A great battle took place on the fourth day of the Vuelta al Táchira 2023, which left Yonathan Miguel Eugenio (Cycling from Politachira) as the winner. The Venezuelan, who has been running in Colombia for several years, took the victory, after traveling 133.1 kilometers between the towns of Lagunilla and Mérida, which ended up in a bumpy terrain.
The young 24-year-old rider was the strongest in the final ascent to take a great victory, in the hot fraction, ahead of Juan Ruiz (Gobernación Trujillo) and José Alarcón (Team Fundación Ángeles Hernández Cycling), second and third respectively .
The fourth day began with an undulating section, used by four riders to venture into the escape, made up of the Venezuelans José Alarcón (Team Fundación Angeles Hernández Cycling), Anderson Paredes (Team Fundación Angeles Hernández Cycling), Yimmi Briceño (Government of Trujillo) and Jonathan Camargo (Rairos Distributor).
The lot kept the advantage of the breakaways under control for around a minute and a half. With 50 kilometers to go, one of the leaders was losing ground, leaving only Alarcón, Paredes and Camargo at the head of the race. With the Movistar-Best PC at the top of the peloton marking the pace, little by little they reduced the gap, hunting down the survivors of the day’s break minutes later.
Beginning the ascent, the Colombian Jefferson Ruiz (GW Shimano-Sidermec), ventured with the Venezuelans Edwin Torres (Lotería del Táchira), Germán Rincón (Lotería del Táchira) and Jeison Avendaño (Ciclismo de Politachira), however, with the strong rhythm imposed by the pursuers gave them capture.
The toughest sections of the final circuit towards the Plaza de Bolívar in Mérida, were crucial to define the race, which left Yonathan Miguel Eugenio (Ciclismo de Politachira) as the winner.
Regarding the general classification, the Venezuelan Franklin Lugo (SabeMiel-BKC Aragua), who donned the leader’s yellow jersey after winning the second stage, ended up giving up the precious shirt, which passed into the hands of Juan Ruiz (Trujillo Governorate ), who now commands the positions with 20 seconds over the Colombian Juan Diego Alba (Movistar Best PC).
This Thursday the fifth stage of the Tachirense round will be held, the first high mountain over 134.4 kilometers starting in the town of La Tendida and ending in La Grita, where the climbers and contenders for the title of the Venezuelan race will begin to measure their strength.
Source: Revista Mundo Ciclístico