Paredes take Stage 1 Photo Courtesy of Velo Images/Brian Hodes for Tour of the Gila

Break away in Stage 1 Photo courtesy of Mitch Clinton Photography

Article by Rebecca Reza, RadioTour

Silver City, NM — Wilmar Paredes inched out Tyler Stites, crossing the finish at Mogollon to take victory in the Tour of the Gila opener. Paredes teammate, Walter Vargas, came in third to round the podium. The first stage took the pro men 92-miles from the heart of Silver City out to the ghost town of Mogollon. Team Medellín were first to launch the attacks in the final kilometers that would earn them the victory.

"This is my first time racing Gila, I'm very happy and thankful for my team," Paredes said. "I'm happy to have garnered this victory for them."

A four-rider break managed to escape not long after the first intermediate sprint of the day, won by Nacho Prado of Canel's-Java. The group consisted of David Gaona (Team Skyline), Alex Marr (Rio Grande), Nacho Prado (Canel's) and Alexis Bouchard (EcoFlo). Marr would soon return to the field but his remaining breakaway companions would eventually gain up to a 13-minute gap.

"I was surprised that we gained so much time, but the teams in the field had different interests and so we took advantage of the opportunity," Prado said. "We tried to gain a little more but it didn't turn out."

Prado would earn the top points in both intermediate sprints, garnering the first green points jersey. The former Mexican National Time Trial Champion held the jersey last year in the opening stages.

Back in the field, teams were getting anxious as the kilometers began to shrink before the finish. Several teams worked together to close the gap, including Team Echelon, CS Velo, and Team Medellín. As the main field made the right turn to face the climb ahead, the break began to shatter.

Following the plateau, the gap was down to two minutes with 6km to go. Alexis Bouchard (EcoFlo) was the lone leader desperately trying to hold on to his advantage. Prado had returned to the field, a job done earning points for the day, while David Gaona struggled to keep Bouchard's tempo.

The EcoFlo rider was caught within four kilometers to go as the bright colors of Team Medellín were on the move. Heiner Parra (Canel's-Java) and Tyler Stites (Project Echelon) were also in the mix, when Óscar Sevilla decided it was time.

Sevilla attacked gaining a slight advantage, when his teammate Walter Vargas countered. Riding to tempo, Paredes made his way up to Vargas position with Stites in tow. Stites had arrived in Silver City having won the overall classification at the Redlands Bicycle Classic.

Vargas would lose contact as Stites and Paredes went to battle nearly ending in a photo finish.

"On the climb there were quite a few Medellin guys with me which made it tough trying to mark all of them," Stites said between breaths at the finish. "Ended up setting my own pace. He got me there in the end, but I didn't lose any time to him so overall a pretty good day."

Paredes leads both the overall and KOM classifications going into day 2. Kieran Haug finished inside the top ten on the stage to wear the Best Young Riders jersey for CS Velo.

The men take to the start at Fort Bayard at 9 AM MDT.

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Running April 24-28, 2024, Tour of the Gila is an iconic American road cycling race that is renowned across the globe for its five challenging stages. As a UCI-sanctioned stage race, Tour of the Gila is the proving ground where pro and elite amateur racers showcase their talent. Also sanctioned by USA Cycling, Tour of the Gila attracts amateur cyclists wanting to experience southwest New Mexico's notoriously steep and scenic roads while testing their physical limits. Since 1987, Tour of the Gila has highlighted the state's rich history and landscape, including the region that inspired the creation of the Wilderness Act, its robust farming, ranching and mining heritage, a growing creative community, and mountains that make for a cyclist's dream playground.