Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Cycling News
Cycling News
Sport
Dane Cash

Tour of the Gila: Killips secures women's overall win

Women's stage podium (Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
The women's peloton was all together at mile 14 as they made their way to the first intermediate QOM (Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
The three podium spots in the women's race were all together with 3km to go (Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Austin Killips (Amy D Foundation) wins the Gila Monster and seals the GC victory (Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Austin Killips and Cassandra Nelson (Amy D Foundation) celebrate finishing 1st and 3rd on the stage (Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Killips gets and gives congratulations to Cade Bickmore (Project Echelon) as they await podium ceremonies (Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Women's classification jerseys (Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Women's team GC Roxo racing (l to r), Maeghan Easler, Romina Hinojosa Cruz, Nadia Gontova, Emily Newsom, Jamie Larmer (Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)

Austin Killips (Amy D Foundation) won the fifth and final stage of the Tour of the Gila women's race on Sunday, sealing the overall victory in the process.

Already wearing the leader's jersey to start the stage, Killips broke clear of the peloton in a small group in the final few minutes of racing on the "Gila Monster" stage, which took riders 110.9 km (65.9 miles) from Silver City to Piños Altos. Killips then surged away to win the stage at the top of the third-category finishing climb.

“We really wanted to get into a break,” said Amy D Foundation team director Julie Kuliecza. “We thought that there was going to be something that would go right after the second sprint point, and we wanted a rider in that break so that when Austin and the other GC riders came up to it, Austin would have someone to help them and protect them, and it worked out perfectly.”

Marcela Prieto (Pato Bike BMC), who won the opening stage and wore the leader's jersey until Killips moved into the lead after the stage 3 time trial, settled for runner-up honors on the final stage. 

“At the end, we caught up to a breakaway, and another girl from the same winning team joined us,” said Prieto. “We worked together, and in the end, I gave it my all. It took a lot of strength, but I feel very happy.”

Killips's Amy D Foundation teammate Cassandra Nelson took third on the day.

The stage win extended Killips' overall advantage on the GC, with Prieto's second on the final stage moving her up to second overall at 1:29 back from Killips. Emily Ehrlich (Virginia's Blue Ridge-TWENTY24) fell to third on the overall after finishing fourth on the final stage. 

Results

Results powered by FirstCycling

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.