Wells wins La Ruta opening stage
Specialized Racing: XC MTB | November 3, 2011
Day one of La Ruta de los Conquistadores in Costa Rica was a good one for Specialized. Todd Wells, racing in his first-ever La Ruta, took the stage 1 victory while La Ruta veteran Rebecca Rusch was second among the women.
Wells battled Milton Ramos for much of the day. The two emerged from the Carara National Park together after working each other over through the famous jungle section.
"I knew Milton Ramos was going to be strong," said Wells. "I would get a small gap on him when I was hiking in the jungle. I tried to push it in there because I'm a big tall guy and I can take big steps. I tried to make him chase a bit and tire him out. He's light and I knew he would go up the road climb fast."
Wells emerged first from the jungle, but Ramos overtook him at the next aid station, when the US mountain bike national champion stopped to get more air in his tires, take on more fluid and lube his chain.
This race marks Wells' first-ever trip to Costa Rica, and he enjoyed tropical setting. "There was lots of hiking and steep waterfalls and stuff I never got to experience before. It was great."
"There were a few times in the beginning when we weren't going too hard and I got to look around, but after we went through the jungle, I didn't get to see much. I had to stay focused and try to get to the finish."
"The hiking sections were interesting. You'd ride a few minutes, hike a few minutes and then ride some more."
Wells caught back up to Ramos and the two went into the long paved climb together, but Ramos could not hold the pace set by Wells, who rode away. He raced solo to the finish.
Wells was aboard his Specialized Stumpjumper 29-inch hardtail with Specialized Renegade 1.9 Ground Control (Control Casing inflated to 30psi front and rear). He used a 38/24 front chainset, with the low gear to help him up the brutally steep climbs that characterize the race. Out back, his bike was equipped with an 11/36 cassette. A 2012 Rock Shox SID fork with a Brain did the job of front suspension.
Wells carried three bottles with him at all times and changed them three times thanks to his support crew. He also carried more spare parts than usual including a rear derailleur hanger, CO2s, tubes, brake pads and chain oil.
He was racing so fast that his support crew had trouble keeping up with him throughout the race, which is run on extremely rugged roads.
Women's contest
Rebecca Rusch finished second on stage 1 after a strong race. She got her race off to a solid start with three stages remaining.
"That last 20km was the hardest 20km of my life," said Rusch. "This last part through town... I was calculating how much time I had left and everyone was giving me different distances to go."
Adriana Rojas won the stage and while Rusch kept her in sight for the first part of the race, she largely battled with Louise Kobin for second place for most of the stage. Rusch overtook Kobin for the final time up the long paved climb in the latter part of the race.
"I passed Louise on the first climb and she passed me back in the jungle. On the pavement climb, I saw Louise and then caught her," said Rusch.
"It was a hard day, but I'm super happy with how I did."
Rusch rode the 2012 Specialized Fate, with tires like Wells, but inflated to 27psi. She carried two bottles on her bike at all times.
Stage 2
Wells and Rusch will race a 60km stage 2 on Thursday.
"It will start with a massive climb," Wells said, "I've seen the first climb, and I know it will be hard. I'm sure everyone who didn't have a good day today will want to do better tomorrow."
With stage 1 notoriously the hardest in La Ruta, many racers may feel the effects on stage 2. "For tomorrow, we'll just have to see how many matches people burned," said Rusch.