No, not that Juarez. Jimena Florit-Juarez (ARG, Polo Sport), wife of the legendary Tinker, again proved herself a force to be reckoned with on Thursday as the Mercury Tour got underway in earnest with stage one of racing. Meanwhile, last year's champion, Jerome Chiotti (FRA, GT), also got off to a strong start, taking the win in the Rabbit Ears cross-country event.

"...this is the woman who won the Pan Am Championships in Columbia this summer...She took 2nd...in Mount Snow's short track finals. She simply gets faster every time she races..."

This stage was a point-to-point event; 26 miles of technical riding that eventually deposited riders back at the Steamboat Spring Resort finish line. Wednesday's prologue gave us an idea of who was running strong; Thursday's stage made it clear who is here to win. Juarez apparently means business.

Before we call her a come-from-nowhere racer, let us not forget that this is the woman who won the Pan Am Championships in Columbia this summer, then came in 3rd in the Actual Pan Am Games in Canada a few weeks ago. She also took 2nd, behind Dunlap, in Mount Snow's short track finals. She simply gets faster every time she races.

And where was Dunlap today? She finished 4th, six minutes down from the lead. Second across the line was Ruthie Matthes (USA, Trek/Volkswagen) while Rene Marshman (USA, Moots) took 3rd.

Jerome Chiotti (FRA, GT) got off on the good foot beating SoBe/Headshok sensation Kashi Leuchs by 28 seconds in the stage. Early leader Jess Swiggers (USA, National team) probably could have won, but he suffered a flat tire late in the race, finishing 5th. Meanwhile, Jimena's husband, Tinker, took 3rd for the day.

And what of Lance Armstrong? After finishing 19th in Wednesday's prologue, he was looking strong in stage two, hanging with Chiotti on the fast fire road heading into the singletrack. But then he crashed hard, losing time but eventually bridging back up. Then he crashed again, and by the end of the day he had banged up his knee badly enough to bail. At press time he was out of the race, no doubt impressed by the competition.

Friday is the Mount Werner hill climb, so check back for that stage's results and the overall G.C. standings.

—Ari Cheren, chasin' rabbits for MountainZone.com