Tyrone, New Mexico - Sean Bennett of the Hagens Berman Axeon Cycling Team finished in a team best 10th place in the individual time trial at the Tour of the Gila on Friday.
Bennett, fresh off a block of racing in Europe, finished the stage 3 race against the clock in 35:21, 1:51 behind stage winner Serghei Tvetcov (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling). Bennett’s result moved him into 2nd place in the U23 competition, a mere 0:02 behind leader Nickolas Zukowsky (Silber Pro Cycling).
Tvetcov and teammate Gavin Mannion went 1-2 on the stage. Mannion was 25 seconds behind Tvetcov’s winning time of 33:30 on the 16 mile course. Evan Huffman (Rally Cycling) was third, finishing in 34:01.
Hagens Berman Axeon’s Thomas Revard and Christopher Blevins finished in 16th and 17th place respectively, both were 2:25 behind Tvetcov. Michael Rice finished in 21st place, Ian Garrison in 23rd, Eddie Anderson in 42nd, and Cole Davis in 50th.
After all of the riders had finished, Rob Britton (Rally Cycling) took over the GC lead, unseating Oscar Sanchez (Canels Specialized). Britton holds a 51 second advantage over Mannion and 1:43 over Kyle Murphy (Rally Cycling) who sits in third.
Saturday's Stage 4 Downtown Silver City Criterium begins at 4:15 p.m. MDT. Riders will complete 40 laps of a rectangular four-corner course that is 1.1 miles in length.
(Header photo of Sean Bennett by Casey B. Gibson.)
