Tour of the Gila - NE

USA, May 3-7, 2000

Stage 1 - May 3: Tyrone Time Trial, 15.7 miles

Men

By John Alsedek, cyclingnews.com correspondent

Eric Wohlberg (Shaklee/Marin) took the first leader's jersey in the five-day Tour of the Gila by winning Stage One, the 15.7-mile Tyrone Time Trial. Racing on an out-and-back course that included over a thousand feet of climbing and very little in the way of flat roads, the Canadian time trial ace rode to a fine time of 35:00, 52 seconds of 7 UP/Colorado Cyclist's Clark Sheehan. Eddy Gragus (Jelly Belly) took third in the stage, with Adham Sbeih (Navigators) and New Mexico cycling icon Bart Bowen (Saturn) rounding out the top five.

John Lieswyn's report

Mid 80's temperature, windy, dry, 5500ft altitude

After 2 days of no riding and work at my house in Asheville I wasn't expecting much from myself in this decisive event. Starting 30sec ahead of Adam Livingston (Jelly Belly) I asked him if he would catch me. He seemed pretty optimistic, so I looked over my shoulder a couple times in the first 5 km. Soon I stopped worrying and started concentrating on keeping my heart rate at 185. I caught six riders by the summit with 5km to go, and tried to do 180bpm on the downhill in a 55x11 gear. One of the bigger guys I'd passed whooshed by me on the downhill, and I tried to match his pace. His pass was too late to save me from losing major time as I finished 10th in 37:18. Fortunately my team packs a powerhouse time trialist, Eric Wohlberg. He blitzed the course in 35 minutes flat, 52 seconds ahead of Clark Sheehan (7UP/CC).

Results

1. Eric Wohlberg (Can) Shaklee/Marin                  35.00
2. Clark Sheehan (USA) 7 UP/Colorado Cyclist           0.52
3. Eddy Gragus (USA) Jelly Belly                       1.03
4. Adham Sbeih (USA) Navigators                        1.29
5. Bart Bowen (USA) Saturn                             1.35
6. Derek Bouchard-Hall (USA) Mercury                   1.40
7. Doug Ziewacz (USA) 7 UP/Colorado Cyclist            1.47
8. Alex Gardner (USA) Nutra Fig/Noni                   1.51
9. Brian Walton (Can) Saturn                           2.09
10. John Lieswyn (USA) Shaklee/Marin                   2.19

Women

The course for stage 1, a 15.7 mile time trial was an out and back route. It started with a 4.3 mile climb, followed by three large rollers, the turn around coming at the top of the final roller. French veteran, Jeannie Longo outclassed the best that the US had to offer today, riding 39.14, beating Timex's Mari Holden by 26 seconds. In third place was Saturn's Julie Hanson, a further 2 minutes back.

Results

1. Jeannie Longo (Fra) 	                       39.14
2. Mari Holden (USA) Timex		        0.26
3. Julie Hanson (USA) Saturn		        2.34 
4. Tracey Gaudry (Aus) Timex			3.03
5. Katrina Berger (USA) Charles Schwab		3.19
6. Catherine Cardwell (USA) Charles Schwab	3.29
7. Kim Bruckner (USA) AutoTrader.com
8. Pam Schuster (USA) AutoTrader.com		3.39
9. Odessa Gunn (Can) Timex			3.48
10. Sarah Ulmer (NZL) Elita			3.54