Tour of the Gila Recap

Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo had a great first NRC (National Racing Calendar) race at the Tour of the Gila! With 9 pro teams represented and over 120 starters, the team rode with class and showed that we are a force in the peloton. We finished as the first place amateur team and the 6^th placed team overall. Jarred Berger finished as the second place amateur rider with his teammates, Ian Gray and Paul Esposti the 3^rd and 4^th placed amateur riders. All this success came with the team being soooo close to truly rocking the race every day. Unfortunately, we seemed to end up behind every crash or mishap that went down...it was a learning process. As a first year developing team this is what we are doing, developing.

Day 1 Recap: 95-mile day with the finish on top of a 5.5 mile Category 1 climb. Legacy has 5 riders in the 40 rider selection with 3.5miles to go. The attacks start, wheels get overlapped and the entire team is caught behind the crash. They stay cool and finish 29^th through 35^th. Great rides by all and sooo close.

Day 2 Recap: 80-mile day with 6,000 feet of climbing - a hard stage. Coming into the finish the peloton was diminished to 50 riders. Team Legacy was leading out Phil for the sprint. We were on the radios and the boys were ready to go for the win! The team comes up the gutter with 800 meters to go and heads into the last corner 10 riders back. The Colavita team train comes on the outside of the corner and puts the Legacy Boys out of it. Just like that, bike racing changes incredibly fast. Phil and Paul ended up with good finishes in 19^th and 20^th place. Soooo close!

Day 3 Recap: 17-mile Time Trial. Brad finished as the 2^nd best amateur and to the man they each road their best TT at an NRC event. Jarred was on a ripping fast ride and with 5 miles to go flatted. He rode his rear flat the rest of the way and still finished 50^th place. The time he was riding to that point would have put him between 8^th and 12^th place. Soooo close!

Day 4 Recap: 45-mile Criterium with one power climb to keep the legs from recovering. We split the team into two groups for the race. GC riders where sitting in and resting for the last day and Phil and Paul where racing for the stage. The two of them covered every break! Paul was in a break for 5 laps and when it came back Phil was in the next move and it went away. With 5 guys and all the right team represented, it looked like they were in it for the win. It was not to be. With half a lap to go the break was caught and finished in a field sprint. Soooo Close.

Day 5 Recap: The Gila Monster! 106 miles over 9,000 ft of climbing and most of it coming in the last 40 miles. This is the day! The atmosphere in the team was high. The talk on the radios was positive and deliberate. The boys were ready to do this ride! Coming over the top of the first of the three main climbs of the day the race was coming apart! There had been an attack over the top and Team Bissell was chasing down the descent. All hell was breaking loose and the Tour of the Gila was being decided. The Legacy boys where there and a huge crash happened on the way down. Brad was on the ground with his dislocated finger sideways and a hole in his blue and white helmet that saved his life. Jarred hit the ground flatted, got back up, changed his tire and was back racing. Paul and Ian got caught behind and had to chase too. Other than the finger and needing a few stitches, Brad was OK and heading to the hospital while the rest of the race was in chaos. The team was able to get reorganized and worked with Toyota United to chase back to the front. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it back to the front, but the boys kept fighting and riding hard to the finish. Sooo close!

The class the team showed to overcome the adversity that we encountered speaks volumes about the character of the riders on Team Legacy Energy Ciclismo! The Tour of the Gila has shown that this team is going places!

Team Lecagy Energy is made possible by the community of Ft Collins, our sponsors, and our Fan Club. We thank you all for being part of this great experience.

See you at the races,

Andy Clark
Team Director
Team Legacy Energy
www.teamlegacyenergy.com