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Results and Reports for June 22-28, 2002

Panama

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National Road Championships

June 23, 2002

The climbers have a field day

The National Road Championship of Panama was held over a cruel 180 km course containing three climbs between 18 and 25 kilometres long, each separated by a stretch along the Inter America Highway that travels from Mexico to the Colombian border.

The weather for much of the race was in excess of 30 degrees and only fell below that when race was smothered by a tropical downpour during the descent of the second climb, La Laguna. The first two peaks, Sora and La Laguna, with their fifteen to twenty percent ramps broke the peloton apart. At the base of La Laguna, the top 25 riders were spread out over a space of 30 minutes.

Unlike most National Champs (and as specified by the UCI rules) this race was not held over a circuit. As a result the climbers had a field day with the two top placed riders having been away since the climb of Sora, which commmenced just after the 50 km mark.

The finish was at the end of another 22 kilometres of climbing, this time a bit softer, on the ridge above the mountain resort of El Valle; however at an altitude at 1000 metres, there was a little respite from the heat.

Results, 180km

El Chorrera - El Valle

1 Jonathon Torres - Veraguas Province
2 Mario Rios - Panama Province
3 Eibar Villareal - Panama Province
4 Saul Bethancourt - Chiriqui Province
5 Rufino Linares - Panama Province