New Mexico’s Tour of the Gila ready to roll; compromise allows Astana and BMC squads to race
For a race that came within days of being canceled two months ago, the SRAM Tour of the Gila has rebounded in spectacular fashion, now boasting its largest and most star-studded pro fields in history as it begins Wednesday. The race achieved high stature — and the perhaps inevitable resulting controversy — with the appearance of Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner, three Astana teammates who, under agreement with the UCI, will race the Gila in the Mellow Johnny's kit of Armstrong's Austin, Texas, bike shop.