Tour of the Gila: Lauren Stephens extends her women's GC lead with stage 2 solo win while Robinson López takes men's victory atop Mogollon climb

Lauren Stephens of Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment continued her dominant form at the 2026 Tour of the Gila by securing a second consecutive stage win on stage 2. She claimed victory atop the challenging Mogollon summit, extending her overall lead in the women’s general classification from six seconds to over a minute. The 71.2-mile stage featured 3,669 feet of climbing, with Stephens also maintaining her hold on the mountains classification, highlighting her all-round strength in the race. Ashley Frye from Competitive Edge Racing finished 13 seconds behind Stephens to take second place on the stage, moving up to second overall and now sitting 1 minute 31 seconds behind the leader. Emily Gilbert of Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28 completed the podium, crossing the line 34 seconds after Stephens and climbing seven places to third in the general classification. Meanwhile, Kylee Hanel, Stephens’ teammate and sixth in the overall standings, leads the best young rider category, while Olivia Cummings of Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28 heads the sprint classification. In the men’s race, Robinson López of GW Erco SportFitness emerged victorious on the demanding Mogollon Road Race stage, out-sprinting Kieran Haug of Modern Adventure Pro Cycling atop the climb, which featured gradients reaching 19%. Diego Camargo of Team Medellín-EPM claimed third place, three seconds behind. Despite finishing 12th on the stage, Walter Vargas, also from Team Medellín-EPM, retained the overall lead, though the tough 92-mile course with 4,252 feet of climbing caused significant reshuffling in the top ten of the general classification. Henrique de Silva Avancini made a notable move by finishing fifth on the stage and advancing to second overall, 20 seconds behind Vargas. Camargo now occupies third place, 41 seconds back, while defending champion Kieran Haug climbed ten spots to fourth overall, 45 seconds adrift. Tyler Stites, last year’s winner and Haug’s teammate, remains fifth, trailing by 53 seconds. The race continues with the Inner Loop Road Race, presenting another testing course for both men and women as they seek to challenge the leaders and shake up the standings further.