Tyrone, NM - Surprise: Nathan O'Neill of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis won the opening time trial of the Tour of the Gila. Actually, it may have been a bit of a surprise, at least to O'Neill.

"I don't normally do that well at altitude," the eight-time and current Australian National Time Trial Champion said of the ITT's setting in the high New Mexico desert. "I've always been a bit off. Plus, I traveled all day (Tuesday) from Georgia so I didn't think my legs would be that good. But when you've got form, sometimes it doesn't matter."

O'Neill has form right now.

Despite the Tour de Georgia, which ended on April 23, being his first race of the season, O'Neill showed his legs weren't lacking for race pace, finishing third in the Stage 4 time trial and fourth the next day on the climb up to Brasstown Bald.

He credited his good form to a lot of training prior to the Tour de Georgia, and work with his GO2 Altitude machine. It also didn't hurt that he was well prepared for the hilly, 15.6 mile out-and-back course, run at about 6,000 feet of altitude. He drove the course Tuesday evening with assistant team directeur sportif Mike Tamayo, and rode it the morning before the ITT, so he knew what he was in for.

Morning rains gave way to clear but breezy conditions, with a cross-tailwind heading out and a headwind on the return portion. The course started with a 6 km climb followed by rollers to the turn, then a re-trace back to the start/finish area.

"The backside of the first climb coming back had a bit of a pitch to it," O'Neill said, "but it was 6 km downhill to the finish."

Health Net Presented by Maxxis takes 4th through 6th places

To keep the pace as high as possible, O'Neill and several other riders equipped their Cannondale Slice TT bikes with 58-tooth front chain rings, couple with an 11-tooth in the cassette. Apparently, it worked. Not only did O'Neill take the stage, 1:15 ahead of Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health) and 1:29 ahead of Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United), three other riders from Health Net Presented by Maxxis occupied the 4th through 6th placings.

In a surprise to some but not to him, Roman Kilun posted the fourth best time in the TT, just 18 seconds behind Baldwin, the former U.S. national time trial champion. "I've been working hard lately, so maybe it's not that big of a surprise," the Berkeley, CA resident noted afterward. His results last weekend at the Vuelta de Bisbee support that notion. He posted strong results every day despite riding the four-stage race with no teammates, culminating in a third-place finish in the final stage that moved him to third overall for the race.

"I just went out and had fun," he said of the Gila opener. "At the half-way point I felt really good and I was starting to close in on some guys who started ahead of me."

Kilun was followed by teammates Jeff Louder in 5th place (2:02) and Ryder Hesjedal in 6th (2:03).

The Tour of the Gila continues Thursday with a 95-mile stage from Silver City, NM to Mogollon, finishing with a 5.5-mile Category 1 climb.

Notes

With four of the top six placings, Health Net Presented by Maxxis easily took the early lead in the team competition, finishing a combined 2:23 ahead of Toyota-United and 2:42 ahead of Slipstream.

The remaining two members of the Health Net Presented by Maxxis Gila squad, Matt Crane and Doug Ollerenshaw, finishing 31st and 34th respectively.

Official Results