Luis Leao Pinto wins La Ruta stage 1

The nice thing about racing La Ruta each fall is it forces me out for some big fall rides.

The nice thing about racing La Ruta each fall is it forces me out for some big fall rides. (Image credit: Alex Grant)

Portugal’s Luis Leao Pinto (Skotiabank) won the opening stage of La Ruta held on Thursday from Jaco to UTN Atenas in Costa Rica. He won the race ahead of Colombia’s Luis Mejía (Coopenae Movistar) and Spain’s Joseph Betalú (Constructora ARPO Specialized).

Leao Pinto and Mejia were together from the beginning to Carara National Park, where they both distanced themselves from Eddy Perez (7 Capital).

Attacks between two riders continued between San Pablo and San Pedro de Turrubares until Mejia fell off pace. At Escobal, Leao Pinto had built a lead of nine minutes.

"I put effort on the climbs but did not expect to have this advantage and I hope it stays. Mejia is a great rider. My legs hurt today but Costa Rica is a country where I feel great and I love it,” Leao Pinto said.

Despite the convincing victory, Leao Pinto said he has not won the race yet, "the race has just begun, it's mountain biking, it is unpredictable, you can be forward today and tomorrow many things that can happen to leave you out of the race, then every day we are trying recover well.”

Brief Results

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Elite men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Luis Leao Pinto (POR) Skotiabank4:35:31
2Luis Mejía (COL) Coopenae Movistar0:10:27
3Joseph Betalú (ESP) Constructora ARPO Specialized0:14:28
4Héctor Riveros (COL) Constructora ARPO Specialized0:15:02
5Eddy Pérez (CRC) Seven Capital0:17:19
6Paolo Montoya (CRC) Specialized Team0:21:14
7Ibon Zugasti (ESP) Where is the limit ProBike0:26:11
8Diyer Rincón (COL) Constructora ARPO Specialized0:26:12
9Deiber Esquivel (CRC) ScotiabankDos PinosDeloitteCiclo Guilly1:04:42
10Todd Wells (USA) Specialized0:31:48
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Elite women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Angela Parra (COL) CoopenaeEconomyMovistar5:56:21
2Xiomara Guerrero (COL) Specialized Team0:28:32
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Master A 30-39
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Rodney Burgos (CRC) BM5:33:22
2Carlos Trujillo (COL) Individual0:08:26
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Master B 40-49
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Willy Quirós (CRC) Individual5:56:21
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Open Men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Pablo Leiva (CRC) Aerodiva5:47:21

 

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