The Italian (Eneicat CM Team) Valentina Basilico resisted this Sunday the Colombian push in the fourth stage of the 22nd Women’s Tour of Guatemala to lift the overall individual trophy.
In the closing 13-lap, 59.8-kilometer flat circuit of the capital’s Reforma and Las Americas avenues, the Italian made history by becoming the first European to win the event.
Basilico, only 20 years old, who regained the yellow jersey the day before, remained even among the leaders of the peloton and crossed the finish line behind Portugal’s Daniela Campos (Eneicat CM Team), with the same time.
Behind, third was her fierce rival, the coffee, Lina Maria Rojas (Patobike), located before the start to four seconds, and the corretáneas of this Jannie Salcedo (Clarus Merquimia), Nicolle Garcia (Patobike) as well as the Mexican Diana Lopez (Azteca Cycling).
Pre-competition favorite Karen Villamizar (Boneshaker) came in seventh, followed by Aztec Marcela Prieto (Patobike) and another Colombian Anette Saavedra (Patobike), who closed the top 10.
Some 51 riders from 13 teams finished the race, while Jasmín Soto (Macizo Cordelsa), with third place last year, crossed the finish line in 30th place. Joining Basílico on the podium were Rojas, separated at the end by eight seconds, and another Colombian, young Natalia Garzón, 11 seconds behind.
Villamizar filed a fourth place, 12 seconds behind, American Kira Payer (Boneshaker), who won the second leg, a fifth, and Mexicans Prieto and Andrea Ramirez (Boneshaker) sixth and eighth, respectively. Basílico, Rojas and Garzón dominated the under-23 classification and Colombian Andrea Alzate (Eneicat CM Team) enjoyed the mountain prize with her three points.
In the flying goals, another rider from that South American power in this sport, Karen González, also contributed to animate the competition. In a close team battle, after a tie until this date, Patokike was better than Boneshaker and Clarus Merquimia, with Eneicat 30 seconds behind.
Venezuela’s Lilibeth Chacon (absent this time), of Clarus Merquimia, won the overall grand prize in the previous event, July 7-11, 2023. Gabriela González, from Guatemala, triumphed in the first event of the Vuelta Internacional Femenina a Guatemala in 2001 and the nationals were crowned nine times, four Mexicans, three from El Salvador, the Colombians, and one each for Costa Rica and Venezuela.
Source: Agencia Prensa Latina