SRAM Tour of the Gila: Dan Potts Memorial Tyrone Time Trial

By Eddie Clark  

Tour of the Gila: Dan Potts Memorial Tyrone Time Trial

Huffman and Armstrong prove to be fastest against the clock.

(May 4, 2012) SILVER CITY, NM.—The third day of racing matched riders against theirselves to cover the 16.5km course that featured 1000 feet of climbing just south of town.  The days racing got under way with the Pro Men starting first with the leaders going last. 

Although the winds were moderate, they were certainly challenging since it was a head wind on the mild climb to the courses high point.  After cresting the high point, racers had a short downhill before reaching the turn around point for one more short steep climb before hitting the downhill run back to the finish line.

California Giant Berry Farm’s team leader Evan Huffman proved he was fastest against the clock with a surprising performance that set the benchmark early on with a time of 34:23:20.  Second fastest on the day was race leader Rory Sutherland (United Health Care) who finished just over 2 seconds later. 

Bontrager-Livestrong’s Joe Dombroski continued to impress by only losing 14 seconds to Sutherland to retain second in the GC and the U25 leaders jersey.  Notably, this is the first season that the young Dombroski has had a real time trial bike to train and race with.

The Pro12 women’s race was once again won by powerhouse ex-world champ Kristin Armstrong (Exergy) who finished a whopping 2 minutes ahead of second placed Alison Powers (NOW Novartis).  Optum’s Carmen Small had what she said, “Was the best time trial of my life” to finish in third place just 6 seconds behind Powers, which allowed her to retain her second place on GC.