Roadie Vargas wins Costa Rican national cross country title
Rojas victorious in women's race
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".
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.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Paulo Vargas (Bufette Guzman Y Alvarez) | 2:01:25 |
2 | Paolo Montoya (GT Brondello) | 0:00:58 |
3 | Federico Ramirez (BCR Pizza Hut) | 0:04:42 |
4 | Allan Cordero (Bufette Guzman Y Alvarez) | 0:13:17 |
5 | Alexander Sanchez (BCR Pizza Hut) | 0:17:03 |
6 | Omar Cisneros (Acipal) | 0:23:00 |
-1lap | Adrian Rojas (Mini Super San Jorge) | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Roger Ramirez (Repuesto Sansebastian R Y) | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Daniel Garcia (Hellmann Wwl) | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Vinicio Perez | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Enrique Artavia (Citi Economy Blue) | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Manuel Prado (Sho-Air/Specialized) | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Adriana Rojas (Grupo Ice) | 1:41:13 |
2 | Edith Guillen (Avimil) | 0:14:19 |
3 | Sofia Morales (Powerade Merida) | 0:18:09 |
4 | Yesenia Villalta (Grupo Ice) | 0:18:31 |
5 | Katerin Herrera (Avimil) | 0:42:27 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Juan Carlos Fallas (BCR Pizza Hut) | 2:25:30 |
2 | Harold Esquivel (Plycem Jps Giant) | 0:04:09 |
3 | Marco Fernandez (Acipal-Aizara Tec) | 0:06:09 |
4 | Jonathan Camacho (Montoya Team) | 0:06:40 |
5 | Mario Meneses (Bufette Guzman Y Alvarez) | 0:10:09 |
-1lap | Andres Ramirez (C.D. Belen) | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Carlos Alberto Solis (Hotel Cipreses Monteverde) | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Jimmy Cedeño (C.D. Cartago) | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Luis Enrique Rojas (Abangares) | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Vincent Gorgona (C.D. Barva) | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Andrey Fonseca (BCR Pizza Hut) | 1:47:55 |
2 | Yosep Chavarria (BCR Pizza Hut) | 0:01:35 |
3 | Romel Morales (BCR Pizza Hut) | 0:04:35 |
4 | Bryan Villalobos (Plycem Jps Giant) | 0:05:05 |
5 | Andres Alpizar (BCR Pizza Hut) | 0:07:21 |
6 | Elias Vega (Plycem Jps Giant) | 0:12:49 |
7 | Elio Vargas (ECC Santa Cruz) | 0:14:13 |
8 | Daniel Bonilla (C.D. Paraiso) | 0:15:04 |
9 | Victor Chale (BCR Pizza Hut) | 0:23:07 |
10 | Yordy Sandoval (ECC Santa Cruz) | 0:25:23 |
11 | Nathaniel Villanueva (C.D. San Jose) | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
12 | Jose Manuel Alvarado (C.D. Cartago) | 0:27:16 |
13 | Erick Soto (C.D. Cartago) | 0:28:22 |
14 | Jhonny Redondo (Plycem Jps Giant) | 0:29:24 |
15 | Jorge Mario Moya (C.D. Paraiso) | 0:30:13 |
16 | Jose Daniel Vargas (Ecomiel Ciclo Cafe) | 0:32:11 |
17 | Jairo Bermudez (Buenos Aires) | 0:34:04 |
18 | Anner Miguel Leiva (Acipal) | 0:40:55 |
19 | Benjamin Pizarro (ECC Santa Cruz) | 0:43:17 |
20 | Gerardo Guerrero (C. D: Belen) | 0:43:21 |
-1lap | Pablo Rodriguez (Codea) | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
-1lap | Pablo Arce (BCR Pizza Hut) | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
-1lap | Emmanuel Brenes (C.D. Cartago) | Row 22 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Felipe Viquez (Codea) | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Diego Alonso Solano (C.D. Paraiso) | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Luis Fauricio Meneses (C.D. Paraiso) | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Luis Diego Artavia (C.D. Paraiso) | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Eder Hernan Cascante (C.D. Paraiso) | Row 27 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Asdrubal Cardenas (C.D. Cartago) | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Omar Jose Cruz (ECC Santa Cruz) | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Jordan Alvarez (ECC Santa Cruz) | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Phillips Alfaro (Acipal) | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Joaquin Rodriguez (C.D. Barva) | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Fabian Vargas (Codea) | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Luis Emilio Gutierrez (ECC Santa Cruz) | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Marlon Quiros (C.D. Paraiso) | Row 35 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Francisco Jose Cabezas (C.D. Barva) | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Josue Mena | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Brayan Gonzalez (C.D. Paraiso) | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Ismael Obando (Buenos Aires) | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Daniel Cedeño (C.D. Cartago) | Row 40 - Cell 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Milagro Mena (C.D. Cartago) | 1:23:14 |
2 | Ana Gabriela Arias (C.D. San Jose) | 0:01:06 |
3 | Cristina Suarez (C.D. San Jose) | 0:10:22 |
4 | Fiorella Rojas (C.D. Cartago) | 0:10:44 |
DNF | Susan Quiros (C.D. Belen) | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Most Popular
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
'2025 is about to get lit' - Tom Pidcock joins Q36.5 after leaving Ineos Grenadiers
British rider signs three-year contract in a bid to reboot his career -
‘I can’t lose that aggressivity’ - Ben O’Connor changes teams but keeps his racing style
'He throws it out there, rides aggressively and looks for opportunities where a lot of other GC guys don't which is a great talent to have and an exciting way to race' says Jayco-AlUla's Matt White -
Tour Down Under return for Australian champions Ruby Roseman-Gannon and Luke Plapp
Three time GC winner Amanda Spratt and three-time stage winner Sam Welsford also among Australian riders embracing chance to race in front of home crowds -
New block pattern unveiled for Lidl-Trek 2025 jerseys
Placement of bold red more prominent in fresh design by Santini