Limon, Costa Rica: Jean-Michel Lachance of team 1% for the planet came close to earn a big sucess for his team at stage 1 of Vuelta Kolbi a Costa Rica. The race started under heavy rain for a 135km flat course out and back to Limon.

Race profile:
135km - flat - (456m)

Race map:
Limon - Limon



How it unfold:
Quickly into the stage, the Russian Kovalev attacked and had a small gap on the still attacking peloton. Gavriel Epstein: "I felt pretty good and surfed some breakaway moves just to see if I could roll away with one without committing much energy. Jean Michel though aggressively went out on the attack and jump across to the russian". Rusvelo is a pro continental team and they just came back from 3 weeks trainning camp at altitude in Mexico. Jean-Michel jumped across to the russian and 3 more riders (Cuba, Agricenter, Mexico) also joined to form a 5 rider break. The group worked well togeteher to the expecetion of the Agricenter rider who did'nt participate in the effort.

About half way into the stage, the gap reached about 5min and things looked good for the breakaway. Jean-Michel: "I was feeling very good despite the short night and was confident for taking the win wether escaping or sprinting. Unfortunately for me, a rider deviated from his line during the sprint, almost pushing me in the barriers as I lauched my sprint with 300m to go. In the end, the russian passed me only meter from the finish line".

For his performance, Jean-Michel will wear the Regularidad jersey for the start of next stage and his now 3rd on the general classification.


Results: - full results - video report

Stage 1, 134,38 km - avg speed 45,5km/h
1- Evgeny Kovalev, Rusvelo, 2h 57m 29
2- Jean-Michel Lachance, 1% for the Planet, same time
3- Yasmany Martinez, Selection nationale du Cuba, same time
9- Anton Varabei, 1% for the Planet, + 2min 24
30- Gavriel Epstein, 1% for the Planet + 2min 26
53- Ryan Roth, 1% for the Planet + 2min 26
66- Julien Gagné, 1% for the Planet, + 2m 26
76- Étienne Samson, 1% for the Planet, + 20m 56
79 start the race

 {youtube}4RX09RROABE{/youtube}

Credit photos: Federacion Costaricense de Ciclismo - Fecoci.net
Altimeteria: Garmin Connect