Sean Christian, of Tucson, raises his arms as he crosses the finish line and wins the men’s division of the 102-mile race in the 39th Banner — University Medicine El Tour de Tucson on Saturday. Mamta Popat, Arizona Daily Star Sean Christian and Anna Hicks were the men’s and women’s winners of the Banner-University Medicine 39th El Tour de Tucson, held Saturday morning in Tucson, Sahuarita and other communities.
Christian, a Tucsonan, finished the 102-mile route with a “gun time” of 3 hours, 49 minutes, 5.9 seconds. Gilbert’s Damiano Cunego was 0.2 seconds behind Christian, and Ireland’s Cormac McGeough was third at 3:53:08.1. Anna Hicks, a native of San Luis Obispo on California’s central coast, won the women’s division of the 102-mile race. Christian averaged 26.5 mph on his bike. He finished ninth last year, the first time he raced in El Tour.
This year, his strategy was different.
“We attacked from about Mile 1,” he said. “So we were out there for about 101 miles alone, which is definitely a lot harder than it was last year.”
He loved the new route, which went south, giving him a view of some of his favorite parts of Tucson. It was tight right up until the end. Christian didn’t even realize he was in the final stretch until he looked up.
“That was actually it was a bit shocking … I was like, ‘OK, we got a little bit longer.’ Then I look and I see the finish and I’m like, ‘Oh, I have to […]
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