The most important cycling round in Costa Rica returns this December 16 after a 2-year absence due to the Covid 19 pandemic. The Vuelta a Costa Rica Telecable 2022 will have an interesting route that will cross a large part of the geography of the Costa Rican country and It will end on Christmas Day at the already customary Circuito Presidente, in Aurora de Heredia.
For this 56th edition, the riders will face ten stages that add up to a total of 1,100 kilometers, crossing six of the seven Costa Rican provinces, in an attractive route that presents a balance between flat, high, and medium-mountain stages, as well as a decisive climbing time trial of 12 kilometres.
The first three stages of the route, which reach the towns of Liberia, Nicoya and Puntarenas, are practically flat days in which the strongest rollers and sprinters will have the leading role.
The fourth stage, without being the hardest, already presents the first 1st category port in the Alto de Santiago, although a bit far from the finish line. On the fifth day, the Tour of Costa Rica introduces one of its novelties of the year: an unprecedented finish at the top of Cerro Gallo Berlín, in San Ramón, designated as 3rd category.
The second half of the race presents the most challenging stages in terms of mountains. The sixth stage has three first-class ports of passage including the fearsome Cerro de la Muerte, although it is climbed by its less harsh slope. In the seventh stage, the riders will face the only HC climb of the race: the very long 40 km ascent to La Georgina, before descending to the finish line.
The eighth segment includes three 3rd class climbs that are very attractive for ambushes, while the next day, Christmas Eve, comes the stage that will decide the general classification: the 12-kilometer time trial at an average of 7.5% in San Juan de Chicuá. . The final stage will be the attractive Circuito Presidente that will be run on Christmas Day.
Five foreign teams are confirmed to take the start in this Tour of Costa Rica, according to statements by Óscar Herrero, vice president of the Costa Rican Cycling Federation, to CR Ciclismo: the Continental license teams: Team Banco de Guayaquil and Movistar BestPc from Ecuador , and Panama is Culture and Values; in addition to the amateur teams Herrera Sport from Colombia and ProCyclingStats.com from the Netherlands.
Nine Costa Rican teams will complete the starting list, among which the one that creates the most expectation is the Colono BikeStation Clips that will arrive led by the defending champion Daniel Bonilla, accompanied by several of the teammates who supported him to achieve the title in 2019 and reinforced by current national road champion Jason Huertas.
Of the international teams, Movistar BestPC arrives in Costa Rica with a very strong roster that includes Carlos Gálviz, Byron Guamá, who was 4th in the CG in 2019, and Pablo Caicedo, who was the king of the mountain in the previous edition. and Santiago Montenegro podium in the recent Tour of Ecuador.
The payrolls of Team Banco de Guayaquil and Panama Es Cultura y Valores have already been confirmed. Both teams have very strong riders on their rosters who will have many options for prominence both in the General Classification and in secondary objectives in this Tour of Costa Rica that is about to begin.
Route:
Stage 1: December 16. Heredia – Liberia 199.18 km
Stage 2: December 17. Liberia – Nicoya 122.70 km
Stage 3: December 18. Nicoya – Puntarenas 125.93 km
Stage 4: December 19. Puntarenas – Greece. 79.42km
Stage 5: December 20. San Ramon – San Ramon. 94km
Stage 6: December 21. La Union – Perez Zeledon. 120.78km
Stage 7: December 22. Perez Zeledon – La Union. 129.62 km
Stage 8: December 23. Paradise – Paradise 94.14 km
Stage 9: IRC. December 24. Cot de Oreamuno – San Juan de Chicuá 12.37 km
Stage 10: December 25. President Circuit. 99km
Source: www.ciclismointernacional.com