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Heras vs. Ramirez battle set for 2008 La Ruta
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A buzz of nervous anticipation hangs thick in the air at Jaco Beach today, as the 400 or so participants in Costa Rica’s 2008 La Ruta de los Conquistadores are picking up race packets, packing bags and preparing for tomorrow’s opening stage. The first of four days packs a serious punch — 68.7 miles and roughly 14,500 feet of elevation gain from Jaco to Ciudad Colon. The day also includes a plethora of super steep ascents, muddy hike-a-bike sections, river crossings and plenty of pain.
Like the other racers, I am spending today arranging my gear and logistics for the next four days of pain. Gel packs, bars and powders are going in one bag, and spare tubes, tires and tools in another. I pour everything else into the big, yellow La Ruta-emblazoned gear bag supplied by the race to transport my worldly possessions from point A to B. The organizing helps distract my brain from fixating on the next four days of riding, which include 235.9 miles of travel, 45,920 feet of climbing and an immeasurable amount of suffering.
So what’s new for the 2008 edition of La Ruta? First off, registration is down nearly 100 riders from last year. In 2007 the race boasted 150 American riders, and this year that number is only 60. Race director Diego Vieques believes the recent downturn in the American economy is to blame.
At today’s race meeting, Vieques also announced that for 2009 La Ruta would add an additional day, meaning five total days of suffering. For 2009 the race will also boast all-inclusive five-star accommodations, and will limit registration to 300 riders.
For this year’s race organizers tweaked the first and second day’s courses ever so slightly. Instead of sending riders sprinting directly at the first day’s climb, this year organizers have us mow through 18km of road before hitting the traditional route. And instead of finishing at the cow-patty strewn ranch at El Rodeo, we now climb an additional 1000 feet to a town called Ciudad Colon.
The alterations to the 47.5-mile second stage cut out a harrowing mud cliff that we clamored up and down just before the finish line.
“It was one hour of just walking,” race director Diego Vieques told me. “Now we go through a coffee plantation.”
The third and fourth stages remain untouched. On day three we still face the 20-mile road climb up the Irazu Volcano, followed by a jarring 20-mile descent on loose rocks down the other side to the coffee plantations at Aquiares. And on the final day, we will again travel 78 miles from Aquiares to Limon, with the final 20 or so miles featuring a bumpy, jarring ride on railroad tracks.
So who is going to win this thing? Pre-race rumblings promised the strongest men’s field in recent memory. Canadian Olympian and road time trial strongman Svein Tuft, perhaps the toughest roadie in North America (and an experience mixed martial artist) headed up the list of expected riders, according to the speculation. Colombian Leonardo Paez, the 2006 La Ruta champ, French marathon champ Thomas Dietsch and five-time winner Federico Ramirez all registered, too. Oh, and some guy named Roberto Heras who won the Vuelta Espana three times and helped Lance Armstrong win a bunch of races in France was also on the list.
The final tally for top pros isn’t quite as strong. Tuft pulled out, and Paez is in Colombia competing in a local race.
As for the women’s race, three-time champ Louis Kobin looked to be the heaviest hitter, as last year’s La Ruta champ Susan Haywood is in retirement.
But Kobin injured herself in a crash and is also a no-show.
I figure the absence of strong American pros has put the weight of the United States’ hopes squarely on my own back — sorry folks, don’t expect an American victory this year. Last year I fumbled around in the pack fodder section for the majority of the race, fighting exhaustion and frustration the whole way.
But Ramirez, Dietsch and Heras are here, as is Costa Rica’s second in-charge, Paolo Montoya. There is little question in my mind that Heras will be able to hang with the big boys on the route’s long, steep climbs. As for his performance on the muddy, slick descents and rocky downhills off the Irazu — that’s the big question. As is whether Heras will be able to out-suffer the competition throughout four days of mud, steep climbs and hot jungle sunshine.
The Spaniard told me he is expecting big things this week.
“I want to win,” Heras told me. “The first day will be the most difficult because I do not know the race. I do not know the course or the other riders. Tomorrow we will see.”
Indeed, tomorrow we will see.
