With the Vuelta a Ecuador and the Vuelta a Chiapas (Mexico) at the end of November and the Vuelta a Costa Rica at the moment, as well as the next events in Venezuela and Argentina, the season is in full swing in South and Central America.
Fifteen teams attended the Vuelta a Ecuador, from November 22 to 30, with participation from Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, Guatemala and Netherlands. The race was very competitive and the overall win went to the local champion Byron Guama de la Cruz from Ecuador. Stages wins were shared between Ecuadorians, and Colombians, with the overall winner taking four stage wins.
During the same period of time, the Vuelta a Chiapas was taken by the Colombian rider Gregorio Ladino racing for Tecos.
Teams from Republic Dominican, Aruba, Cuba, Argentina, Honduras, Mexico, Spain and Slovakia were in attendance. A very competitive field indeed, but Gregorio Ladino who collected three stages wins, and his team Tecos trusted the honors.
With these two events, the UCI points were shared between many athletes and there is no clear domination yet, but in the first months of 2009, with many events taking place, the rankings will take shape and will give us an indication of the America Tour’s strength. At the end of November, the America Tour leader was the experienced Manuel Medina from Venezuela but now the competition is tight and we need to see how the Vuelta a Tachira and the Vuelta a Costa Rica will develop in order to know the new leader for this first part of the season.
The Vuelta a Costa Rica will probably see the defending champion Henry Raabe use his experience to try to conquer an other title over the foreign teams coming from Cuba, Canada, Guatelama, Dominican Republic and Mexico. But starting January 2009, the main events are definitively the Vuelta a Tachira and the Tour de San Luis, in Argentina, a 2.1 event this year.
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