Tour of the Gila history
The 2024 Tour of the Gila returns for a 37th year, taking place April 24-28 across the foothills of the Pinos Altos Mountains around Silver City, New Mexico. The Tour of the Gila provides five days of racing for elite men and women which is part of the UCI America Tour and USA Cycling’s Pro Road Tour.
Similar to past years, the UCI men and women will take part in a trio of road races, one time trial and one criterium. The event also offers amateur categories a reduced number of days.
The elite women will cover 409.2km over the five stages while the men will take on 526.1km, both categories using the same route for stage 3’s uphill individual time trials.
This season it is the lone UCI 2.2 road race in the US, after the Joe Martin Stage Race announced it would suspend operations for 2024 and look to return next year.
In 2023 Austin Killips (Amy D Foundation) won the fifth and final stage in the women’s division and took home the red jersey for the overall title. Marcel Prieto (Pato Bike BMC Team) of Mexico was second overall and Emily Ehrlich (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24) was third.
The men’s overall title went to Alex Hoehn (Above & Beyond Cancer Cycling, who held off stage 5 winner Óscar Sevilla (Medellín-EPM) by just a two-second margin. Torbjørn Røed (Above and Beyond Cancer) completed the GC podium in third.
Tour of the Gila 2024 route
The race kicks off on April 24 in traditional style with the Mogollon Road Race p/b Grant County. The pelotons will have to endure steep grades on the stiff climb to the ghost town of Mogollon.
Stage 2 is the Inner Loop Road Race presented by Brian & Lynn Robinson/Southwest Bone & Joint. The route passes the rugged terrain of the Gila National Forest and by the Freeport-McMoRan Chino mine with more than 5,800 feet of climbing. It will be 74.1 miles (119.3km) for the women and 76.2 miles (122.6km) for the men.
The third day brings the Tyrone Individual Time Trial presented by Freeport McMoRan, both categories riding the same 16.15 mile (26km) course in the village of Tyrone, which uses an out-and-back course with 1,188 feet of climbing. Wind factors into the stage victory as riders storm down the final descent to the finish line.
Stage 4 is the Downtown Silver City Criterium p/b Town of Silver City. The traditional four-corner course returns for 1.1-mile circuits and an 80-foot climb on the back of the course with a descent into the final corner. The women will race 25 laps and the men 40.
The fifth and final day of racing is all about climbing, the Gila Monster Road Race p/b Gila Regional Medical Center, which is often the deciding factor in the race. Similar to stage 2, the course does a reverse loop through the Gila National Forest and ends in Piños Altos with a narrow, seven-mile ascent. The men cover 161.9km, taking a right turn after passing Lake Roberts and heading past the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument before tackling the category 1 climb to the hilltop finish. The women will race 106km.
