Milton J.Ramos wins the 1st edition of L'Etape Barcelona-Andorra by Le Tour de France. Hard weather conditions have transformed this stage in an epic challenge. Always under rain, more than 500 registered participants have made the 224 Km of this race.
This Saturday, September 29th, L 'Etape Barcelona-Andorra by Le Tour de France started promptly at 8am. Under a threatening sky, cyclists have been gathered at the Horta Velodrome in Barcelona from 7:30 a.m.
After passing the towns of Terrassa and Manresa, few minutes after 10 am, cyclists faces the first port, Clariana, at 750 meters. From this point and under a heavy rain,they have been directed towards Solsona to face later, one of the highlights of the race, Coll de Serra-Seca, at 1,262 meters. From here, the group has led to Seu d'Urgell, where they could regain strength in the third refreshment point.
Once cyclists have arrived to Andorra, they continued the race to Andorra la Vella, La Massana and Ordino, direction to Arcalís where they finally found the finish line at 2,240 meters. The first participant who crossed the finish line was Milton Javier Ramos, in 8 hours 3 minutes 24 seconds. The second place was for Jordi Ribó and the third place was for Santiago Armero.
The awards ceremony was presided by the M.I. Minister of Tourism and Environment of the Andorra’s Government, Mr. Francesc Camp Torres, who has emphasized the hardness of the race, "The weather has not been with us and this has meant that the race was very hard. We have reached 600 participants and for this first edition, it was a really a great success. For the next year we want to continue doing this race and we consolidate it.
Juan Porcar, CEO of RPM Racing, organizers of the event, told us at the end of the race, "We chose this hard stage of the Tour that goes from Barcelona to Andorra because we considered that it could become over time, a reference and a classic. The weather conditions have shown that amateur riders have a big ability of sacrifice. They have nothing to envy to professional riders. Congratulations to all of them. "
L 'Etape Barcelona-Andorra by Le Tour de France, organized by RPM Racing, has been a reality thanks to Andorra Tourisme, Mossos d’Esquadra, Red Cross and sponsors. The organization really appreciates the support received from all volunteers and the City councils of the towns from Catalunya and Andorra where the race has passed.
