DNA Pro Cycling, which won the points classification at the Tour of the Gila 2023, will bring a squad of six riders to the 37th Tour of the Gila this April.

Last year, DNA Pro Cycling attended 31 events in eight countries, earning spots on over 55 podiums and finishing the year as the top-ranked UCI Continental Women’s Team in the Western Hemisphere. With team members from the U.S., Canada, Colombia, Mexico and Great Britain, DNA had five riders, representing three nations, at the 2023 UCI World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. “We’ve been meeting our goal of being an internationally competitive women’s cycling team,” DNA Pro Cycling Team Principal and Sports Director Catherine “Cathy” Fegan-Kim says.

In its twelfth year, DNA Pro Cycling has raced Tour of the Gila nine times. “We started this team to give opportunities for women to race stage races in the U.S. such as Gila which have challenging competition and logistics,” Fegan-Kim says. “What we’ve learned since then is that Gila is as beautiful as it is challenging.”

Ranked 37th worldwide, including Women’s WorldTour teams, DNA ranks 22nd among UCI Continental teams alone. “As a U.S.-based professional team, it’s important for us to have opportunities to get UCI points closer to home, our budget limits us to only three or four international trips. Tour of the Gila is one of only two road events in the US that are UCI [the other being Joe Martin Stage Race],” Fegan-Kim says. “We’re really thankful that Gila continues to register as an international UCI event.”

On an individual level, Tour of the Gila is where riders gain street cred. “It’s a monumental race, especially for climbers, and this goes into a lot of our decision making on rosters,” Fegan-Kim says. “For a lot of riders, Gila is a big goal. If you podium or win the Gila Monster, it’s bragging rights.”

The team principal divulges that DNA riders like Heather Fischer and Colombian National Champion Diana Peñuela have both won stages of Tour of the Gila and remain extremely proud of those victories. “If you tell anybody in the cycling community who knows racing that you’ve won a stage at Gila, it’s big,” Fegan-Kim explains.

This year, DNA Pro Cycling aims to win the General Classification. “That is a big goal for the team,” Fegan-Kim says. “We’re just going to be bold and say it: We’re going for it. We’ll take the best squad we can possibly have for it.”

While Fegan-Kim would not confirm the roster at the time of this interview, possible riders include the 2-time Colombian road champion and current time trial champion Peñuela, 2023 Tour of the Gila Points winner Shayna Powless, former Mexican Road and Time Trial Champion Anet Barrera, 2023 Tour of the Gila alumna and 2023 Vuelta a Colombia stage winner Kaitlyn Rauwerda, and the current Canadian U23 Road Champion Sarah Van Dam.

Other possible DNA riders on this year’s Tour of the Gila squad include Maeghan Easler and Nadia Gontova, who are both joining from the UCI Continental Team Roxo Racing. Easler made her mark in U.S. stage racing in 2023 with two podiums at the Tour of the Gila, while Gontova also was a factor in the Tour of the Gila women’s field last year. With her climbing and breakaway prowess, Sara Poidevin, who joined DNA this year from the Women’s WorldTour team EF Education-Tibco-SVB, is also a potential selection.

Tour of the Gila typically brings DNA Pro Cycling’s riders and staff to southwest New Mexico for about eight days total each spring. “We love the area, from the incredible scenery to the warm welcome from Silver City residents to the burritos and coffee in the local shops,” said Fegan-Kim. “Even beyond the competition, there are always good stories we can take home with us.”