Gila, New Mexico, USA– Phil Zajicek of Team Fly V Australia not only tamed the ‘monster’ but slayed a couple of ‘giants’ in the process.
Stage 5 of the Tour of the Gila is aptly named ‘Monster’, 170km and 2,800 meters (over 9,000 feet) of climbing is good enough reason for the name to stick.
With a race profile resembling that of a jagged saw tooth and two major climbs inside the last 50 k, it was always going to be a case of last man standing wins. With 50 k remaining on the Cat 1 climb, Chris Horner (Mellow Johnny’s) forced the pace such that there were only 6 left in contention over the top. It was a case of hang on if you can as Armstrong, Horner and Leipheimer inflicted as much pain as they could muster on the bunch.
Phil riding shot gun on the Mellow Johnny’s train was riding himself onto the podium for the overall and to the rarefied atmosphere of those bold enough to trade punches with such cycling luminaries as Armstrong and Leipheimer and come out on top.
