Wells, Tinker Juárez. Last year’s winner, Marconi Durán wasn’t present this year, so everyone
thought the podium would be fought between Montoya and Wells. Suddenly, the unexpected
happened.
The first and second place of Day 1 was held by unexpected but clearly highly qualified contenders. Portuguese rider Luis Leao Pinto took home the first place with a time of 4:53:31,
with a great advantage over the second place, taken by Luis Mejía, who came ten minutes and
26 seconds after. Leao and Mejía were sure to come in the first pack of riders since they took
on the challenge of the Carara National Park where both excelled in what is considered one of
the toughest parts of the race as a whole.
“Having a bit of advantage is important, I gave my all in the climbs, but I didn’t expect this kind
of advantage, and I can only hope to keep it since Mejía is a great rider. My legs are hurting
really bad, but Costa Rica is a country where I feel really comfortable and I love it.” Leao told
the press.
Meanwhile, Colombian rider Angela Parra, riding for Coopenae-Economy-Movistar, took
women’s first place with a time of 5:56:19, “it was a great satisfaction just to corss that finish
line, it was a tough stage. The last 3 kilometers were a surprise because you couldn’t walk,
there were too many rocks, lots of water, cow manure. So much rest after 5 hours of intense
riding made the last stretch very difficult, now I have to recover and get back my energy for
tomorrow.” Said Angela.
After changing Stage 2 on very short notice due to the volcanic eruption, riders did not know
what to expect of this brand new day 2 stage. The feeling of it was the same, the weather is
cold and foggy and the uphills are rough. However, nobody expected them to be so rough,
double the climate and double the elevation gain Mejía maintained the second place in the
General Results. He won Day 2 with a time of 2 hours, 24 minutes and 56 seconds, gaining
three minutes on Leao, the overall winner. “I was able to lower my times a little, but in mountain bike anything can happen, until we get to Limón there will not be a winner. I am definitely
trying to win. It’s tricky, it’s difficult, but all the racers know that this is a tough and close race,
it’s unpredictable.” Said Mejía.
ADVENTURE RACE /// La Ruta de los Conquistadores 2014
Although he still had the lead in the general results, Luis Leao suffered on Day 2. He crossed
the finish line dehydrated and weak in the legs, “I’ve had a ver bad day. Thursday I spent
almost 40km without water, which cost me today, that’s why I haven’t had a good feeling
about this. In the forest I lost a bit of time and lost the first two guys. I wasn’t comfortable, it
was very complicated. In the ascent, I tried to win some time, but I burnt out and I got to the
finish line in automatic mode because I couldn’t even see the road, I had a big crisis but at the
end I could keep going and get some alright results for today. This is mountain bike, one good
day and one bad day.” Said Leao.
You can’t be sure of anything in La Ruta de los Conquistadores. Proof of this is Todd Well’s victory in Day 3, something that had neve happened before, not even when he had won La Ruta
in the General Results. Wells got a time of 04:19:05; however, this wasn’t enough to get him
on the podium.
Portuguese cyclist Luis Leao Pinto (Scotiabank) was crowned the winner of La Ruta de los
Conquistadores 2014 after crossing the finish line in the sixth place in Playa Bonita, Limón.
However, due to his performance on day 1, he has 6 minutes and 46 second of advantage over
Luis Mejía (Coopenae Movista Economy) Leao kept up the pase in the main pack since the
kick off at San Buenaventura Park in Turrialba. In the 120 kilometer journey, he fought
strongly against Josep Betalú, Luis Mejía, Héctor Riveros and Paolo Montoya. Todd Wells left
the pack at the first checkpoint in La Alegría.
The Portuguese rider came in sixth place today with a time of 4:27:30, 8 minutes and 25
seconds after stage winner Todd Wells (Specialized). “This race can’t be done on your own,
and the trugh is that I didn’t know my teammates so well, but they have been amazing today
and have fought for me. We rode together since the attacks began, we had it all under control
until they couldn’t handle it anymore.” Explained the cyclist and lawyer. “Like I said yesterday
(Day 2), today I was going to give the best versión of myself that I could, and you could count
on me to give my all until the end, and it has been this way. I kept my peace in the climbs and
just at the beginning I noticed that I was stronger than my rivals, they got it and at the end,
well, I’m really happy. I didn’t have this race set up in my calendar, this has been one of the
worst years of my life. I lost my mom less than two months ago (…) and it has been very complicated, a hard time, I was about to quit competing completely, so this victory is for her.”•
Geo Adventure Magazine 55