Gerardo Ulloa, a cyclist from Jalisco, Mexico, raises his hands as he crosses the finish line Saturday. Ulloa was named the winner following a lengthy review.

 Rebecca Sasnett photos, Arizona Daily Star

No river crossings, no trains and not much wind. One would think the ride for the 38th El Tour de Tucson would have been smooth sailing.

After all, that was the plan when the organizers changed the route of the 102-mile race.

But nobody expected a bus crash right before the finish line of Saturday’s race. And they certainly didn’t expect the headwind that welcomed the pack of nine in the last minute as they raced to cross the line first.

The men’s finish was so close β€” four-tenths of a second separated first and second place β€” that it took more than 30 minutes to determine the winner: Mexico’s Gerardo Ulloa. He finished in a β€œgun time” of 3 hours 57 minutes 44.8 seconds, just ahead of Iowa native Josh Rinderknecht. Rinderknecht was initially named the unofficial winner before a review led El Tour officials to reverse course.

It’s a career-highlight win for Ulloa, a 25-year-old who rides for Tucson-based Stone House P&S racing.

β€œThe end for sure (was the hardest part), because it was very flat and we were quite tired and pedaling really hard towards the end,” Ulloa said.

In the last 25 miles, nine cyclists broke away from the pack and worked together until there was about two miles to go.

The 38th annual El Tour de Tucson had nearly 6,500 participants, with two international cyclists winning top spots.

Mexico's Gerardo Ulloa was the first to cross the finish line following Saturday's 102-mile bicycle race and Cuba'sΒ Marlies MejΓ­as had the fastest time among female cyclists. VideoΒ by Jesse Tellez/Arizona Daily Star.

β€œThen the attack started going. It’s like one after another just bam, bam, bam, bam, bam,” said third-place finisher Johnny Corcoran. β€œWe’re just trying to hang in there and had good legs and had really good position. And (I) ended up getting third.”

And what about that accident?

β€œIt looked like there was a car crash or two buses that ran into each other,” Corcoran said. β€œThe pace car had to stop, pull over and then we went in kind of like chicaned (curved through) the buses into the finish. It was a little bit more of an eventful finish than we thought it would be. It was really fun.”

Corcoran, who is from Tempe, finished with a β€œgun time” of 3:57.45.4 β€” just two-tenths behind Rinderknecht.

For Rinderknecht, who won the American Cycling Championship Criterium, and his team Cinch Elite, the strategy was to have fun in this race in their newly adopted hometown. He played safety for Central Missouri, a DII football team near Kansas City for two years, before getting back to cycling. Rinderknecht said he missed the competition in cycling; the love of the sport drove him to relocated to Tucson.

β€œI love Tucson; It’s my favorite place,” Rinderknecht. β€œThere’s nowhere I’d rather be, especially during the winter being from Iowa. I don’t miss being there for the winter at all. So anytime I can snowbird to Tucson is always what I want to do.”

Saturday was the first time Ulloa, Rinderknecht and Corcoran competed in El Tour. All three said they loved the newly designed route. The first race since the coronvairus pandemic wiped out the 2020 event, this year’s El Tour featured 6,715 competitors over distances of 102, 57 and 28 miles. There were also β€œfun rides” of 10 miles, 5 miles and 1 mile.

Cuba’s Marlies Mejias was the top-finishing female cyclist.

β€œThe course was awesome. Had a lot of fun out there just getting to race with quite a few talented guys,” Rindernecht said. β€œAnd it was really exciting the last 30 miles or so. We lit it up pretty good and there was just chaos. That’s what makes it fun.”

The women’s winner, Marlies Mejias, a two-time Olympian finished in a β€œgun time” of 3:59.22.8 in her first El Tour β€” a little more than one second ahead of Veronica Ewers. The two were battling in the same pack for much of the way. She said her edge at the end came from being the pack she was in.

β€œ(I) pick(ed) up the men’s sprint pace, basically and just stuck with it and crossed that finish line,” Mejias said.

Cyclists ride down East Escalante Road past Davis-Monthan Air Force Base on Saturday.

A strange sighting

Sandhill cranes usually winter near Bisbee. This year, a flock of them participated in El Tour’s 1-mile fun ride. (Actually, it was a family of four wearing paper wings and beak on their bike helmets).

β€œSome people will know that thousands of Sandhill Cranes go to Whitewater Draw every year near Bisbee. We just wanted to do something fun,” said crane enthusiast Julie Swarstad Johnson.

She was joined in the ride by her husband Luke, her sister, Karen Vail, and her nephew, Colin, who is 9.

Suzanne Goldstein gives a handful of riders the full cowbell experience as they head up Pistol Hill Road.

El Tour is a family tradition. Johnson’s parents and her sister’s husband always ride. This year they were in the 57-mile ride.

Colin Vail rides about two miles around his neighborhood in Peoria. He said it was β€œpretty cool” riding as a Sandhill Crane.

His favorite part of El Tour?

β€œActually, riding and then getting the medallion at the end,” he said.

El Tour de Tucson rider Manny Romo, left, gets some roadside assistance from Josh Goldstein, who had brought his own tools and air pump along to his observation site at Pistol Hill Road and Old Spanish Trail.

A refreshing beer

What happens when a brewery and Southern Arizona’s largest participatory sporting event get together? A new beer, of course.

Chris Squires, managing partner of Ten55 Brewing Company, said that many members of his team are avid cyclists. They even put on their own ride, Gran Fondo. The next one will be on March 12, 2022.

It was only natural that these two groups got together. And since Ten55 knows beer, they took on the challenge of developing a beer for cyclists that β€œhas a lot of flavor and is an easy drinker.”

β€œAt the end of 80- or 102-mile ride, you can have one or two without wiping yourself out,” Squires said. β€œWhat we ended up with was a session IPA, meaning the word session gets tossed around a lot in in the craft beer business. It essentially just means a lighter body version of the same style. A session IPA in this case, is a lighter-bodied IPA with a little bit of fresh blood orange in it. And their blood orange IPA was born.”

The beer, which was released at the end of September, has been well-received. Blood orange brings the acidity and flavor, like a mandarin orange but sweeter. It also compliments a hoppy, bitter beer.

A long line of bikers push their way up the first leg of Pistol Hill Road just south of Old Spanish Trail heading to the second-highest point on the route.

On the call

Former Olympian and pro cyclist Frankie Andreu served as Saturday’s announcer. He said he was excited to be at El Tour, the last event of the season’s packed cycling schedule.

β€œWell, it’s (El) Tour de Tucson. I mean, it’s famous. The water crossings, you always hear about it and I’ve had a ton of friends and a ton of people that have come out to ride it,” Andreu said. β€œI’ve never ridden it, but I’ve heard about it for many, many years and I’ve always wanted to come and so this was an opportunity for me to come back β€” coming off COVID, when they had a year off. I knew people were just super excited to come out and do an event. I knew it was going to be a big event. I wanted to be a part of that.”

The lead peloton heads east on Old Spanish Trail just before the turn south onto Pistol Hill Road.

Andreu was part of the US Postal Service team as a professional cyclist and competed in the 1988 and 1996 Olympics. He coached for a while after retiring from competition, then worked in television before becoming a race announcer.

β€œI was lucky because I was able to stay in the sport, so I wasn’t cut off completely when I stopped racing,” Andreu said. β€œIt’s something that I love. I love coming to events and I get excited about it. It’s like I’m part of it. But yet, I don’t have to have all the suffering or crashing of any of the bad parts of it. It worked out pretty well for me.”

Become a #ThisIsTucson member! Your contribution helps our team bring you stories that keep you connected to the community. Become a member today.

Results courtesy of On Your Left Fitness and Timing.

Click the arrows in the column headers to sort on that criteria and a second time to reverse the sort. To search for a name, type a part of the name in the column header.

If your result is missing, please contact the timing company at trioyl@me.com.

Tags