November 16, 2007 (Aquiares, Costa Rica) — It seems evident that the leader’s jersey fits local rider Federico Ramírez (BCR-Pizza Hut) and American Susan Haywood (Volkswagen-Trek) very well.

Both competitors won today’s Stage 3 at the 15th Anniversary La Ruta de los Conquistadores, the third consecutive win for each rider as they improved the advantage they already have on their closest rivals. Ramírez showed why he was ready for the third stage. None of the other racers could followed his amazing climbing style and pace, as he ascended Irazú Volcano to the highest point of the entire race at 3,010 meters above sea level.

Ramirez completed today’s 66.7km course with a time of 3:34:25, while Deiber Esquivel (IBP Pensiones) and Paolo Montoya (Mancosta-Lee Cougan) were behind him at 8:57 and 10:29 respectively.

According to “Lico,” he wasn’t supposed to attack until the long 17km climb to San Gerardo, nevertheless, he felt like he could manage to leave the other riders behind at the beginning and decided to use an early and explosive strike.

“The original idea was to hold the pace and see what they were planning to do. But I realized that they weren’t going to try anything when I thought something hypothetically should have happened. I felt like they were weak and I was strong enough to go,” said Federico.

Ramirez easily reached each one of the check-points on his way up and over Irazú. With no competition pushing him to speed up, the “pizza boy” took the grueling downhill from the Turrialba Volcano with care and focused on finishing the stage in one piece.

“It gave me more confidence and my coach recommended that I take it at a relaxed pace because of the danger of this segment,” Lico accepted.

Women’s Race
In the women’s competition, Haywood’s strategy was almost the same – the only difference that she descended the volcano pretty fast due to her excellent technical downhill skills for.

The Trek-VW rider’s time was 4:42:45, while Louise Kobin (Sho-Air) and Alejandra Carvajal (BCR-Pizza Hut) finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.

In the GC, both leaders keep a comfortable advantage over the chasers. Lico’s total time of 12:37:00 is 27:08 better than Paolo Montoya’s. Louise Kobin is 43:21 behind Haywood’s mark.

La Ruta de los Conquistadores will end tomorrow with the classic 120km trip from Turrialba to the Atlantic zone’s flatlands. Weather forecasts predict a rainy and humid day so organizers will launch an expedition tonight to evaluate the course conditions. A few changes might be made to the railway sections in order to avoid a couple of damaged train-bridges where the infrastructure may become unstable due to the force of local rivers.

If changes take place, the distance of the stage will remain almost the same but faster paved routes will replace some of the gravel and train track segments.

For Stage 3 full results click here.

For GC after Stage 3 click here.

Results (brief)

Open Men

1. Federico Ramirez Mendez (CRC) BCR-Pizza Hut-Powerade-KHS 3.34.25
2. Deiber Esquivel Benavides (CRC) IBP Pensiones 8.57
3. Juan Alberto Solis Rodas (CRC) BCR-Pizza Hut-Powerade-KHS 10.29
4. David “Tinker” Juarez (USA) Cannondale 13.10
5. Paolo Montoya Cantillo (CRC) Macosta Lee Cougan Santa Ana BCT 15.01
6. Thomas Dietsch (Fra) Gewiss Bianchi 17.00
7. Jonathan Carballo Ramirez (CRC) IBP Pensiones 24.20
8. Sandro Spaeth (Swi) Ride Magazine-Texner BMC 35.56
9. Pereira Gonzalo Bonilla (CRC) Ciclo Para’s o 36.10
10. Thomas Zahnd (Swi) Team Stoeckli-Craft 37.37

Open Women

1. Susan Haywood (USA) Trek-VW 4.42.45
2. Louise Kobin (USA) Sho Air-Rock and Road 17.41

Master A Men

1. Matt Gordon (USA) Orbea 4.12.38

Master B Men

1. Matt Luhn (USA) 4.39.44
2. Mike Charuk (Can) Team Whistler 4.06

Veterans

1. Sandy Mitchell (Can) Gerick Cycle 5.09.04

GC after Stage 3

Open Men

1. Federico Ramirez Mendez (CRC) BCR-Pizza Hut-Powerade-KHS 12.37.00
2. Paolo Montoya Cantillo (CRC) Macosta Lee Cougan Santa Ana BCT 27.08
3. Thomas Dietsch (Fra) Gewiss/Bianchi 44.43

Open Women

1. Susan Haywood (USA) Trek-VW 16.43.49
2. Louise Kobin (USA) Sho Air-Rock and Road at 43.21

Master B Men

1. Mike Charuk (Can) Team Whistler 16.35.32

Veterans

1. Sandy Mitchell (Can) Gerick Cycle