Vuelta Kolbi a Costa Rica 2013

From December 17th-29th, I have been racing the 49th Vuelta a Costa Rica. 12 stages for more than 1500km in the mountainous terrain of Costa Rica.

Day 0 - December 16th - Prologue before the race actually starts !
I landed in San José, Costa Rica on the 15th. Excellent and relaxing flight, got welcome by 2 persons from the FECOCI, made it to the race hotel aroung midnight for a short but good night of sleep. The next day tough was a different story; After a nice little ride in the morning with all the riders of the team, we learn that we are leaving at 15h00 for the team presentation at 18h30 in Limon, 3h drive away. The bus that came at 15h00 could only fit 20 or so persons and we were about 45! We and the russian team are then told to wait there and wait for other cars to go to Limon. A minivan came for the russians 15min later, but we only got to leave at around 19h30 with the president of the costa rican cycling federation himself + our team car ;) As I was driving the team car in the dark, one of the front light was burned and I hit a gigantic pothole causing a flat tire. In the end, we reached Limon at about midnignt and it was good team bounding ;)

Day 1 - December 17th - Limon / Limon - 135km (669m) - strava - report - full results - video
After a short night, we wake up in downpoor rain. Having missed the technical meeting there is some stress, but we make it to the start and we have numbers on our back ! The race start fast and after a few kilometers, I feel good and decide to bridge across to the solo russian rider. We are joined by 3 others and make it to the finish fine as we had 4min with 10km to go. My legs feel good and I hesitate to attack, but decide to save it for the final sprint. With 300m to go, I jump hard with 300m to go, but a rider in front deviated from his line almost pushing me in the barriers and I got passed but russian Kovalev 2meters from the line. It was a very disappointing finish, but also a confirmation about my good form and motivation for the next stages.



Day 2 - December 18th - Limon - Guapiles - 172km (1262m) - strava - report - full results - video
The second stage saw my teammate Anton getting an excellent 2nd place out of another breakaway. They finish about 5min in front of the peloton so I droped in 8th in the GC. At the end, Ryan and Gavriel helped me for the sprint and I got some points for the Regularidad classification in 8th.

Day 3 - December 19th - Guapiles - San Carlos - 122km (1640m) - strava - report - full results - video
Stage 3 was the first mountain test. On paper, it looked hard, but with my current form, I was hoping to resist good and maybe conserve my GC standing. However, the night and morning before, I had "tourista" and so my stomach would'nt allow me to eat anything at breakfast. I was running without gas and I lost almost a minute every kilometer in the last 20km of the race.

Day 4 - December 19th - Chachagua - Liberia - 157km (2465m) - strava - report - full results - video
Stage 4 was harder than it looked. After 20km to go, I see GC guys attacking and I figured it was a important move to marked and I jumped hard to bridge across. It was pretty hard only to follow the group in the rolling hills of the start as we quickly gain 10min on the main peloton. With JPS team present in big numbers, they did the most work in the group and I was able to save my legs as much as I could in the group (16 riders). With 9km to go, we catch Marconi Duran from Coopenae who rode very strong throughout the stage forcing JPS to chase. From that moment, all cards played in my favor as I was the fastest rider in the group. I stayed calm until the finish and let the others started the sprint and passed them just in time to raise my arms. First UCI victory for me and now leading the Regularidad classification !



Day 5 - December 19th - Liberia - Santa Cruz - 170km (1038m) - strava - report - full results - video
Confident after my win the day before, l took the bull by the horns and attack early in the stage. After less than 10km, I managed to get away with 5 other riders. For 50km, we dangled in the front with only 25sec !" Only after the feedzone, we start to get over the minute. When we got closer to the finish, we had 2min30 lead on the peloton and so we all eased off the pace in preparation for the finish. We then see the 25km to go sign ! Wearing the regularidad jersey, I did'nt want the peloton to catchs us after we drop the pace and so I did a little more in the final. Still I was feeling strong for the finish. Unfortunately, when sprinting, I busted a spoke on my back wheel and finish 3rd. Still a good result for the team and more points on the Regularidad classification. This was a very hard race as we rode a hard tempo pretty much all the time. 

Day 6 - December 19th - Santa Cruz - San Ramon - 174km (2636m) - strava - report - full results - video
Not even 10km into the race, a big group of riders (26) got away. When I see the way the leader team was riding, I took a chance and attacked even tough the gap was already pointing at 1min30. I was joined by 2 riders Carlos Lopez from Mexico and Bryan Villalobos from Costa Rica. We rode very hard and only made junction to the group around the 55km mark. By then, the lead to the peloton was about 9min. I was happy to see Gavriel and Etienne in the break. With a "breakaway" that big, the cohesion was not perfect among the group and there was constant attacking until it settle down." Around the 100km mark, we had a serious lead of 12min over the field and I followed a Cuban and a Guatemalan who attacked. We rode well together and started the climb with 1min30 on the chase group. Soon enough, the best climbers from the chase group joined and pass us as I stayed within my limits on the climb (15km - cat 1). When we reached the top of the climb, 6km to the finish, my group was now down to 6 riders. Quickly after the descent as we hit the flat towards the finish line, Juan Carlos Rojas, the leader of the Vuelta came from nowhere. He managed to close down an enormous gap during the 20km climb as the last gap we heard before the climb was 12min! This was good coincidence for me as I let him do all the work which facilitate me taking the sprint for 4th and comforting my "regularidad" jersey. I now have 31points advantage on Jose Vega who won the stage. I was very happy with the way I raced.



Day 7 - December 19th - Cachi - Paraiso - 10,6km (385m) - strava - report - full results - video report
THe uphill time trial was a short but hard one. 5km flat followed by a 2km wall and 3km false flat to the finish. I went all out in the flat section, but paid it big time on the hill where I was stuck not able to turn the pedal at a higher cadence than 60rm on the 28th !

Rest day - strava - video
The rest day was good timming for me, my legs were getting heavy and my back was hurting. We rode a little in the morning and do the tourist in the afternoon for a short while before getting an early night.

Day 8 - December 19th - Circuito Presidente - San José - 118km ( 1600m) - strava - report - full results - video
Stage 8 was a nice circuit in San José with thousands of fan lining up to adds up to the excitment. The race was a bit chaos and I will not go into details, but this was a very frustrating race for me as mistakes made by the race organization cost me another podium.

Day 9 - December 19th - Orotina - Parrita - 141km ( 1000m) - strava - report - full results - video
Eager from the day before, I bridge across to the breakaway and we rode pretty strong all day. My teammate Anton was also in the move. In total, we were 9 riders including 2 guatemalans, us the two canadians, 1 russian, 1 colombian, 1 mexican, 1 costa rican and 1 cuban. In the hand, me Anton did lots of work as everyone was marking us. Anton helped me marked some moves in the end and I finished 2nd and extend my lead on the Regularidad.



Day 10 - December 19th - Parrita - Perez Zeledon - 136km (1500m) - strava - report - full results - video
Stage 10 was a hard mountain stage in which I was not in the breakaway for once. Still, the climb was very hard and I finished so cracked I had to walk my bike up a climb after the race going to the race hotel...

Day 11 - December 19th - Buenos Aires time trial - 40km (490m) - strava - report - full results - video
The time trial was an important opportunity for me to score points for the regularidad jersey. My legs tough were a bit too tired from the mountains the day before and its without taking into consideration Rojas, the closest rival for the Regularidad classification and actual race leader, doing a time trial at 50km/h average speed. Not bad for a climber ! To add to the disappointment, I broke my road bike going to the bakery in the afternoon.

Day 12 - December 19th - Perez Zelezon - San José - 157km (3600m) - strava - report - full results - video
With a HC climb up to 3200m of altitude and  45km long, stage 12 was another tough one on paper. In reality, it has been an enormous challenge and a battle until the end. The day started considerably fine. Alonzo, a guy from the neutral service, was kind enough to lend me his personal bike in replacment of my broken one. The fit was not great as he had an integrated seat post, but it was a good bike and in good condition. Starting the race, I was 4th on the sprints clasification. With the last on at km 30, just as we started the cerro de la muerte, I sneak up in a break away and got those 5 points to get the 3rd place in that classification. With a 1min gap on the peloton, I also enjoyed an easier start of the climb and I managed to follow a good group lead by the whole Coopenae Movistar team. It was very good as they were riding a strong tempo and as we reach the top and start going down, we catch riders after riders solo or in small groups. I was happy as this group garanty my 13th spot in the GC. The carnage happen with 45km to go tough. I was going on the descent last of the group as I was not very confortable on the bike with the seat being too high and suddenly, a costa rican rider had a mechanical going speed over 70km/h. He did a front flip and his bike went airborn, bouncing on the road. I could'nt avoid it and crash pretty hard myself. The pain was very strong and I tought I had broken my back or the hip. A few minutes later tough, I felt a bit better and ask for my bike to finish the race. The last kilometer were hard, but I finally made it, 15min after the group I was in... In the end, I am happy I finished the Vuelta a Costa Rica. It was my 4th participation and I achieved my best results in career during those 2 weeks. Now time to heal up !



Credits photos: Fecoci.net / Ever Obando / Coopenae Movistar cycling team