Bisbee, Ariz. – Team Type 1’s Darren Lill captured the La Vuelta de Bisbee Sunday in thrilling fashion, overcoming a 30-second deficit on the final stage.
Following his third place in Friday night’s prologue, Lill won Saturday morning’s 82-mile (131 km) Sulphur Springs Road Race. But a fifth-place finish in that afternoon’s 7.2-mile (11.5 km) Warren Time Trial dropped him into second behind Phil Zajicek (Fly V Australia) heading into the last race of the three-day event, the 84.4-mile (135 km) Tombstone Road Race.
“I thought it was still possible to win,” Lill said. “It was just a matter of isolating or getting the jump on Zajicek. I was surprised he didn’t watch me more or didn’t come with me when I went.”
Lill made his move by bridging up to a small group that contained Team Type 1 teammate Moises Aldape and older brother, Antonio Aldape, who was joined by two of his Tecos-Trek teammates. With fresh horsepower, the reinforced break enjoyed a 90-second lead at the foot of 5,930-foot Mule Pass leading back toward Bisbee. And as the road climbed up, Lill put the hammer down.
“Three attacks were enough to drop everyone except for Bernardo Colex (Tecos-Trek),” Team Type 1 Assistant Director Gord Fraser said. “With Zajicek still chasing hard from behind, we had Darren ride a hard tempo and perhaps sacrifice the stage win to make sure he had enough of an advantage to take the overall.”
