going into this stage was to get into the breakaway and take pressure off our team from chasing. I followed the right moves and found myself in a 4 man group off the front. Sadly going over the top of the first KOM of the day a major crash happened in the field behind with almost all of the riders going down. The UCI commissaires neutralized the race and everyone stopped to let the field regroup. After neutralizing the rest of the second KOM and the descent the race was continued. My breakaway was caught just before the third and final KOM of the day. I fell back into the field to help our sprinter get over this climb but sadly after crashing, he was too injured to stay with the front group. This left Conn Mcdunphy and myself in the small front group going into the field sprint. Conn was able to come away with a very impressive 9th place in the bunch sprint.
Stage 3 – Tyrone Individual Time Trials presented by Freeport McMoran – 16.15 Miles
Stage 3 is a tough 26 km time trial with over 400 meters of climbing. The team had high hopes for our GC rider to make up some time and he was able to deliver. Conn road impressively and finished the time trial in a time of 34:10 which was good enough for 8th on the day. This moved him into 15th place on GC. I gave my best effort which was only good enough for 53rd on the day.
Stage 4 – Downtown Silver City Criterium presented by the Town of Silver City – 43.2 Miles
Stage 4 is the exciting downtown criterium, with 70 km and 850 meters of climbing. This was a stage the team and I was really looking forward too. Theo Obholzer was able to heal from the crash on stage 2 and was our best hope if the race came down to a sprint. The team’s plan was to ride towards the front of the race as a team and line up behind the Project Echelon train. The team rode fantastically and we managed to be represented in all of the breakaways while also staying at the front and riding as a team. Conn McDunphy found himself in a promising late race breakaway with two other strong riders. His breakaway compatriots were unable to keep the pace and fell back into the peloton. Conn didn’t give up and continued solo. He continued until he heartbreakingly was caught in the final corner. Theo was able to position himself well and sprinted impressively to beat third place by inches giving the team the best result of the stage race with a 2nd place and a podium finish.
Stage 5 – Gila Monster Road Race P/b Skywest Media – 68.9 Miles
Starting Stage 5 the Team morale was high which was needed going into the massive final stage. A 162 km stage with 3000 meters of climbing was a daunting final day. The whole team managed to finish the stage within a time cut which is impressive considering 27 riders dropped out of the final day. Conn found himself in a large early breakaway with over 20 riders. Every team was represented besides CS Velo and Team California leaving them to chase for the long valley before the 3 major climbs began. Conn was able to stay with the front of the breakaway over the first cat 2 climb and I managed to stay in the front group of the peloton. Shortly after the U-turn at the Gila Cliff dwellings, the toughest climb of the day began. Conn was distanced from the front 3 riders and fell back into the front of the peloton which had become a small group of less than 10. I wasn’t able to stay with the group and fell into the third chase group of the day. Conn rode his heart out and finished 11th on the day after struggling up the final climb after a long day in the breakaway. This moved Conn into 12th on GC. I didn’t give up and held on to 23rd on the day. I was able to move up to 24th on GC and 4th in the U23 category.
Although I was hoping for more, I learned a lot of valuable lessons and gave my best effort even though I wasn’t at my best. As a team, leaving the Tour of the Gila we can be proud of how we rode and battled every day. We earned a lot of respect in the peloton and came away with some very impressive results.
By Aden Wardrop, SoCalCycling.com Team
Photos – Frank Sarate, SoCalCycling.com and Tour of the Gila
