Tour of the Gila: Ella Sabo wins bunch sprint on stage 4 as Patrick Welch takes breakaway victory

Ella Sabo takes the victory on stage 4 of the Tour of the Gila 2026.

Ella Sabo won stage 4 of the Tour of the Gila women's race in a bunch sprint, finishing ahead of Camille Desroches Laflamme (Speedblock p/b Terun) and stage 3 winner Grace Arlandson (Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment).

Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28 controlled the peloton during the 25-lap, 27-mile criterium in downtown Silver City, so that Sabo, the reigning U23 road national champion, was able to take her seventh win, and first UCI victory, of the season.

Race leader Lauren Stephens (Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment) remained firmly in control of the overall with a 1:51 GC lead on Ashley Frye (Competitive Edge Racing), and 2:46 on Emily Gilbert (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28).

The men's race delivered a surprise as the breakaway held to the line. Patrick Welch edged Brandon Rojas (GW Erco SportFitness) to give APS Pro Cycling back-to-back stage victories. Taking third was Cole Kessler (Modern Adventure), the third member of the trio that escaped early and built a lead large enough to survive the 40-lap, 43.2-mile criterium.

Tyler Stites (Modern Adventure) led the peloton across the line, 14 seconds back, to take fourth place.

Walter Vargas (Medellín-EPM) finished in the bunch to hold the overall lead, with a 17-second advantage over Henrique de Silva Avancini (Localiza Meoo-Swift) and 41 seconds on Diego Camargo (Medellín-EPM). Defending champion Kieran Haug and teammate Stites are fourth and fifth, 45 and 51 seconds back.

The Tour of the Gila concludes on Sunday with the daunting Gila Monster Road Race, where the women will race 65.9 miles with 5,487 feet of climbing from Silver City to Piños Altos, and the men will tackle 100.6 miles with 9,957 feet of climbing.

Patrick Welch takes the men's win on stage 4 of Tour of the Gila 2026 (Image credit: Tour of the Gila)

Results

UCI Men

Stage 4 top 5

Position	Rider (Country) Team	Time Gap
1	Patrick Welch (USA) APS Pro Cycling	2:04:00
2	Brandon Alejandro Rojas Vega (Col) GW Erco Sportfitnes	-
3	Cole Kessler (USA) Modern Adventure	-
4	Tyler Stites (USA) Modern Adventure	0:00:14
5	Walter Calzoni (Ita) Pinarello-Q36.5	-

UCI Women

Stage 4 top 5

Position	Rider (Country) Team	Time Gap
1	Ella Sabo (USA) Virginia's Blue Ridge Twenty28	1:03:58
2	Camille Desroches Laflamme SPEEDBLOCK – TERUN ELITE	-
3	Grace Arlandson AEGIS X LEADERS OF ENCHANTME	-
4	Am Ervin-Arambarri TAG CYCLING	-
5	Lauren Stephens AEGIS X LEADERS OF ENCHANTME	-