If ever there was a year for a dark horse to win the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic professional men’s road race, this is the year. A trio of past champions may have something to say about that, though.
A field of at least 61 men’s open/professional riders will depart Durango at 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning in the 44th annual Iron Horse Bicycle Classic Coca-Cola Road Race. They will compete for a split of the $3,500 purse in the 47-mile race from Durango to Silverton.
This year’s professional field largely will remain a mystery until late registration is completed Friday. That’s when five-time champion Ned Overend plans to sign up, as well as 2006 champion Rolando Gonzalez.
“Whoever wins will win some good money, so there is good incentive to sign up and ride,” IHBC race director Gaige Sippy said. “To ride 50 miles and be able to win $800 to $1,000 for 2½ hours or so is like getting paid $350 an hour or so. I know I don’t make that much.”
The field will be without at least the previous two champions, as 2013 winner Kip Taylor will not attend, and last year’s champion, Troy Wells, also will sit out. Wells won last year’s weather-shortened race to Purgatory Resort.
Weather concerns have led several professional riders to wait until Friday’s late registration to determine whether or not they will race Saturday.
Though he hasn’t won the race since 2011, 59-year-old legend Overend remains a favorite to capture the road race title. Gonzalez also will enter the race as one of the favorites, along with 2000 co-champion Drew Miller.
Though considered among the favorites, Gonzalez and Overend said they won’t enter the race in top form. Overend isn’t quite sure how his body will adjust to the 5,700 feet of climbing required to get up Coal Bank and Molas passes after spending most of the year at sea level.
“I haven’t put in much time. I’ve been in California, and I’ve spent a lot less time at altitude this year for sure,” Overend said. “It’s been a tough few weeks to get any kind of training in for everybody the way this weather has been. The three weeks prior to the Iron Horse is the prime time to get up the passes and train, but weather has been a struggle.”
Gonzalez is confident Overend, a Specialized team rider, still has what it takes to be in the lead peloton heading up the passes before the descent into Silverton.
“He’s definitely still a top guy to watch. He knows it very well, better than anyone else,” Gonzalez said of Overend. “It’s a short enough race for him to do good, and he’s a great climber. Ned can suffer and hang in the climbs, and it won’t be a surprise when he’s right there.”
Gonzalez, a Durango local, previously had registered for an event in Denver that since has been canceled. The CRC Janitorial-Cannondale presented by Hassle Free Sports rider was happy to hear there still would be room to register late for the IHBC road race.
He said he didn’t begin his training this year until late February, but he competed well in the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico the first week of May, and Sippy fully expects Gonzalez to be a contender.
“My life got hectic since last July, and I rested the rest of the year. It’s been hard to be consistent with training,” Gonzalez said. “I started from zero this February, and I’ve only had 10 days of racing so far.”
He had a few chances to ride Coal Bank and Molas earlier this month and said his legs feel good but not in top form. Since he won in 2006, Gonzalez has been in the top five consistently, and he hopes to win again soon, even if it’s not this year.
“I’m definitely looking forward to winning again sometime in the next four or five years. If you go by the books on how you’re supposed to train, this won’t be the year for me,” he said.
Sippy said he believes Miller will be a candidate to earn a second IHBC crown.
Others Sippy will have his eyes on include 20-year-old Keegan Swirbul of El Jebel and Nico Toutenhoofd of Boulder. Swirbul is one of the sport’s fresh faces who rode in the USA Pro Challenge a year ago for the Bissell Development Team. He’s well known for beating Lance Armstrong in a mountain bike race in Aspen as just a 16-year-old.
“Nico has been a high placer in previous years, and Keegan is a strong up-and-comer,” Sippy said.
Another name to watch is Durango local-by-way-of-Germany Ben Sonntag. The Team Clif Bar rider primarily is a mountain biker, and local hero Todd Wells expects Sonntag to be his top competition in Sunday’s mountain bike race and knows Sonntag can be a factor in the road race, too.
“We’ve raced a bit on the road together. He’s a great mountain bike racer, and I’m sure he’s equally as good on the road,” said Wells, a three-time mountain bike Olympian.
Wells and his brother won’t compete in the road race this year. Todd Wells joked that might be a good thing for road racers, because every time he has registered for the road race inclement weather has put a damper on the race.
“I didn’t want to curse the road race again,” Todd Wells joked. “Since I’m out, it should be good this year.”
A handful of Fort Lewis College cyclists also will be in the mix, and their familiarity with the course should give them a bit of an advantage.
At Friday’s late registration, organizers anxiously will wait to see if New Mexico star Fortunato Ferrara registers. The 36-year-old Racing Apparel/Trek team rider won the Tour of the Gila earlier this month and has had a strong start to the season.
Gonzalez is one of the few riders planning on riding in the road race, circuit race and time trial in hopes of being crowned the omnium champion. The mountain biker will skip the mountain bike race in favor of the circuit race in order to go after the omnium crown.
But he knows all hopes of an omnium title start with a good finish in Saturday’s road race.
“The only way for you to do great is if you’re having a super day and feeling great,” Gonzalez said. “If you make it through Coal Bank and Molas with the front group and nobody has broke away yet, you always have a good chance.”
jlivingston@ durangoherald.com
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