This year was the 30th edition of Valley of the Sun, a staple early season event in Phoenix, AZ. It’s one of several “opening weekend” races, classic for testing legs and showing who has the best late-winter form. It is a timed-based stage race with 3 events spread across 3 days. It starts with a pancake flat TT, followed by a desert road race, and ends with a downtown figure-8 crit.
The men’s race featured 93 starters and was the first opportunity for some elite teams to face each other, including L39ion of LA, Project Echelon, Rio Grande Elite, and CINCH RISE, along with the UCI Conti Pro Team Skyline.
The Time Trial
A 14-mile out-and-back on the same road which runs in as straight a line as possible. TT-bikes are permitted. This was a podium sweep by Project Echelon with Zach Gregg, the amateur US national TT champ taking the win with a time of 27:11. Gregg’s time was 57 seconds ahead of second place Dr. Stephen Vogel who edged out Tyler Stites by a second. That was not the whole story of the TT, Alex Gustin of Lux, and Tyler Williams of L39ion both finished within 90 seconds of Gregg. Their results would soon play a role in what was to come.
The Road Race
You can see this course from space. There are three turns, one uphill, and one long downhill. The stretch along County Rd. 282 is flat; but if there is a cross wind, that section has shattered races before. The wind was out of the east which means that it could have happened again; but it was reported at only 6mph. The finish line is up a 400-ish vertical feet climb. The men raced 5.8 laps of the 16-mile course for a total of 94 miles. For those coming from more humid and colder climates, the 75F and 11% humidity provided a solid challenge for hydration and heat acclimation.
For the most part this was a controlled affair with Team Skyline ramping the pace up the climb on each lap to string things out. The pack did eventually blow up on the final climb with only 35 of the men finishing within 30 seconds of the winner. In the end it was a Tyler-on-Tyler sprint with Stites, the Aevolo alum now racing for Project Echelon, winning over Tyler Williams of L39ion followed by Eddy Huntsman of ButcherBox Cycling.
This win was a reminder of last year’s Mount Sequoyah stage of Joe Martin where Williams and Stites sprinted against each other, and the result was the same. The sprint at Valley of the Sun is trickier than meets the eye. The climb up from the valley floor is fairly shallow for the first mile or so; before kicking up sharply for a brief period. It turns into a false flat before one final uphill to the line. Williams’ leadout dropped him off a bit of a distance away from the finish and Stites launched from around 300 meters out. This lead to a bit of daylight between the first two men and third place. However, Gregg was able to stay with the chasers and only conceded 2 seconds. Time bonuses were available on this stage and Stites picked up 10 seconds, whereas Williams grabbed 6 seconds.
The Criterium
The crit was a flat course around the Arizona State Capitol Building in downtown Phoenix. It is a modified figure-8 with wide open corners which was perfect for a whole lot of speed. At a mile long the guys turned about 2 minute laps. This made it a perfect course for the precision and control that we’ve come to know from L39ion.
Without fail, L39ion put on a clinic for the final 10 laps and nailed a sweep of the podium with Cory Williams in first, Tyler Williams, and Justin Williams rounding it out. It became interesting when Gregg flatted with about two laps to go after free laps had expired. This put Gregg’s GC lead, and in fact podium hopes, at risk. A quick bike change with a teammate saved his podium spot; but he did concede 48 seconds to the winner. Stites would end up 6th on the day with the same time as the winner and Dr. Vogel gave up only 3 seconds in the end to stay put. Stites picked up 10 seconds in time bonuses while Tyler Williams picked up 12 seconds, numbers which would prove critical when everything was tabulated.
The Overall
A GC sweep by Project Echelon which ended up with the winners separated by a fraction of a second:
1. Tyler Stites: 5:11:45.260
2. Zach Gregg: 5:11:45.820
3. Dr. Stephen Vogel: 5:12:04
When you factor in the time bonuses Tyler Williams was only 1 second back of Dr. Vogel.
Frank Cundiff contributed to this story.