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
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luis Leao Pinto (POR) Skotiabank | 4:35:31 |
| 2 | Luis Mejía (COL) Coopenae Movistar | 0:10:27 |
| 3 | Joseph Betalú (ESP) Constructora ARPO Specialized | 0:14:28 |
| 4 | Héctor Riveros (COL) Constructora ARPO Specialized | 0:15:02 |
| 5 | Eddy Pérez (CRC) Seven Capital | 0:17:19 |
| 6 | Paolo Montoya (CRC) Specialized Team | 0:21:14 |
| 7 | Ibon Zugasti (ESP) Where is the limit ProBike | 0:26:11 |
| 8 | Diyer Rincón (COL) Constructora ARPO Specialized | 0:26:12 |
| 9 | Deiber Esquivel (CRC) ScotiabankDos PinosDeloitteCiclo Guilly | 1:04:42 |
| 10 | Todd Wells (USA) Specialized | 0:31:48 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Angela Parra (COL) CoopenaeEconomyMovistar | 5:56:21 |
| 2 | Xiomara Guerrero (COL) Specialized Team | 0:28:32 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rodney Burgos (CRC) BM | 5:33:22 |
| 2 | Carlos Trujillo (COL) Individual | 0:08:26 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Willy Quirós (CRC) Individual | 5:56:21 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pablo Leiva (CRC) Aerodiva | 5:47:21 |
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