December 19, 2008 (Gaupiles, Costa Rica) – Canada’s Phil Cortes (Can) Tour de Quebec won the 182km Stage 6 from Santo-Dominguo to Gaupiles over Cuba’s Pedro Sibila with a time of 4:23:18 but gave up the points leader’s jersey along the way to Adonis Cardoso (Cub) Mapache who was 4th on the stage. The tour runs through December 28. Here is a race report from Cortes following his win.

Hey Everyone,

Well the bad news is that I lost my sprint jersey today…the good news is that I won a 3-up sprint for the stage win.

The team did a lot of work for me leading up to the first intermediate sprint but it wasn’t meant to be.. with a break of three up the road, the battle was for the last sprint point. I subsequently lost the sprint for the last spot, got kind of frustrated with myself and decided on sending some of my guys up the road for the 2nd sprint.

It was the Brit David McLean who got away and took the fourth spot in the 2nd sprint at km 99. When he took the point the local Pizza Hut-BCR team decided to reel him back and it was then that I made a snap decision to roll off the front in an attempt to bridge to the break which was 2.30 up the road before the final sprint of the day.

Needless to say that attempt failed and so too did my chances of keeping the points jersey streak alive. I finally made it to the break at km 142, about 40km from the finish and for awhile it looked bleak. But a little bit of insistence and we stabilized the gap at 1.10 with about 6km to go. It was then that I started thinking about the finish…I knew that one of the Cubans, Cardoso was a little faster than I was finishing, but never in my mind did I think that he’d fall off pace in the final km.

It was here that I believed that I could take the stage… rounding the final corner with about 450m to go I dove towards the finish line. It was here that I was almost caught by my other two breakaway companions. I would like to thank everyone who has believed in me all along, I owe alot of this to you!! My team Amore & Vita-McDonald’s who also has stood with me through a long season, also deserves a huge thank you!! Attached are a few pics from the day!!

Enjoy…

Happy Holidays,

Phil Cortes
Amore e Vita-McDonalds
Velo Vie Bicycles
www.philcortescycling.com
www.amoreevita-mcdonalds.it
www.velovie.com

Results

1. Phil Cortes (Can) Tour de Quebec 4:23:18
2. Pedro Sibila (Cub) Mapache
3. Carlos Lopez (Crc) Canels Turbo
4. Adonis Cardoso (Cub) Mapache 4:23:42
5. Deivis Capellan (Dom) 4:23:49
6. Fredy Buergos (Cub) Mapache
7. Marco Guillen (CRc) Dos Pinos-Coopenae
8. Jose Aguirre (Mex) Canel’s Turbo-Mayordomo
9. Yasmani Martinez (Cub) Mapache
10. Arnold Alcolea (Cub) Mapache
11. Fredi Colop (Gua) Guatemala National Team
12. Gregory Brenes (CRc) BCR-Pizza Hut
13. Jose A. Montoya (CRc) Super Pro-Economy Rent a Car
14. Juan P. Araya (CRc) Dos Pinos-Coopenae
15. Marconi Duran (CRc) Dos Pinos-Coopenae
16. Jose A. Bonilla (CRc) BCR-Pizza Hut
17. Marco Salas (CRc) Dos Pinos-Coopenae
18. Henry Raabe (CRc) BCR-Pizza Hut
19. Jan C. Arias (Cub) Mapache
20. Stif Morera (CRc) Super Pro-Economy Rent a Car
21. Maikol Cambronero (CRc) Super Pro-Economy Rent a Car
22. Mariano Herrera (CRc) IBP Pensiones
23. Alfredo Ajpacaja (Gua) Guatemala National Team
24. Jonathan Carballo (CRc) IBP Pensiones
25. Cesar Rojas (CRc) Dos Pinos-Coopenae
26. Pedro Portuondo (Cub) Mapache
27. Jean Lachance (Can) TourdeQuebec
28. Alejandro Padilla (Gua) Guatemala National Team
29. Manuel Rodas (Gua) Guatemala National Team
30. Luis Rojas (CRc) ADOCI
31. Pablo Acosta (CRc) ADOCI
32. Jose Flores (Gua) Guatemala National Team
33. Jose Montero (CRc) BCR-Pizza Hut
34. Jose Vega (CRc) IBP Pensiones
35. Marvin Campos (CRc) Super Pro-Economy Rent a Car
36. Federico Ramirez (CRc) BCR-Pizza Hut
37. Ernesto Hernandez (CRc) IBP Pensiones
38. Edgardo Lugo (Mex) Canel’s Turbo-Mayordomo
39. Jose Varela (CRc) ADOCI
40. Julio Perez (Mex) Canel’s Turbo-Mayordomo
41. Julien Fillion (Can) TourdeQuebec
42. Alfredo Gabino (Mex) Canel’s Turbo-Mayordomo
43. Norlandy Taveras (Dom) Dominican Republic National Team
44. Alexander Sanchez (CRc) BCR-Pizza Hut
45. David Mclean (GBr) TourdeQuebec
46. Marco Salas (CRc) IBP Pensiones
47. Raul Granjel (Cub) Mapache
48. Vincent Veilleux (Can) TourdeQuebec
49. Warren Calvo (CRc) IBP Pensiones
50. Nieves Carrasco (CRc) Dos Pinos-Coopenae
51. Josue Gonzalez (CRc) IBP Pensiones
52. Paulo Vargas (CRc) IBP Pensiones
53. Nelson Sanchez (Dom) Dominican Republic National Team
54. Reldy Perez (Cub) Mapache
55. Pascal Bussieres (Can) TourdeQuebec
56. Elvin Colon (Dom) Dominican Republic National Team
57. Juan Felix (Dom) Dominican Republic National Team
58. Augusto Sanchez (Dom) Dominican Republic National Team
59. Eddier Godinez (CRc) BCR-Pizza Hut 2:36
60. Guillermo Gonzalez (CRc) BCR-Pizza Hut
61. Moises Hernandez (CRc) BCR-Pizza Hut 3:26
62. Eduardo Garita (CRc) Super Pro-Economy Rent a Car 14:12
63. Enrique Artavia (CRc) Super Pro-Economy Rent a Car 23:39
64. Abundio Guerrero (Mex) Canel’s Turbo-Mayordomo 24:32
65. Uriel Clara (Mex) Canel’s Turbo-Mayordomo
66. Manuel Pena (Dom) Dominican Republic National Team
67. Luis Alvarez (CRc) ADOCI 29:28
DNF Douglas Offer (CRc) Super Pro-Economy Rent a Car

Sprint Classification after Stage 6

1. Adonis Cardoso (Cub) Mapache 25 points
2. Phil Cortes (Can) Tour de Quebec 23
3. Pedro Sibila (Cub) Mapache 14

GC after Stage 6

1. Gregory Brenes (Crc) BRC Pizza Hut-Powerade 18:09:20
2. Arnoldo Alcolea (Cub) Mapache 0:27
3. Federico Ramirez (Crc) 2:40 BCR – Pizza Hut-Powerade
4. Marconi Duran (Crc) Dos Pinos 2:43.
5. Paulo Vargas (Crc) IBP Pensiones 2:57
6. Jose A. Bonilla (CRc) BCR-Pizza Hut 2:58
7. Nelson Sanchez (Dom) Dominican Republic National Team 3:43
8. Manuel Rodas (Gua) Guatemala National Team 4:15
9. Marco Salas (CRc) Dos Pinos-Coopenae 4:25
10. Cesar Rojas (CRc) Dos Pinos-Coopenae 4:31
11. Mariano Herrera (CRc) IBP Pensiones 4:55
12. Juan P. Araya (CRc) Dos Pinos-Coopenae 5:23
13. Henry Raabe (CRc) BCR-Pizza Hut 5:28
14. Raul Granjel (Cub) Mapache 5:40
15. Ernesto Hernandez (CRc) IBP Pensiones 5:45
16. Josue Gonzalez (CRc) IBP Pensiones
17. Paulo Vargas (CRc) IBP Pensiones
18. Julio Perez (Mex) Canel’s Turbo-Mayordomo 6:13
19. Alfredo Gabino (Mex) Canel’s Turbo-Mayordomo 7:46
20. Jose Montero (CRc) BCR-Pizza Hut 7:54
21. Warren Calvo (CRc) IBP Pensiones 9:37
22. Pedro Sibila (Cub) Mapache 9:45
23. Nieves Carrasco (CRc) Dos Pinos-Coopenae 10:15
24. Yasmani Martinez (Cub) Mapache 10:58
25. Marvin Campos (CRc) Super Pro-Economy Rent a Car 11:35
26. Maikol Cambronero (CRc) Super Pro-Economy Rent a Car
27. Fredi Colop (Gua) Guatemala National Team 11:53
28. Marco Salas (CRc) IBP Pensiones 12:25
29. Adonis Cardoso (Cub) Mapache 12:28
30. Reldy Perez (Cub) Mapache 12:35
31. Alexander Sanchez (CRc) BCR-Pizza Hut 12:56
32. Pedro Portuondo (Cub) Mapache 13:32
33. Juan Felix (Dom) Dominican Republic National Team 14:57
34. Julien Fillion (Can) TourdeQuebec 16:41
35. Alfredo Ajpacaja (Gua) Guatemala National Team 17:14
36. Luis Rojas (CRc) ADOCI 17:25
37. Jonathan Carballo (CRc) IBP Pensiones 20:45
38. Carlos Lopez (Mex) Canel’s Turbo-Mayordomo 24:23
39. Marco Guillen (CRc) Dos Pinos-Coopenae 25:05
40. Phil Cortes (Can) TourdeQuebec 25:22
41. Pascal Bussieres (Can) TourdeQuebec 25:30
42. Elvin Colon (Dom) Dominican Republic National Team 25:51
43. Jose A. Montoya (CRc) Super Pro-Economy Rent a Car 26:02
44. Eddier Godinez (CRc) BCR-Pizza Hut 26:33
45. Guillermo Gonzalez (CRc) BCR-Pizza Hut 26:40
46. Jean Lachance (Can) TourdeQuebec 28:17
47. Pablo Acosta (CRc) ADOCI 36:43
48. Jose Varela (CRc) ADOCI 38:08
49. Enrique Artavia (CRc) Super Pro-Economy Rent a Car 39:11
50. Fredy Buergos (Cub) Mapache 40:27
51. Edgardo Lugo (Mex) Canel’s Turbo-Mayordomo 42:32
52. Augusto Sanchez (Dom) Dominican Republic National Team 42:54
53. David Mclean (GBr) TourdeQuebec 43:08
54. Jan C. Arias (Cub) Mapache 43:24
55. Alejandro Padilla (Gua) Guatemala National Team 43:57
56. Norlandy Taveras (Dom) Dominican Republic National Team 44:20
57. Jose Flores (Gua) Guatemala National Team 46:09
58. Moises Hernandez (CRc) BCR-Pizza Hut 54:48
59. Deivis Capellan (Dom) Dominican Republic National Team 58:39
60. Eduardo Garita (CRc) Super Pro-Economy Rent a Car 1:01:47
61. Abundio Guerrero (Mex) Canel’s Turbo-Mayordomo 1:04:15
62. Stif Morera (CRc) Super Pro-Economy Rent a Car 1:07:25
63. Manuel Pena (Dom) Dominican Republic National Team 1:09:00
64. Uriel Clara (Mex) Canel’s Turbo-Mayordomo 1:11:14
65. Jose Aguirre (Mex) Canel’s Turbo-Mayordomo 1:13:24
66. Vincent Veilleux (Can) TourdeQuebec 1:51:14
67. Luis Alvarez (CRc) ADOCI 2:24:41