L’Etape by Tour de France held its first gran fondo race of the year on 17 March in Ecuador, with over 500 international cyclists participating in the province of Santa Elena in the southwestern part of the country.

After three and a half hours, the 140km gran fondo riders sprinted across the finish line on the Salinas beachfront boardwalk, with American criterium specialist Taylor Locke, 38, defeating Pan American Games medalist Segundo Navarrete and GFNY Ecuador champion Renzo Molineros. All three top finishers credited with the same finishing time, 3:31:01.

“It was very complicated, more because in the middle of the tour I felt a kind of cramps, but I was able to recover after hydrating,” Locke said afterwards from the podium.

Ecuadorian Daniela Regalado, 27, took first place in the women’s category with a time of 3:32:19, while second place went to Lorena Beccaglia (3:32:26) and Daniela Jiménez (3:32:27) third.

“I’m happy to start the season with this title, which is achieved with a lot of effort,” a breathless Regalado said after winning.

On the 70km medio fondo route, Henry Revelo Guana (1:49:09) and Paola Cardenas (1:50:00) earned victory in the men’s and women’s category respectively.

Upcoming worldwide L’Etape events include Cuna Brasil on 7 April, Puebla Mexico 14 April and in the USA on 14 April in San Antonio Texas, with Las Vegas Nevada 5 May.

Complete L’Etape Ecuador results HERE.

Photo Credit: Facebook/letapeecuador

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