Nery Felipe Velásquez stormed back to the top of the leader board in the Vuelta a Guatemala, with a solo win in the seventh stage. In the short 45km stage into Quetzaltenango, in the southwestern part of the country, Velásquez won by 2’36 over Manuel Eduardo Medina and José Ismael Sarmiento. Previous leader Juan Carlos Rojas was 2’41 back and dropped to second overall.
The stage was scheduled for 94km, but a road block due to protesters shortened the stage to half its original distance. Medina is the defending champion. There are still five more stages to go. The race ends on Sunday with the 85km Anillo Periférico circuit race.
Stage 7: Retalhuleu – Quetzaltenango (45 km)
1. Nery Felipe Velásquez (Gua/Café Quetzal) 1h42m27s
2. Manuel Eduardo Medina (Ven/Elite-2) + 2m36s
3. José Ismael Sarmiento (Col/Elite-2) + 2m38s
4. Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio (Mex/Elite-2) + 2m41s
5. Juan Carlos Rojas (Cos/Elite-2) s.t.
General classification after stage 7:
1. Nery Felipe Velásquez (Gua/Café Quetzal) 18h16m12s
2. Juan Carlos Rojas (Cos/Elite-2) + 1m44s
3. José Ismael Sarmiento (Col/Elite-2) + 2m34s
4. Manuel Eduardo Medina (Ven/Elite-2) + 3m12s
5. Mauricio Neisa (Col/Elite-2) + 4m35s