Benjamin Sonntag and Angela Parra win La Ruta de los Conquistadores
The 18th edition of La Ruta de los Conquistadores kicked off on Wednesday, 17 November. The first of four stages at what is reputedly one of the oldest and most difficult mountain bike races was contested in Costa Rica
on a 106km route from Jaco to Santa Ana. Benjamin Sonntag and Angela Parra became the first winners in the men’s and women’s categories respectively, and both went on to take the overall victory in the event after Saturday’s fourth and final stage.
“I won La Ruta and that is absolutely crazy - I haven't realized yet what this victory means to me,” said Sonntag to the race press.
La Ruta is modelled after the route the Conquistadores took from across Costa Rica. The race takes riders from the Pacific coast, through rain forests, around active volcano, over mountain passes, along rivers and among native communities
en route to the Caribbean coast.
"They call it an adventure race for a reason. This race will test your mind, body, and spirit. Not everyone finishes, but those who do, have much to be proud of," said competitor Rebecca Rusch.
The men’s field contained several past winners including local favourite Federico Ramirez who ultimately finished La Ruta on the podium, 3:49 behind Sonntag for third place overall. 2009 runner-up, American Alex Grant, matched his
previous performance in the race by finishing 2:30 behind the winner.
“Last year, I got dropped and lost 2.5 minutes to Ben in the last 10 minutes,” said Grant. “This year, the same thing was happening. I made it to the back of Federico, and Ben sat at the front so they wouldn't attack. He paid me
back for yesterday when I helped him out.”
The race organizers named this year as having the best women’s field they ever had, including Rusch, recent Leadville 100 winner, and her fellow American Louise Kobin, four-time winner and defending champion of La Ruta. Despite impressive
performances by many of the women in the race, the highly anticipated contest was uneventful. Angela Parra won every stage and the overall title, followed by Kobin and Rusch in that order in all four stages.
“I'm not as tired as I have been in the past because we rode together for most of the day and I don't think either of us was killing ourselves,” said Kobin after her seventh time completing the race. “It's just another notch in the belt I guess.”
Tags: