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Tour of the Gila Stage 5: Jones wins the overall, Britton finishes third

May 5, 2014
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Rob Britton (Team Smartstop) focused on the Gila Monster climb. Photo Credit: Mitchell Clinton
Rob Britton (Team SmartStop) in second focused on the Gila Monster climb. Photo Credit: Mitchell Clinton

On Sunday, Daniel Jaramillo (Jamis Hagens Bermen) powered away on the final ascent to Pinos Altos at the Tour of the Gila to win the final stage, his second win of the race. Carter Jones (Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies) finished seventh on the final stage, three seconds behind Jaramillo in a select group of six. That final effort secured the overall win for Jones by one of the narrowest margins in the history of the Tour of the Gila: two seconds. After five days of racing, the top four overall were separated by 16 seconds, Gregory Brenes (Jamis Hagens Bermen), Canadian Rob Britton (Team SmartStop) and Kirk Carlson (Jelly Belly presented by Maxxis) finished second, third and fourth, respectively.

Britton’s ride was among the most impressive of the race. It was a rather tumultuous Tour of the Gila in 2014 that included an 80 rider pile up on Stage 1 en route to the Mogollon and a terrible crash in the final laps of the criterium of Stage 4. These accidents decimated the field, leaving Britton with only two teammates to help him during Stage 5, the hardest stage of the race. With the help of his remaining teammates, Britton forged on, demonstrating his climbing prowess by finishing third on the final stage and third overall.

In the women’s race, as expected, Mara Abbott (UnitedHealthcare) powered away from the field on the Sapillo climb before soloing the final 24 km to Pinos Altos to win the stage and overall. Laura Brown (Colavita/Fine Cooking) was the top Canadian finishing eighth on the final stage 3:42 behind Abbott. Brown’s win in the time trial and consistent performances throughout the five stages landed her sixth overall at the end of the race.

Other Canadians were in the mix too. National road champion Zach Bell (Team SmartStop) was a major protagonist in the criterium. It’s quite possible that he would have won the stage after lapping the field in a break of four had he not been involved in a crash and broken his collarbone with two laps remaining. Nevertheless Canadians have done extremely well thus far in the NRC series. Britton’s strong showing is the second consecutive NRC race in which Canadians have finished on the podium. Earlier this year Ryan Roth (Jet Fuel Norco) finished second at the Joe Martin Stage Race.

Full results from the past week’s racing can be found at the Tour of the Gila.