La Ruta de los Conquistadores
RamÃrez & Haywood Win La Ruta’s New Stage
16.11.2007
This unprecedented stage of La Ruta represented the opportunity for these two racers to prove why they are leading the General Classification in the Open Men and Women categories, while their rivals are beginning to accept their supremacy.
In the male division, the “ticos� not only made the top-three of the day, but also put more pressure on the foreigners on the top 10 list.
Federico’s teammate Juan SolÃs and Macosta-Lee Cougan’s Paolo Montoya followed the winner, and Canadian Max Plaxton was fourth after completing the 75.2 kilometers of the course, which began at the El Rodeo State and finished in front of the Terramall Shopping Center.
“Today’s stage was really hard. More like Trans Alp or Trans Rockies style because of the technical demands. I already knew 80% of the course, but the last part of it was new for me and it certainly was the toughest climb. I had to hike for about 30 minutes and only managed to get on the bike again a few meters before I crossed the finish lineâ€?, RamÃrez said.
In the overall standings, Federico is in a commanding first place but there are still two more days of competition, so he didn’t make any predictions. His time in the GC is 9:02:36 and Paolo Montoya is 12:08 behind in second place.
“You know how cycling is. I feel respect for all my rivals and that’s why we have to wait until the end to see if I amcapable of winning or not�, he accepted.
“We were supposed to attack earlier, but decided to wait until the right moment because Solis (his team mate) got a few mechanical problems. I choose the paved ascent from San Ignacio to Copalchi because it was the section I knew the best and I could get myself into road racer speed up the climbs�.
Frenchman Thomas Dietsch managed to finish 6th today and was able to keep third position 27:42 minutes behind the “pizza� guy, but it does begin to look like the race will be between the two local boys.
As for the women’s race, Sue Haywood seems to be the strongest girl, with 2 stage wins from two so far. Today’s time for Haywood was 5:06:39, with an accumulated of 12:01:04. In second place is the former La Ruta winner Louise Kobin (Sho-Air) 25:40 minutes behind.
Tomorrow’s stage will be exactly like the 2007’s second day. It will begin at the Terramall, will go up to the Irazú Volcano and then will retrace the same gruelling gravel-full downhill from the Turrialba Volcano. The finish will be located in front of the beautiful Catholic Church of the Aquiares Coffee State in Turrialba. The total distance will be 67 kilometers and the highest point of the course -and of the whole race- will be at Check Point three (3010 meters high).
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