Costa Rican cyclist Joseph Ramírez won the XLV edition of the Vuelta Internacional a Chiriquí, Copa Telca, with Dominican Alberto Ramos winning the final stage.
Ramírez, from the Colono Bikestation Kolbi team, finished the Chiriquí tour with a time of 18h38m38s, followed by his teammates Alejandro Granados, who finished 37 seconds behind, and Sergio Arias, 59 seconds behind.
"This was a tour where we achieved many victories and important positions, looking ahead to the Vuelta a Costa Rica which is our ultimate goal," said Joseph Ramírez at the end of the day.
In the Junior category, Emanuel Viane from Rali Far Express Herrera dominated, while in the Master category, Fernando Ureña from Fundación Caminos de Omar was the winner. The team title went to Colono Bikestation Kolbi with a combined time of 55h67m25s.
The first rider from this country to win the Vuelta a Chiriquí was Luis Ramírez in 1985.
The final stage was a circuit in the David Este sector, covering 88 kilometers, with Dominican Alberto Ramos winning the sprint in a time of 1h58m48s.
Other category champions were Belizean Derrick Chavarría from Tag Cycling Team in the Regularity class, Costa Rican Sergio Arias in the mountains with 24 points, and Alejandro Granados in the Sub 23 category.
Meanwhile, Jason Huertas from ManzaTé - La Selva-Scott was second with the same time, and Belizean Derrick Chavarría from Tag Cycling Team was third, one second behind.
According to Fepaci, this was the 11th title for Costa Rican cycling in the history of this event.
"It has been a team effort to win this award."
The best Panamanian rider was Randish Abdul Lorenzo from Policía Nacional-Aeronaval, who finished in tenth place, 22:31 minutes behind the leader.
