Two stages of one of the hardest athletic events in the planet, have been completed and the final one will take place tomorrow, November 5th.

The first stage of La Ruta de los Conquistadores, that started November 3 from Jaco and arrived at Atenas, had Colombian Luis Mejia as the male winner with a time of 04:36:32, this athlete also took the first position in the second stage completed today and that traversed from Atenas to Santa Ana (British Motors) Mejia stopped the clock today at 03:47:30. Mejia is the defending champion as he was crowned the winner in the 2015 edition of this famous mountain bike competition.

Second position was taken in both cases by Spanish Josep Betalú who is participating in the competition for the third time and didn’t hide his frustration for not being able to take the lead position “I knew Luis Mejia was the man to beat, he is the strongest. La Ruta is a competition of experience and having a strong body”, commented Betalú.

The best Costa Rican in the first stage was Jonathan Carballo who came in fourth, while in the second stage it was Paolo Montoya who came in the third position with a time of 03:59:45. Overall through both stages, Costa Rican Federico “Lico” Ramírez is the best ranked.

Colombian Angela Parra was the winner in the female category for both stages, with a time of 6:00:39 the first day and 05:37:15 the second day. Second place of this category for the two stages went to Lea Davison from the U.S.A.

Costa Rican triathlete Leonardo Chacón finished the first day in position 22 after he fell in the Carara area and broke the rim of his bike, and in position 24 in the second day of competition.

The third and final stage of La Ruta will take place tomorrow as athletes will traverse from Siquirres to Moin in Limon in a route that also involves rafting.