Roadie Vargas wins Costa Rican national cross country title

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Bufete Guzmán y Álvarez's Paulo Vargas took Costa Rica's cross country national title despite not being on the favorites' list before the race, held on Sunday, July 18, at the old National Horse Race Track, in the province of Cartago.

Vargas' achievement was the first major mountain bike win of his career. He completed the 30km. course on a time of 2:01:25. He is known more as a prodigious sprinter in the Costa Rican road peloton than an avid off-road cyclist.

"I would have never imagined this beautiful day. It was great to have beaten such a great group of riders, most of them really strong mountain bikers," Vargas said just a few seconds after crossing the finish line. "This is something you value when you're not one of the nominees".

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Indeed, his victory was quite a surprise, even for the pre-race candidates like Paolo Montoya, of Italian team GT Brondello, and local legend Federico "Lico" Ramírez, of team BCR-Pizza Hut, who finished second and third.

Defending Champion, Sho Air-Specialized's Manuel Prado wasn't having a lucky day and had several mechanicals. His chain malfunctioned due to the severely muddy conditions along the track, therefore he dropped from the leading bunch with most of the race still ahead.

Vargas managed to come out atop the biggest ascent in first place thanks to his "hiking" skills.

"The mud made the terrain barely rideable, but the climb was definitely impossible," said Vargas. "I'm good with the bike on my shoulders and that was what helped me to overcome the rest of my colleagues, I think".

The champion completed the first lap with a 15-second advantage over Montoya and Ramirez, but was able to increase the gap as the race went on. At the end of it, he put 58 seconds on Montoya, and more than two minutes on multiple-time champion "Lico" Ramírez.

In women's race, Grupo ICE's Adriana Rojas took another Costa Rican title ahead of Avimil's Edith Guillén and Powerade-Merida's Sofía Morales.

BCR's Juan Fallas triumphed in the Under 23 category, while teammate Andrey Fonseca took the junior men's competition. Milagro Mena is the new red, white and blue jersey holder for the junior women.

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