The Tour of Gila held over May 3-7 in Silver City, NM saw the Vitamin Cottage boys make their presence felt. In the Pro / Cat 1 race, Jon Tarkington finished a respectable 20th place in the opening time trial among a strong pro field. In stage 3, Tarkington and his all-day breakaway companion Michael Dietrich (KodakGallery / Sierra Nevada) were caught by the field within sight of the finish line. Jon still finished 5th on the day among the rapidly closing field – not easy when you have been off the front the whole day. In the stage 4 criterium, Jon Baker mixed it up with the field sprinters for 6th notching another top 10 finish amidst an NRC field. Unfortunately while placed among a select group on the final mega climbing stage, Baker would suffer a wicked high-speed crash during a descent thus ending his race. He was taken to the hospital and released. The pro race was won by Chris Baldwin (United Pro).
In the Category two race, under-23 rider Peter Horn finished fourth overall with the help of some strong teamwork by his Vitamin Cottage teammates Scott Tietzel, Joe Pinkerton, and Michael Schilling. Horn used a strong opening Time Trial performance and moved up on GC in the following climbing stages.