Previous La Ruta race winner Deiber Esquivel is charging his way toward the race lead after a disastrous stage one. He has won the past two stages but he remains 26 minutes behind Sho-Air endurance specialist Manny Prado.
In the women's race, American Louise (La Ruta Lou) Kobin lost 10 minutes on stage one but has won the past two stages over current race leader Adriana Rojas. Rojas is clinging to her shrinking lead which now stands at just over 4 minutes.
La Ruta Stage 4
While tomorrow's final stage to Playa Bonita offers plenty of climbing early in the day it will be tough to create large gaps as the riders will finish with 75 kilometers of downhill and flats as the riders leave the Costa Rican interior and head for the coast. Expect plenty of team racing once again as Monavie tried to use their superior numbers to create an advantage over race leader Prado.
Team tactics won't factor in the women's race as Louise Kobin tries to solo her way to another La Ruta win.
Open Men
1, Deiber Esquivel 3.53.01
2, Benjamin Sonntag (Monavie-Cannondale.com) 4.01.33
3, Alex Grant (Monavie-Cannondale.com) 4.01.34
4, Jeremiah Bishop (Monavie-Cannondale.com) 4.01.4
5, Manuel Prado (Sho-Air/Specialized) 4.02.54
6, Marc Traiter 4.02.54
7, Juan Ignacio Mendez 4.19.10
8, Cory Wallace (Kona) 4.21.49
9, Carlos Abellan Ossenbach 4.23.10
10, Alfredo Acosta Gonzalez 4.29.57
Open Women
1, Louise Kobin 4.58.30
2, Adriana Rojas 5.01.50
3, Emma Smith (Trek) 6.11.12
4, Heidi Jo Clayton 6.29.49
5, Yessennia Villalta Coto 6.33.40
GC
Open Men
1, Manuel Prado 13.32.27
2, Marc Traiter 13.39.16
3, Alex Grant 13.54.50
4, Jeremiah Bishop 13.55.01
5, Deiber Esquivel 13.59.24
Open Women
1, Adriana Rojas 17.04.05
2, Louise Kobin 17.08.58
3, Emma Smith 20.58.40
4, Yessennia Villalta Coto 22.08.36
5, Heidi Jo Clayton 23.12.38
