Lauren Stephens made it two wins from two stages at the 2025 Tour of the Gila, reaching the summit finish in Mogollon first to increase her overall lead. After dominating the opening time trial, Stephens backed it up with a measured and confident performance on stage 2’s mountain finish, finishing six seconds ahead of teammate Emma Langley.
The duo from Aegis Cycling proved the strongest as the final climb split the field. Stephens crested the climb first, claiming maximum Queen of the Mountains points and extending her overall lead. She now heads both the GC and the climber’s classification after two days of racing.
Langley’s second place not only confirmed a one-two finish for Aegis on the stage but also vaulted her into third overall. Sidney Swierenga, the 17-year-old Canadian riding for TaG Cycling, limited her losses to finish 23 seconds behind Stephens and held onto second in the GC, retaining the white jersey for Best Young Rider.
The race had held together in a relatively compact group through the early kilometres, but the final stretch on Mogollon Road once again lived up to its selective reputation. The uncategorised lead-in climb gradually sapped strength from the bunch before the steep gradients kicked up near the top.
At the front of the race, Stephens surged clear just before the cattleguard and never looked back. Langley followed closest, while Swierenga rode a composed tempo behind to keep her GC hopes alive heading into stage 3.
In the day’s intermediate sprints, Ellexi Snover of Fount Cycling Guild was the most active, taking enough points to pull on the green jersey for the sprint classification. Kenna Pfeiffer of Aegis and Yareli Acecedo Mendoza of PatoBike rounded out the top three in that competition.
Stephens will wear the red leader’s jersey again tomorrow, with Langley in polka dots, Swierenga in white, and Snover in green. With three days still to race, the GC is beginning to take shape, but with climbing and aggressive racing still to come, the final result remains wide open.
2025 Tour of the Gila Stage 2 result
Main photo credit: Tour of the Gila
