One of La Ruta’s strongest ascents was ridden today nearly one and a half kilometers after the start of the stage, a wall that took riders from 800 meters up to 1400 meters above sea level within 8 kilometers.

Top racers showed their world-class level making the first ascent seem like a ride in the park although several elite riders paid the price of a rapid pace and a grueling push to the top. Such was the case of Ben Sonntag when at a mere 100 meters from reaching the top of the mountain his chain sunk within the depths of his rear cassette.

Paolo Montoya from team Giant-Italy who was near the scene as a spectator (due to recent injury), mentioned that Ben held a top-five position when the chain got jammed in the cassette. He lost over twenty minutes and more than half an entire participant list, yet he managed to make it into 10th position.

Costa Rica’s Deiber Esquivel in Stage 2 did another amazing comeback from previous hardware malfunction. After finishing in 13th position on Stage 1 Esquivel came in 1st on today’s stage, 30 seconds before Manuel Prado who still holds 1st place in the general standings.

Deiber is the only elite racer from team Economy-Citi-Blue. The Costa Rican Cycling Federation threatened with upcoming event disqualifications to those elite local riders that would participate in La Ruta. The event, considered too far on the adventure racing side of the fence for UCI’s regulations 3 years ago is amidst allegations from the local cycling federation which claims La Ruta must pay honoraries and percentages for purposes unclear to this day.

Both Esquivel and Prado would be subject to sanctions yet have clearly stated that their main goal throughout the season has been to prepare for La Ruta and are willing to undergo penalties to represent their country and teams.

Monavie-Cannondale’s Tinker Juarez was not able to finish the stage when finding himself lost on an abandoned road for over an hour, immediately followed by an unfortunate flat tire which set him down to a car ride from his nearby location.

“It’s truly unfortunate, but these things happen…” said Tinker, he will continue unranked and keeps a signature smile on his face, always available for a photograph with his loyal fans.

Tomorrow awaits one of the toughest stages of the race, the climb to Irazú and Turrialba volcanoes, reaching a height of close to 3400 meters above sea level.

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Men’s Stage Results:

1. Deiber Esquivel – 03:45:27

2. Manuel Prado – 03:45::58

3. Marc Trayter – 03:46:02

Women’s Stage Results:

1. Louise Kobin – 04:42:34

2. Adriana Rojas – 04:44:52

3. Yesennia Villalta – 06:23:30

Photography Credits – J. Andrés Vargas

via Press Release