La Ruta de los Conquistadores: Frischy Fires It Up
By Rob Jones, Special to VeloNews

Prior to the start of this year's La Ruta de los Conquistadores, some wondered whether Thomas Frischknecht (Swisspower), despite being marathon world champion, would be able to overcome the home-ground advantage of the Costa Ricans.

He answered that question decisively on the first stage. Frischknecht crushed the competition by nearly seven minutes, finishing ahead of local challengers Deiber Esquivel (IBP) and Marvin Campos (BP), with Jeremiah Bishop (Trek-VW) crossing fifth after overextending himself on the longest climb of the day and dropping from second place.

The first stage of La Ruta is the longest and, arguably, the most difficult, with 4526 meters (15,000 feet) of climbing in 110.1km (70 miles). The field of nearly 400 started at Punta Leona on the Pacific Ocean, and hit the first climb 10km into the race.

The extended hurricane season in the Caribbean has spilled over into Costa Rica, so the mud through checkpoints one (27.3km) and two (40.7km) forced long sections of hiking.

"We must have hiked for 40 minutes," said Bishop.

Bishop went out hard with the early leaders, while Frischknecht started more slowly.

"At the beginning I found it a little hard to get going," Frischknecht said. "After the first climb I was back in 20th. I think they went too hard at the start."

But soon Frischknecht began to find his legs. "I was able to ride some sections that others couldn't," he said. "I think I made a good tire choice today (Ritchey C-Max). I caught the front guys (Bishop and Campos) between the first and second checkpoints."

Esquivel wasn't there, so Campos wasn't doing any work, leaving it to the gringos.

"Marvin didn't do any work," said Frischknecht. "In fact, he was trying to slow us down, slowing in the corners." Frischknecht responded by taking the pace up a notch when the race hit the pavement at checkpoint three, as the riders were starting the major climb of the day - a 20km effort that maxed out at 1,158 meters.

Neither Campos nor Bishop could respond initially, but Bishop managed to find the reserves to drop Campos further up the climb. This backfired, he said, when "the atomic bonk took everything out of me."

"I think I must have died out there twice today" said a shaky Bishop afterwards. "I went out way too hard at the start, and I was in the lead for the toughest section. After Thomas caught us we rode together until he dropped us on the climb. I got a gap on Campos and Thomas waited, but he could see I was falling off the pace.

"I kept going, but the Ticos (Esquivel and Campos) caught me about a kilometer from the top of the climb. I took a drink and an energy bar over the top, and then caught them, got dropped, caught, got dropped - it must have happened about four times. I guess I'm in worse shape than I thought."

Maybe not. Frischknecht, winner of multiple marathon World Cups, called the race "the toughest marathon I ever did. The distance, the amount of climbing, with the muddy conditions . . . it was hard."

Day two won't be a day at the beach, either. The stage covers 77.9km through the middle of Costa Rica, and takes the riders to the highest point of the race - 3010 meters. The riders "only" climb 2729 meters. The race bible advises: "Cloud forest and rain forest. Expect wind and rain. Be prepared for drastic climate changes."

Race notes
* Ex-racer Andreas Brenes, a former teammate of Frischknecht's from the Ritchey days, negated the Costa Rican advantage in feeding through the race by riding "shotgun" for Frischknecht on a motorbike.He was able to keep Frischknecht fed at each checkpoint. Some Costa Ricans protested, but it was pointed out that a following moto is legal (but not a four-wheeled vehicle, which is what many locals have used in the past).

* Riders complained that they received contradictory information on distances remaining in the race. "The last 20km were especially hard when there are no signs, and you are being told it's 5km but it's really 10, and that there are no more climbs, but there is one big one remaining," said Frischknecht.

* The mud was causing lots of gear problems for riders, with most stopping at every stream crossing to wash their bikes. "Everyone kept getting chain suck," said Roddi Lega (Norco). "I used an entire bottle of lube out there."

* Frischknecht has become the second non-Costa Rican to don the leader's jersey in the 13-year history of the race. American Tinker Juarez took the lead after the second stage of the 2002 edition, but lost the jersey on the final day.

La Ruta de los Conquistadores
Day 1 - Punta Leona to Santa Ana
1. Thomas Frischknecht (Sui), Swisspower, 110.1km in 5:53:20
2. Deiber Esquivel (CRC), IBP, at 6:25
3. Marvin Campos (CRC), IBP, 6:26
4. Jonathan Carballo (CRC), IBP, 8:29
5. Jeremiah Bishop (USA), Trek-VW, 13:17
6. Paolo Montoya (CRC), Santa Ana, 29:45
7. Gonzalo Bonilla (CRC), IBP, 37:20
8. Allan Cordero (CRC), IBP, 42:47
9. Jorge Coto (CRC), Santa Ana, 52:26
10. Ron Akerson Hendricks (CRC), Red Bull, 52:48