Stage 6 of the Vuelta al Ecuador took place on Saturday, September 12, 2026, running from Tulcán to the Cuicocha Lagoon (Cotacachi), with Kevin Navas emerging as the winner. Héctor Álvarez held onto the top spot—having taken the lead in the previous stage—and will enter the final day as the race leader.
On the event’s sixth day, the race started from Tulcán’s central park at 9:00 AM. Forty-eight cyclists representing 12 of the 13 teams took to the road. Following Stage 5, the Liga de Nariño squad from Colombia had withdrawn from the competition.
In this stage, Kevin Navas secured the win with a time of 3 hours, 59 minutes, and 44 seconds. César Guavita followed just six seconds behind. There was a gap of over a minute before the third cyclist reached the podium; race leader Héctor Álvarez rounded out the top three, finishing 1 minute and 15 seconds behind the stage winner.
The cyclists covered a 158.68-kilometer route, passing through two intermediate sprints and four mountain climbs—the first three classified as Category 3 and the final one designated as HC (Hors Catégorie).
Despite the gap opened up by Navas and Guavita, it was not enough to knock Álvarez from the top spot of the Vuelta. The 20-year-old cyclist remains the overall leader of the event and also tops the Under-23 classification.
The promising Ecuadorian rider holds an overall time of 19 hours, 46 minutes, and 55 seconds. Meanwhile, Byron Guamá—who led the race until the fourth stage—now sits in third place, with Navas in second.
Alejandro Pita remains at the top of the intermediate sprints classification. The situation remains the same for César Guavita regarding the mountains classification.
With this victory, Kevin Navas became the only cyclist in the current Vuelta al Ecuador to win more than one stage. The national road race champion also claimed victory on the second day of the competition.
The first stage Navas won was the 129.68-kilometer circuit in Riobamba. With this latest win, his team—Best PC Team—has secured a total of four stage victories; in addition to his two wins, Guamá and Álvarez each won a stage.
The final stage of the Vuelta al Ecuador will take place on Sunday, September 13, 2026. The route will run between Cotacachi and Mitad del Mundo, covering a distance of 126.25 kilometers.
