November 2, 2006 – With just a day to go before the 2006 La Ruta begins, the excitement has reached fever pitch. Under sunny skies at the Best Western Inn at Jaco Beach, in Costa Rica, Pedal caught up with La Ruta’s PR Officer, Luis Rueda Fonseca.

How long have you been with La Ruta?

LRF: This is my fourth year working with the race, and my second full-time with the Green and Blue tour company as their PR officer. I worked for the Costa Rica National Cycling Federation as their PR officer, which is where I met Diego Viquez from La Ruta. Diego told me all about the race and invited me to work for it, so here I am.

What’s new about 2006 La Ruta and how are things shaping up for the race?

LRF: This year we have really grown once again with the most foreigners we’ve ever had – our most international field ever. We have a really strong group of international riders and also very strong international media presence. We have all the best press here this year, so we should have the best coverage as well.

As well this year will mark the last year of the “old format” of three days. Next year, for 2007, it’s La Ruta’s 15th anniversary and we’ll celebrate with a new format of four days. But for 2006, we’ve gone back to some of the older segments of years past, like in Jaco, for example. Also, this year we’ve really upped the ante in terms of transport for riders and staff, making it the most professional yet. At each stage start and finish, there’ll also be an expo.

So this marks a real turning point for the race?

LRF: Definitely the 2006 La Ruta, the 14th edition, is what we’d like to call a new beginning for us. We are looking to the future and hoping to make each successive year better and better – and those changes have already started this year. We know that the success of this year will mark a very strong future in years to come.