Stage 8 of the Vuelta a Costa Rica, the peloton had the privilege to have the race started by the Costa Rican presidente, Laura Chinchilla. An helicopter and thousands of fans were there to add to the ambiance. Confusion was the name of the day for the race with in the end Ryan Roth scoring another podium for Team For the Planet and Jean-Michel in sixth.

Race description:
8 laps of 14,6km - hilly circuit - (1821m)

Race map:
Circuito - San José



How it unfold:
Thousands of fans, an helicopter and the Costa Rican president Laura Chinchilla were present for stage 8 of the Vuelta Kolbi. Right from the start, attacks went off and on. Team For the Planet tried to get into the breakaway without any success as a group of about 10 went off the road.

With the JPS team setting a slow tempo, it was very likely that the breakaway would stick until the end.

CONFUSION CONFUSION and CONFUSION

Jean-Michel: "Once again, after a couple laps, looking at the race situation, I figured that if I wanted a result on the stage, I had to do something. I then attack on a false flat and some riders came with me. The breakaway was'nt too far and we made junction to them very quickly inside 5km of chase. Once in the group (now about 15 riders), I realized the cohesion was not very good and I attacked a couple times to break it. In the end, with one lap to go,  I was with 4 other riders (Cuba, Coopenae, Mexico and Colombia) going for the win, or so I tought! The word of the race was confusion. Their was not many gaps given today and all the riders in the break, we tought we were the leading group. Comming to 10km and then 5km to go signs, all riders in the breakaway including myself, we started to ease off the pulls as we had 2min+ lead on the peloton. I was a bit confused on the distance as my computer was showing under 100km and so I went to the official car to ask if we were going for the finish and they said YES! I was very confident to win the stage, being quite fresh and once again probably the fastest rider of the break. OUPS, 2 kilometer later, about 1,5km from the finish line, the official car come to our side telling us one more lap ! I quickly went to the front to encourage the other riders to continue rotating for one more lap. Half way into the lap tough, we started to hear the sirens of the chasing peloton who was now very close behind us. I went to the front to increased the pace and so did the other riders."

Back in the peloton, Ryan Roth took a flyer with 6km to go. He then catch JM group and went past them soloing to the victory - or so we tought ! Yes both the peloton and the breakaway did'nt know about the solo rider.

Jean-Michel: "When I see Ryan past us, I did'nt follow as he had a good shot of winning the race - or so I tought at the moment. With Ryan in front, I let the other riders do the chasing but instead I had to control their attacks. Comming to the finish, the peloton was right on our back. In fact, we all got the same time at the finish. I was not as fresh as the lap before as I did most of the pulling the lap before and I coul'nd past the Cuban from my group but I was happy for another podium and most importantly Ryan win! My deception was huge when I hear that their was a solo rider off the front. With that information, the race would have been completely different."

Ryan Roth: "I did'nt know if I was going for 1st or 2nd. I asked people 1 or 2."

Jean-Michel deception was not over as he later learn that he got relegated from 4th to 6th for sprint deviation: "I was VERY disapointed. Not only, the bad signs screwed my race, I was relegated and losing 4 points for the Regularidad classification. Comming from the back, it did'nt made any sens. I later learned that the colombian rider I passed to the line crashed in the medias who were all too close to the finish."

The team filled a claim for revision of result as soon as we received the official results.
Update: The officials sticked to their decision




Results: full results - video report

Stage 8 - 8x 14,6km - 118,4km - avg speed - 40,32km/h
1- Nieves Carrasco, Agricenter, 2h 56m 12
2- Ryan Roth, 1% for the Planet, à 2m 34
3- Yennier Lopez, Sélection nationale de Cuba, 3m 05
6- Jean-Michel Lachance, 1% for the Planet, même temps
28- Julien Gagné, 1% for the Planet, à 3m 25
64- Anton Varabei, 1% for the Planet, + 28m 29
69- Étienne Samson, 1% for the Planet, + 36m 15
70- Gavriel Epstein, 1% for the Planet, +36m 15

General classification
1- Juan Rojas, JPS Giant, 25h 48m 40 - avg speed - 41,06km/h
2- Jose Vega, JPS Giant, + 5m 21
3- Elias Vega, JPS Giant, + 5m 43
16- Jean-Michel Lachance, 1% for the Planet, + 17m 46
28- Julien Gagné, 1% for the Planet, + 28m 07
42- Ryan Roth, 1% for the Planet, + 34m 24
60- Anton Varabei, 1% for the Planet, +1h 07m 22
65- Gavriel Epstein, 1% for the Planet, +1h 24m 10
70- Étienne Samson, 1% for the Planet, à 2h 50m 03

Regularidad
1 - Jean-Michel Lachance - For the Planet - 93pts
2 - Juan Rojas - JPS Giant - 81pts
3 - Fabricio Quiros - BCR Pizza Hut - 61pts
4 - Jose Vega - JPS Giant - 56pts
5 - Elias Vega - JPS Giant - 51pts
14 - Anton Varabei - For the Planet - 33 pts
22- Ryan Roth - For the Planet - 20pts

Metas Volantes
1 - Jose Vega - JPS - 30
2 - Juan Juarez - Mexico - 26
3 - Yasmany Martinez - Cuba - 25
4 - Jean-Michel Lachance - For the Planet - 14

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Photo credit: Federacion Costaricense de Ciclismo - Fecoci.net
Altimeteria and map: Garmin