Silver City, NM - Alison Powers was on a mission today.  And her goal was to win the time trial stage at the Tour of the Gila.  She accomplished that goal today, winning the 16.15-mile time trial in a time of 39:18, which was 1:33 faster than Webcor's Erinne Willock. TIBCO's Meredith Miller was third.  Powers was the only woman to break 40 minutes today, as the conditions were more arctic-like than normal Southwest weather.  The team had three other riders in the top 10, with Farina taking 4th; Rhodes 8th and Swart in 10th.
 

Powers flying on the descent.  @Brian Hodes/VeloImages

"I was hoping it would be windy today," said Powers. "The more windy it is, the more Mara (Abbott) is going to get blown around — not necessarily just Mara, but all the little people who beat me at Mogollon. Not that I like the wind, but I don’t mind the wind. Being a bigger person I have a little more confidence when it's windy."  Abbott (Peanut Butter & Co/Twenty12) was 7th today, 2:14 behind Powers.  Alison reached speeds of 50 miles an hour on the descents on the TT course.

Today's win made up for a bit of disappointment from yesterday's road race.  "We executed our plan perfectly yesterday," commented team director, Lisa Hunt.  "Our goal was to get a break going with our top contenders, and go for the win."  The team worked hard and at one point opened a gap of over 1 minute on the chase group, which was led by Peanut Butter & Co/Twenty-12.  "We wanted to make Peanut Butter chase us and it worked," said Robin Farina.  "But the wind was brutal on the highway and Colavita took a chance and got away from us to take the win."  Colavita-Baci's Small and Dvorak held off a charging field by 2 minutes, which placed Dvorak in 2nd place on GC yesterday.  But Powers' victory today vaulted her into second place on general classification and moved Colavita-Baci's Andrea Dvorak down to third place.

The racing continues tomorrow with the downtown criterium at 2PM.  The 1.08 mile four corner course features a small climb, which the riders must tackle 25 times.  "It's going to be an exciting race tomorrow," stated Hunt.  "With time bonuses on the line, you'll see a lot of action."

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