Post by Mgoose on Nov 12, 2011 21:04:25 GMT -5
Stage 1:
At 8:30am the first rider was seen coming out of what's been nicknamed "the mud pits of hell", a section of yellowish gluelike mud within the depths of the Carara rainforest.
Drenched in mud, 2011 Leadville100 winner Todd Wells was the first racer to reach CP2, where a fervent contingent of local and international media awaited the first riders to start the minute by minute coverage of Stage1.
Wells was followed by Honduran racer, Milton Ramos who would exchange lead wheels at times. Yet it was about five kilometers before CP4 where Wells stood on his feet with a malicious smile on his face and picked up his pace reaching a lead of over six minutes by the time he reached CP5.
Costa Rica rider, Rom Akerson, was the big surprise at Stage1, he showed strength and determination riding next to 'Lico' Ramírez up the hill to CP4 where Lico dropped positions due to stomach problems. Akerson picked up the tempo and shortened distance with Milton Ramos to reach third place only three minutes behind Ramos.
2011 Leadville record holder, Rebecca Rusch, is back for some tropical mountain biking pain. She finished second today ten minutes behind Costa Rican rider, Adriana Rojas, the strongest female rider of the day.
Weather on our side, partly cloudy skies, no rain for a change… 63 kilometers of beautiful coffee plantation country await riders in the mountain south of the city of San Jose.
--- --- ---
Overall
1. Todd Wells - 05:27:32
2. Milton Ramos - 05:38:06
3. Rom Akerson - 05:41:16
---
1. Adriana Rojas - 07:06:09
2. Rebecca Rusch - 07:16:41
3. Louise Kobin - 07:36:48
Stage 2:
While America’s reigning cross-country mountain bike national champ Todd Wells posted a commanding victory in Wednesday’s 108km stage one, he placed fourth in stage two on Thursday.
Although Wells leads the overall going into Friday’s third stage, this year is his first time racing the treacherous La Ruta and to mountain bike stage racing in general. All of which means anything can happen over the next two stages.
On Thursday’s stage two, however, the day belonged to Colombia’s Luis Mejia. Mejia may have had something to prove as he was disqualified from the 2010 La Ruta after taking aid outside official checkpoints.
Mejia topped the field with a time of 4:01:21. That bested Rom Akerson of Costa Rica by 3:05 and 7:07 ahead of five-time La Ruta champ Federico “Lico” Ramierez.
Wells, meanwhile, suffered a flat due to a broken wheel, which he had to change in a time-consuming pit stop. Wells finished fourth 9:38 behind Mejia.
Going into Friday’s stage three, Wells has a 7:11 overall lead on second-place Akerson and third-place Milton Ramos of Honduras, who is 14:57 minutes behind Wells.
In the women’s division, Costa Rica’s Adriana Rojas repeated her stage one victory by topping Leadville Trail 100 champ Rebecca Rusch and five-time La Ruta women’s champ Louise Kobin in stage two.
Going into Friday’s third stage Rojas has a 16:53 lead over Rusch and 44:41 advantage on Kobin.
--- --- ---
Overall
1. Todd Wells (USA) - 09:38:31
2. Rom Akerson (CRC) - 09:45:42
3. Milton Ramos (HON) - 09:53:28
---
1. Adriana Rojas (CRC) - 12:30:21
2. Rebecca Rusch (USA) - 12:47:14
3. Louise Kobin (USA) - 13:15:02
Stage 3:
American Todd Wells kept tabs on his second-place rival, Rom Akerson of Costa Rica, during stage three of La Ruta de los Conquistadores on Friday.
While Wells made sure Akerson didn’t gain on his lead, Colombia’s Luis Mejia again took off on an early flyer like in stage two to win the day in 3hrs 28mins 42secs. Although Mejia’s gutsy solo victory moved him into third place overall it didn’t dent the top-two spots held by Wells and Akerson. Mejia’s second stage win of the four-stage race placed him third overall 25:24 behind Wells and 15:06 behind Akerson.
At the start of the 79km stage Wells held a 7:11 lead over Akerson, so hepushed the pace of the main group in an effort to pressure the race-leading American. Together the group — consisting of Akerson; Wells; five-time La Ruta champ Lico Ramirez along with a teammate, Moises Hernandez; and Dennis Porras — started up the paved road toward the fog-shrouded10,000-foot Irazú Volcano. But as the pavement pitched up and Akerson drove on riders began to crack.
First it was Hernandez to be spit out; then Porras was dropped. Finally Costa Rican hero Ramirez started going backward.
As Ackerson put on the pressure he was able to open a 30- to 50-second gap on Wells, who was doing a bit of rubber-banding depending on the gradient. At the top of the climb fog cut visibility down to about 25 feet and dropped temperatures into the low 50s. Akerson went through the feed zone about 45 seconds ahead of Wells.
Ackerson and Wells rode together until near the finish when a short climb accentuated Ackerson’s fatigue, which allowed Wells to finish just more than three minutes ahead. After three stages the Durango, Colorado resident has a total time of 13:09:57. Ackerson is 10:18 back and Mejia is in third at 25:24.
Women’s Race
For the third day in a row Costa Rica’s Adriana Rojas dominated the women’s contest crossing the line in 4:42:28. Through an interpreter, Rojas said she is aware of the daily win-lose nature of La Ruta and wanted to take care of herself and the bike during the stage to stay full strength for Saturday’s final stage.
Louise Kobin, a five-time La Ruta women’s champ, finished second on the day 4:43 back. It was Kobin’s best stage of the race so far.
Rebecca Rusch, who finished second on stages one and two finished third on the day after a rough first half on the course. She said her plan before the start of the stage was to “ride away” from everyone early on.
Overall, Rojas leads second-place Rusch by nearly 24 minutes and Kobin by nearly 50 minutes.
--- --- ---
Overall Standings
1. Todd Wells (USA) - 13:09:57
2. Rom Akerson (CRC) - 13:20:15
3. Luis Mejía (COL) - 13:35:21
4. Milton Ramos (HON) - 13:38:01
5. Lico Ramírez (CRC) - 13:46:27
---
1. Adriana Rojas (CRC) - 17:12:49
2. Rebecca Rusch (USA) - 17:36:46
3. Louise Kobin (USA) - 18:02:13
4. Jane Rynbrandt (USA) - 19:21:46
5. Ligia Madrigal (CRC) - 20:46:06
Stage 4:
As he did on stages two and three, Todd Wells (USA) kept second-place Rom Akerson of Costa Rica in check on stage four to win the 19th edition of La Ruta de los Conquistadores.
Wells, along with 250 other mountain bikers, rode from Costa Rica’s Pacific coast to the country’s Caribbean shore in 17 hrs 18 mins 06 secs. Akerson was 10:18 back. Colombia’s Luis Mejia finished third overall after winning two stages.
Akerson trimmed Wells’ lead to around seven minutes, which at La Ruta is tenuous at best. But the constant attacking took its toll on Akerson and in the end he gave back three minutes to finish with his best showing ever at La Ruta.
Wells and Akerson garnered much of the attention after the final stage, but it was Costa Rican Moises Hernandez who won the 120km day in a time of 4:00:30. Akerson and Wells finished second with the same time of 4:08:09. Mejia rounded out the top four at 4:10:13.
Costa Rica’s Adriana Rojas won every stage of La Ruta in the women’s contest, finishing the race in 22:22:27. She topped Americans Rebecca Rusch and Louise Kobin by 1:19:38 and 1:45:05 respectively.
The reason Rojas had such a huge gap on Rusch and Kobin is that the two were riding together in a group on stage four and took a wrong turn. The mistake took them on a costly 22km detour.
"It might take me till next season to recover from this race..." --Todd Wells
"It's an amazing race. Hard. Very hard but very rewarding." --Todd Wells
"La Ruta is a strange addiction." --Milton Ramos (HON)
--- --- ---
Overall Standings
1. Todd Wells (USA) 17:18:06
2. Rom Akerson (CRC) +10:18
3. Luis Mejía (COL) +27:28
4. Lico Ramírez (CRC) +39:00
5. Moises Hernandez (CRC) +42:30
---
1. Adriana Rojas (CRC) 22:22:27
2. Rebecca Rusch (USA) 23:42:05
3. Louise Kobin (USA) 24:07:32
4. Jane Rynbrandt (USA) 24:44:20
5. Ligia Madrigal (CRC) 26:16:35
At 8:30am the first rider was seen coming out of what's been nicknamed "the mud pits of hell", a section of yellowish gluelike mud within the depths of the Carara rainforest.
Drenched in mud, 2011 Leadville100 winner Todd Wells was the first racer to reach CP2, where a fervent contingent of local and international media awaited the first riders to start the minute by minute coverage of Stage1.
Wells was followed by Honduran racer, Milton Ramos who would exchange lead wheels at times. Yet it was about five kilometers before CP4 where Wells stood on his feet with a malicious smile on his face and picked up his pace reaching a lead of over six minutes by the time he reached CP5.
Costa Rica rider, Rom Akerson, was the big surprise at Stage1, he showed strength and determination riding next to 'Lico' Ramírez up the hill to CP4 where Lico dropped positions due to stomach problems. Akerson picked up the tempo and shortened distance with Milton Ramos to reach third place only three minutes behind Ramos.
2011 Leadville record holder, Rebecca Rusch, is back for some tropical mountain biking pain. She finished second today ten minutes behind Costa Rican rider, Adriana Rojas, the strongest female rider of the day.
Weather on our side, partly cloudy skies, no rain for a change… 63 kilometers of beautiful coffee plantation country await riders in the mountain south of the city of San Jose.
--- --- ---
Overall
1. Todd Wells - 05:27:32
2. Milton Ramos - 05:38:06
3. Rom Akerson - 05:41:16
---
1. Adriana Rojas - 07:06:09
2. Rebecca Rusch - 07:16:41
3. Louise Kobin - 07:36:48
Stage 2:
While America’s reigning cross-country mountain bike national champ Todd Wells posted a commanding victory in Wednesday’s 108km stage one, he placed fourth in stage two on Thursday.
Although Wells leads the overall going into Friday’s third stage, this year is his first time racing the treacherous La Ruta and to mountain bike stage racing in general. All of which means anything can happen over the next two stages.
On Thursday’s stage two, however, the day belonged to Colombia’s Luis Mejia. Mejia may have had something to prove as he was disqualified from the 2010 La Ruta after taking aid outside official checkpoints.
Mejia topped the field with a time of 4:01:21. That bested Rom Akerson of Costa Rica by 3:05 and 7:07 ahead of five-time La Ruta champ Federico “Lico” Ramierez.
Wells, meanwhile, suffered a flat due to a broken wheel, which he had to change in a time-consuming pit stop. Wells finished fourth 9:38 behind Mejia.
Going into Friday’s stage three, Wells has a 7:11 overall lead on second-place Akerson and third-place Milton Ramos of Honduras, who is 14:57 minutes behind Wells.
In the women’s division, Costa Rica’s Adriana Rojas repeated her stage one victory by topping Leadville Trail 100 champ Rebecca Rusch and five-time La Ruta women’s champ Louise Kobin in stage two.
Going into Friday’s third stage Rojas has a 16:53 lead over Rusch and 44:41 advantage on Kobin.
--- --- ---
Overall
1. Todd Wells (USA) - 09:38:31
2. Rom Akerson (CRC) - 09:45:42
3. Milton Ramos (HON) - 09:53:28
---
1. Adriana Rojas (CRC) - 12:30:21
2. Rebecca Rusch (USA) - 12:47:14
3. Louise Kobin (USA) - 13:15:02
Stage 3:
American Todd Wells kept tabs on his second-place rival, Rom Akerson of Costa Rica, during stage three of La Ruta de los Conquistadores on Friday.
While Wells made sure Akerson didn’t gain on his lead, Colombia’s Luis Mejia again took off on an early flyer like in stage two to win the day in 3hrs 28mins 42secs. Although Mejia’s gutsy solo victory moved him into third place overall it didn’t dent the top-two spots held by Wells and Akerson. Mejia’s second stage win of the four-stage race placed him third overall 25:24 behind Wells and 15:06 behind Akerson.
At the start of the 79km stage Wells held a 7:11 lead over Akerson, so hepushed the pace of the main group in an effort to pressure the race-leading American. Together the group — consisting of Akerson; Wells; five-time La Ruta champ Lico Ramirez along with a teammate, Moises Hernandez; and Dennis Porras — started up the paved road toward the fog-shrouded10,000-foot Irazú Volcano. But as the pavement pitched up and Akerson drove on riders began to crack.
First it was Hernandez to be spit out; then Porras was dropped. Finally Costa Rican hero Ramirez started going backward.
As Ackerson put on the pressure he was able to open a 30- to 50-second gap on Wells, who was doing a bit of rubber-banding depending on the gradient. At the top of the climb fog cut visibility down to about 25 feet and dropped temperatures into the low 50s. Akerson went through the feed zone about 45 seconds ahead of Wells.
Ackerson and Wells rode together until near the finish when a short climb accentuated Ackerson’s fatigue, which allowed Wells to finish just more than three minutes ahead. After three stages the Durango, Colorado resident has a total time of 13:09:57. Ackerson is 10:18 back and Mejia is in third at 25:24.
Women’s Race
For the third day in a row Costa Rica’s Adriana Rojas dominated the women’s contest crossing the line in 4:42:28. Through an interpreter, Rojas said she is aware of the daily win-lose nature of La Ruta and wanted to take care of herself and the bike during the stage to stay full strength for Saturday’s final stage.
Louise Kobin, a five-time La Ruta women’s champ, finished second on the day 4:43 back. It was Kobin’s best stage of the race so far.
Rebecca Rusch, who finished second on stages one and two finished third on the day after a rough first half on the course. She said her plan before the start of the stage was to “ride away” from everyone early on.
Overall, Rojas leads second-place Rusch by nearly 24 minutes and Kobin by nearly 50 minutes.
--- --- ---
Overall Standings
1. Todd Wells (USA) - 13:09:57
2. Rom Akerson (CRC) - 13:20:15
3. Luis Mejía (COL) - 13:35:21
4. Milton Ramos (HON) - 13:38:01
5. Lico Ramírez (CRC) - 13:46:27
---
1. Adriana Rojas (CRC) - 17:12:49
2. Rebecca Rusch (USA) - 17:36:46
3. Louise Kobin (USA) - 18:02:13
4. Jane Rynbrandt (USA) - 19:21:46
5. Ligia Madrigal (CRC) - 20:46:06
Stage 4:
As he did on stages two and three, Todd Wells (USA) kept second-place Rom Akerson of Costa Rica in check on stage four to win the 19th edition of La Ruta de los Conquistadores.
Wells, along with 250 other mountain bikers, rode from Costa Rica’s Pacific coast to the country’s Caribbean shore in 17 hrs 18 mins 06 secs. Akerson was 10:18 back. Colombia’s Luis Mejia finished third overall after winning two stages.
Akerson trimmed Wells’ lead to around seven minutes, which at La Ruta is tenuous at best. But the constant attacking took its toll on Akerson and in the end he gave back three minutes to finish with his best showing ever at La Ruta.
Wells and Akerson garnered much of the attention after the final stage, but it was Costa Rican Moises Hernandez who won the 120km day in a time of 4:00:30. Akerson and Wells finished second with the same time of 4:08:09. Mejia rounded out the top four at 4:10:13.
Costa Rica’s Adriana Rojas won every stage of La Ruta in the women’s contest, finishing the race in 22:22:27. She topped Americans Rebecca Rusch and Louise Kobin by 1:19:38 and 1:45:05 respectively.
The reason Rojas had such a huge gap on Rusch and Kobin is that the two were riding together in a group on stage four and took a wrong turn. The mistake took them on a costly 22km detour.
"It might take me till next season to recover from this race..." --Todd Wells
"It's an amazing race. Hard. Very hard but very rewarding." --Todd Wells
"La Ruta is a strange addiction." --Milton Ramos (HON)
--- --- ---
Overall Standings
1. Todd Wells (USA) 17:18:06
2. Rom Akerson (CRC) +10:18
3. Luis Mejía (COL) +27:28
4. Lico Ramírez (CRC) +39:00
5. Moises Hernandez (CRC) +42:30
---
1. Adriana Rojas (CRC) 22:22:27
2. Rebecca Rusch (USA) 23:42:05
3. Louise Kobin (USA) 24:07:32
4. Jane Rynbrandt (USA) 24:44:20
5. Ligia Madrigal (CRC) 26:16:35