Sonntag prevails in opening stage

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Ben Sonntag won the opening stage of La Ruta de los Conquistadores, covering 106km from Jaco to Santa Ana. Colombia's Luis Anderson Mejia Sanchez made his bid for victory in the stage finale from a group of three riders including Sonntag and Alex Grant, but Sonntag countered on the final climb to take the stage win riding in solo.

2009 La Ruta de los Conquistadores runner-up Grant finished third while compatriot and La Ruta rookie Sam Schultz suffered an untimely flat when riding with the leaders.  A slashed sidewall on a steep, rutted downhill followed by a lengthy repair cost him a top four placing.

In the women's race, Colombian Angela Parra raced to a stage one victory ahead of four-time La Ruta race winner Lousie Kobin.  The two were together for much of the race, even jointly taking a wrong turn and then backtracking, but Parra proved stronger on a long paved climb, and she rode away from Kobin, who went onto second.  Rebecca Rusch finished third.

Cannondale teammates race to first and third

In the first quarter of the race, through the Carara National Park, with its jungle-like terrain and lengthy, muddy hike-a-bikes, the men's field quickly split. As they emerged from the park, a few of the men were in small groups at or near the front including Federico Ramirez, Luis Mejia Sanchez, Eddy Perez, Ismael Ventura Sanchez, Ben Sonntag, Alex Grant and Santos Corea Gutierrez. Sam Schultz was on his own, slightly off the pace after a flat, but he quickly changed it and rejoined the other leaders.

Last year's winner Manny Prado, was missing from the front. "The first half of the race was very rough. I couldn't get in a rhythm. Many thoughts came to my mind," said Prado, who said he will take each of the remaining days one at a time.

With the day's mud behind them, the leaders pushed the pace on the constantly grinding up and and down terrain through the lush, green mountains. They raced on jeep trails, gravel roads and paved roads - all in fast and dry conditions.

The Spaniard Ventura gradually slipped off the back and so did Costa Ricans Corea and Perez. That left Ramirez, Mejia, Sonntag, Grant and Schultz as the five-man lead group heading out of checkpoint two, through checkpoint three and then up a lengthy paved climb at about the 60km point.

Sonntag dropped off at one point, but clawed his way back to the group. "It was early in the race, and I had to go my steady pace," he said. "If I had done too much hard effort early on, I wouldn't have been able to go well later on."

Multi-time winner Ramirez was not having a good day. He battled a softening tire, got some support at the aid station, but then slipped off the pace of the others in the lead group. After the race, he had little to say. "Tomorrow is another stage," he said after noting his tire issues.

For much of the nearly 20km climb, Mejia set the pace at the front. Immediately behind him, the Cannondale teammates of Sonntag and Grant monitored his tempo, and Schultz appeared to be cruising at the back, recovering from his chase back on from the early flat.

"On this really steep climb, I had gotten this weird rear flat, so I changed that, and I think I chased too hard and burned a few matches," said Schultz. "I caught back up too fast and then we were just sitting there looking at each other."

Heading out of checkpoint #4 near the top of the long, paved climb at 68km into the race, the course turned steeply downward. That's when Schultz ran into some more trouble.

"I got to the top of the paved climb and I wasn't feeling great, but I was hanging on to the lead group. Then I was going down this crazy descent super steep with big ruts, and I got a huge sidewall cut and my tire went flat instantly, and I nearly died. One of my tubes was a 26" tube which wasn't the smartest although normally I don't have problems. I finally got it inflated and blew myself chasing. Then I was in a world of hurt and was a broken man out there. I was done for."

Schultz said his most demoralizing moment was after his second chase didn't work out and he knew he wouldn't regain the leaders. "This guy in sweatpants on a commuter bike, caught up to me, then attacked me and rode away." Locals on bikes were out to watch the race and occasionally, they tried to follow or pass the racers who were on the course, which was open to car, bike and moto traffic.

With Schultz gone, Cannondale had a two-to-one advantage over the Colombian Mejia, and the German-American teammates played it perfectly. The two had talked about a plan to attack and counterattack, but before they got a chance to execute it, Mejia attacked them at the bottom of a super steep hill on the approach to the finish city of San Jose.

"I was going to try to attack and Alex could sit on," said Sonntag, "but then Mejia made the first move. I counterattacked it."

The German Sonntag appeared uncertain of his odds and looked back a few times on the grinding climb, but he steadily crept away up the steep gradient.

"The Cannondale rider was stronger and by the end of the hill, he was able to take off," said Mejia of Sonntag. "I had felt good on the long climb before it, and everyone was working and helping. We were all taking care of ourselves and trying to get to the end of the race."

Grant struggled to fend off cramps and rode in on his own for third. "I tried not to lose too much time," said Grant. "Ben had such an awesome counterattack on the Colombian guy. Coming out of a cold climate (in Utah - Ed.), I was happy with my ride today in the heat. I usually cramp in the heat. Today was a big effort."

Sonntag time trialed solo through the suburban streets of San Jose, dodging traffic en route and tucked in his motorcade. "You're suffering so badly that last mile," he said. "But that's the advantage of being in front of somebody. There was so much adrenaline, I just kept pushing and pushing. Last year, I felt good, but you need some luck and today, it was on my side."

Parra solos to victory

The women's race was a less chaotic affair. First, there was a sole lead moto travelling with the lead woman rather than an entire caravan of race officials, national and international media and random locals. Secondly, the women spent much of the race spread out and on their own, rather than riding in a bunch as a lead group.

Through the Carara National Park, early in the race, Angela Parra, Louise Kobin and Rebecca Rusch were often in sight of each other. The traditionally muddy section was less muddy than usual, but still featured about 17km with a lot of hike-a-biking.

"Carara is always muddy and has a hike-a-bike, which is hard on the legs," said Parra.

"Angela was a little ahead of me in the Carara when we were hiking, but then I caught up with her," said Kobin. The two rode together in the lead for a time, even accidentally venturing off course, but still maintaining an advantage.

"We took a wrong turn, right before the second checkpoint," said Kobin. "We and two other guys thought we had to go straight. We heard some yell so we turned around. We climbed for a little and lost maybe three minutes."

What followed was a long, paved climb, and that's where Parra got her advantage. "I was with Louise and I felt better than her on the climbs, and I got away," she said.

"It was a hard race with some crazy riding," said Parra, whose best previous La Ruta finish a few years ago is fifth. "All day, there were cars and the course was not closed to traffic, so you had to be very awake."

"Once Parra took off with an adventure racing guy, I started hearing that she was one, than two minutes ahead. I was just trying to go hard, but at my own pace and not too crazy," said Kobin. "I ran out of electrolytes and was happy to make it in with my legs just twitching a little." She managed to stave off cramps.

After the Carara national park, Rusch rode the rest of the day without any other women nearby. She was content with her ride. "I had an awesome day. Unlike last year, there were no tears and no cramping, and I felt strong."

"My favorite part was the jungle (in the Carara). The heat was ok, and I managed the hydration. I didn't go so deep that I won't feel good tomorrow."

Stage 1 Results

General classification after stage 1