Evan Huffman capped a dominant week of racing for Rally Cycling at the Tour of the Gila on Sunday, finishing with the lead group that formed on the final climb to Pinos Altos as Axeon Hagens Berman's young Ecuadorean climber Jhonatan Narvaez took the stage win.
Narvaez and Huffman were part of a select final lead group that also included Huffman's teammates Rob Britton, Sepp Kuss and Adam de Vos, along with Sergei Tvetcov (Jelly Belly-Maxxis), TJ Eisenhart (Holowesko-Citadel) and Gavin Mannion (UnitedHealthcare). Narvaez prevailed in the end, but Huffman did enough to hold onto the overall
Huffman celebrated the overall win at the race where he had a breakout performance in the time trial as an amateur in 2012 when he beat Rory Sutherland, Joe Dombrowski and Lawson Craddock in the time trial. Sunday's 161.9km stage with 2,783 metres of elevation gain over five categorised climbs was a difficult test for his ambitions as a GC rider, and he aced it with the help of his team.
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"I was hurting a lot on the climbs, but we had a numbers advantage the whole day," Huffman said. "At the top of the Gila Monster we had a group of four guys out of 10. I was sitting on wheels, following my teammates who were neutralizing attacks. It wasn't an easy day but it would have been a lot harder without my teammates.
"Eisenhart put in a big attack on the Gila Monster," Huffman said. "I didn't have to accelerate because my team gradually got him back. Then on the Sapillo climb, Gavin Mannion attacked and Rob Britton rode him back nice and steady. The whole week was incredible. I feel really good heading into the Tour of California. I'm looking for a good result in the time trial and maybe GC."
The stage win was Narvaez's fourth of the year after he took a pair of wins in his home country in January and then the overall title at the Circuit des Ardennes International in France earlier this month. The Ecuadorian Under 23 time trial champion also earned best young rider honors for his efforts this week in New Mexico.
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