The queen stage of the Tour of Colombia, both male and female, ended in the heights of Santa Isabel and, in the midst of the mist, the Venezuelan Lilibeth Chacón and the Colombian Miguel Ángel López won, wearing the jersey of the leaders of the general classification, to a fraction for the end of the race.
Cold, humidity and fog accompanied the closing of the fourth stage of the Tour of Tolima, which for both men and women ended in the mountains, in the municipality of Santa Isabel, quite close to the Los Nevados Natural Park.
In the case of women, the stage united Lleida and Santa Isabel, in a route that in its 49 kilometers included several ascents, including the hard climb towards the finish line.
The peloton allowed the initial attacks to protrude and break away, knowing that it would all come down to the long climb to the finish. The large group was dominated by Clarus Merquimia Strongman, the team of the overall leader, Lilibet Chacón, who set the pace to catch up with all the adventurers on foot on the last ascent of the day.
Chacón soon attacked and dominated the port, to the point that she reached the finish line with more than 50 seconds ahead of Jessenia Meneses, while the podium was closed by Luisa Hernández. The Venezuelan is the virtual champion and leads the general with more than two minutes ahead of Meneses.
Moments later, over the same route and distance, the fourth fraction of the men’s race was held, with a similar script; the peloton allowed a group of escapees to form that ended up being caught with just under 20 kilometers to go, so that the mountain could define the winner of the day.
In the final climb, Miguel Ángel López, Rodrigo Contreras, Cristian Camilo Muñoz and Jonathan Chaves went ahead, but soon, halfway up, “superman” accelerated and went solo, partly thanks to the puncture suffered by Contreras. which allowed the former member of the Astana club to reach the finish line in first place, beating Oscar Fernández and Muñoz, who escorted him.
By five seconds difference, López is the new leader of the general classification, surpassing Contreras, while Cristian Camilo Muñoz is third.
Classification Stage 4 (female)
1. Lilibeth Chacón (Clarus Merquimia Strongman) – 2h:19m:52s
2. Jessenia Meneses (Colombia Pact for Sport) at 53s
3. Luisa Hernández (Clarus Merquimia Strongman) at 6m:36s
4. Ana Cristina Sanabria (Colombia Pact for Sport) at 6m:36s
5. Sara Juliana Moreno (Colombia Pact for Sport) at 6m:36s
General Classification (female)
1. Lilibeth Chacón (Clarus Merquimia Strongman) – 7h:43m:10s
2. Jessenia Meneses (Colombia Pact for Sport) at 2m:16s
3. Sara Juliana Moreno (Colombia Pact for Sport) at 12m:18s
4. Ana Cristina Sanabria (Colombia Pact for Sport) at 12m: 45s
5. Luisa Hernández (Clarus Merquimia Strongman) at 12m:49s
Classification Stage 4 (male)
1. Miguel Ángel López (Team Medellín) – 1h:45m:21s
2. Óscar Fernández (EPM-Go Rigo Go) to m.t.
3. Cristian Camilo Muñoz (EPM-Go Rigo Go) at 2s
4. Wilson Peña (Sistecrédito) at 4s
5. Rodrigo Contreras (Colombia Pact for Sport) at 6s
General Classification (male)
1. Miguel Ángel López (Team Medellín) – 8h:42m:41s
2. Rodrigo Contreras (Colombia Pact for Sport) at 5s
3. Cristian Camilo Muñoz (EPM-Go Rigo Go) at 27s
4. Wilson Peña (Sistecrédito) at 49s
5. Óscar Fernández (EPM-Go Rigo Go) at 1m:01s
Source: Andrés Castro, www.colombiasports.net