In a mountainous finish, Ángel Rivas (Team Trululu Grupo La Guacamaya) let all his rivals go and won the fifth stage of the Tour of Táchira 2025. The Venezuelan, who entered the finish line alone, won the stage after 162.9 kilometers between La Fría and Mérida.
The experienced rider, 35 years old, was the strongest on the final climb to take a great victory, ahead of his teammates Roniel Campos and Eduin Becerra 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Colombian Edgar Pinzón (Selección Colombia) came in 5th place, 58 seconds behind the winner.
The fifth fraction, in which the dreaded mountain made its appearance, began with an undulating section, taken advantage of by six riders to venture into the breakaway: made up of Colombians Yosimar Jerez (Inversiones JS-Botas Saga Saavedra) and Daniel Arroyave (Selección Colombia) and Venezuelans Arley Cuadros (Indet Cricket BDV Gran Misión Vivienda), Edwin Torres (Lotería del Táchira), Gregory Guevara (Politáchira Heidy Lee Sport) and Yilber Ramírez (Indet Cricket BDV Gran Misión Vivienda).
The bunch kept the advantage of the escapees under control at around two minutes. With 50 kilometers to go, some of the leaders were losing ground, leaving only Arroyave, Cuadros and Jerez at the head of the race. With the team of the leader Jhonny Araujo, the Governorate of Trujillo, in the first positions of the peloton marking the pace, they chased the survivors of the escape of the day.
At the beginning of the ascent to San Juan de Lagunillas, second category, the Venezuelan Yonathan Eugenio (Team Trululu Grupo La Guacamaya) was very active, however, with the strong pace imposed by the main group they did not give him an advantage and neutralized him quickly. The one who was lucky was Ángel Rivas (Team Trululu Grupo la Guacamaya), who went solo.
The ascent to the Plaza de Bolívar in Mérida was crucial in the end to define the day full of mountains, which left as winner the Venezuelan Ángel Rivas, who achieved his first victory of the season and his fourth in UCI races.
As for the general classification, the Venezuelan Jhonny Araujo, (Gobernación de Trujillo) ended up giving up the precious jersey, which passed into the hands of his compatriot Enmanuel Viloria of Team Guacamaya Guacafruit, who now commands the positions with 17 seconds of advantage over Eduin Becerra (Team Trululu Grupo la Guacamaya).
This Friday will be the sixth stage, another mountainous day of 193.7 kilometers starting in the town of Tovar and ending in La Grita, where the climbers and aspirants to the title of the race will measure forces again.
Tour of Táchira (2.2)
Results Stage 5 | La Fría – Mérida (162,9km)
| 1 | Ángel Rivas | Team Trululu Grupo La Guacamaya | 4:09:14 |
| 2 | Roniel Campos | Team Trululu Grupo La Guacamaya | 0:58 |
| 3 | Eduin Becerra | Team Trululu Grupo La Guacamaya | 0:58 |
| 4 | José Alarcón | Gobernación de Trujillo | 0:58 |
| 5 | Edgar Pinzón | Selección Colombia | 0:58 |
| 6 | Jorge Abreu | Multimarcas MU Training | 0:58 |
| 7 | Juan Ruiz | Gobernación de Trujillo | 1:01 |
| 8 | Enmanuel Viloria | Confitería La Guacamaya Guacafruit | 1:01 |
| 9 | Gusneiver Gil | Confitería La Guacamaya Guacafruit | 2:01 |
| 10 | Pedro Sequera | Multimarcas MU Training | 2:18 |
Ranking General
| 1 | Enmanuel Viloria | Confitería La Guacamaya Guacafruit | 17:29:28 |
| 2 | Eduin Becerra | Team Trululu Grupo La Guacamaya | 0:17 |
| 3 | Jorge Abreu | Multimarcas MU Training | 0:21 |
| 4 | José Alarcón | Gobernación de Trujillo | ,, |
| 5 | Edgar Pinzón | Selección Colombia | 0:24 |
| 6 | Gusneiver Gil | Confitería La Guacamaya Guacafruit | 1:27 |
| 7 | Pedro Sequera | Multimarcas MU Training | 1:44 |
| 8 | Roniel Campos | Team Trululu Grupo La Guacamaya | 2:35 |
| 9 | Juan José Ruiz | Gobernación de Trujillo | 2:44 |
| 10 | Yonder Godoy | Gobernación de Trujillo | 2:53 |
Source: Revista Mundo Ciclístico