36th Vuelta a Costa Rica - 2.5

Costa Rica, December 17-29, 2000

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Stage 1 - December 17: San José - Limón, 162 km

Mexican Manuel Hernandez gained the first stage of the Vuelta a Costa Rice, a 162 kilometre journey from San Jose to Limon. Hernandez won in a bunch sprint ahead of Róbert Núnez (Té Frío Dos Pinos) and Álvaro Lozano (Café de Costa Rica A) in 3 hours, 46 minutes and 14 seconds. Lozano was awarded the leader's jersey, taking over from Wendy Cruz who won the prologue.

The stage was delayed by several teams not making the start in time. The Aztecs were a little late due to a volcanic eruption (Popocátepetl) but made it in time for the 10:15 am start. However, the Mexican team were not there so the organisers decided to delay the race for an hour until they turned up. In the end, it was one of them who won (Hernandez), taking advantage of a mechanical failure by Wendy Cruz.

Tomorrow is a 133 kilometer circuit around Limón, finishing in Puerto Viejo, another flat stage.

Results

1 Manuel Hernández (Mex) México			3.46.14
2 Róbert Núñez (CRc) Té Frío Dos Pinos		
3 Álvaro Lozano (CRc) Café de Costa Rica A		
4 Víctor Herrera (CRc) Colombia Dis. Kendal		
5 Timo Scholz (CRc) Amnet Televisión		

General classification after stage 1:

1 Róbert Nuñez (CRc) Té Frío Dos Pinos		3.47.16
2 Álvaro Lozano (CRc) Café de Costa Rica A	   0.03
3 Paulo Vargas (CRc) Café de Costa Rica A	   0.04
4 Víctor Herrera (CRc) Colombia			   0.08
5 José Adrián Bonilla (CRc) Café de Costa Rica A   0.09
6 Timo Scholz (CRc) Amnet Televisión		   0.10
7 Federico Ramírez (CRc) Café de Costa Rica A		
8 Luis Morera (CRc) Café de Costa Rica B		
9 Omar Pumar (CRc) Café de Costa Rica A  0.12
10 Raúl Gómez (CRc) Café de Costa Rica B		

Metas Volantes

1 Wendy Cruz (Dom) Adidas-Pipasa-INSJaisa A	12 pts
2 Manuel Hernández (Mex) México			11
3 Róbert Núñez (CRc) Té Frío Dos Pinos		7

Mountains

1 Federico Ramírez (CRc) Café de Costa Rica A	5 pts
2 Paulo Vargas (CRc) Café de Costa Rica A	4
3 Álvaro Lozano (CRc) Café de Costa Rica A	3

Teams

1 México				   11.18.42
2 Café de Costa Rica Pizza Hut A
3 Café de Costa Rica Pizza Hut B	       4.55