Portuguese rider Luis Alberto da Costa Leão Pinto of Team Scotiabank conquered the 22^nd edition of La Ruta de los Conquistadores in Costa Rica, one of the toughest mountain bike competitions in the world, by winning two of the three stages of this grueling race.

Mr. Leão Pinto had a very strong first stage between Jaco Beach and Atenas, crossing the finish line at 4:35:31, which seemed as if he was in a motocross event instead of mountain bike competition. With a lead time of more than 10 minutes over Colombian rider Luis Mejía, who came in second place. Unfortunately, that monumental effort left him dehydrated and with weakened legs during the second stage, in which he came in at fourth place.

As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, the second stage of the La Ruta was shortened to 53 kilometers due to magmatic conditions at the Turrialba volcano, where a recent magmatic eruption sent ash and noxious gases across the region. Mr. Leão Pinto redeemed himself on the final 120 km stage between the San Buenaventura Park in Turrialba and Playa Bonita in the Caribbean province of Limón.

The best male elite rider for Costa Rica was Paolo Montoya, who came in fifth. The Queen of La Ruta is rider Angela Parra from Colombia.

La Ruta de los Conquistadores is an adventure and endurance race that takes riders through some of the same routes that claimed the lives of thousands of conquistadors as they laid claim to the wild territory of Costa Rica on behalf of the Spanish Crown centuries ago. To get an idea of how tough this competition is, please watch the 2013 video below, and keep in mind that many of the trails of this race are so technical that they require riders to shoulder their bikes for long stretches:

RUTA DE LOS CONQUISTADORES FINAL STANDINGS

Male Elite Category

1. #21 Luis Leao Pinto (POR)

2. #8 Luis Mejia (COL)

3. #127 Josep Betalu (ESP)

4. #2 Todd Wells (USA)

5. #1 Paolo Montoya (CRC)

6. #16 Hector Riveros (COL)