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Cruz takes overall at Tour of Puerto Rico

Dominican national road champion Wendy Cruz captured the inaugural edition of the Tour of Puerto Rico Sunday, finishing third in an 84km criterium through the streets of Hato Rey.

Cruz took the race lead on Friday by finishing second in the 152km race from San Juan to Mayaguez. The following morning, he won a difficult 68km mountain stage by outsprinting American Jonathan Baker, who jumped from eighth to second overall.

Cruz’s margin of victory was 1:29 over Baker and 1:46 over third-placed Dominican August Sanchez of the Dominican national team. Cruz, 28, also won the race’s points and sprint classifications in the four-day, five-stage event.

“This was a very satisfying victory because of the high level of competition here,” Cruz said. “Every day was very fast. We averaged 43kph for the entire race so it was never easy.”

Baker, riding for the composite Team Kaos squad, captured the king of the mountain classification and earned his biggest result since winning the Sarakay Memorial Circuit Race in Colorado last year.

“I knew the mountain stage suited me and that was the stage to make a move,” Baker said. “The last two stages, I had to mark some difficult riders, but my team did a great job of keeping the race together and maintaining my place on G.C.”

Sunday’s stage had been scheduled to begin in Bayamon and finish with 20 laps of a circuit in San Juan for a 121km stage. But police, concerned about traffic backups that have drawn the ire of Puerto Ricans, convinced race organizers to eliminate the road race portion. So the race was moved to Hato Rey and shortened to a 20-lap, 84km criterium.

With Cruz’s Seleccion de Santiago squad and Baker’s Team Kaos remaining vigilant on the front, no breakaway managed to stay away for more than two laps. American Frank Travieso of Mc&Custom team won the field sprint to take the stage.

TIAA-CREF won the team classification, headed up by Timothy Duggan’s fourth-place finish, 2:15 behind.

Results – Stage 4
1. Frank Travieso (USA), Mc&Custom, 1:55:03
2. Amaury Perez (DOM), Fenix Pepsi, same time
3. Wendy Cruz (DOM), Seleccion de Santiago, at 0:01
4. Chad Harley (USA), TIAA-CREF, same time
5. Joost Legtenberg (NED), Marco Polo, same time
6. Gustavo Carrillo (USA), Aerospace Engineering, at 0:02
7. Vikto Laza (SEG), Aerospace Engineering, same time
8. Juan Pimentel Estevez (PUR), Competitive Cycling, same time
9. Augusto Sanchez (DOM), Seleccion Nacional, same time
10. Eudal Asencio Rosario (PUR), Caico/Asiphex, same time
Final General Classification
1. Wendy Cruz (DOM), Seleccion de Santiago, 10:56:39
2. Jonathan Baker (USA), Team Kaos, at 1:29
3. Augusto Sanchez (DOM), Seleccion Nacional, at 1:46
4. Timothy Duggan (USA), TIAA-CREF, at 2:15
5. Claudio Aronel (ARG), Laser Miami, at 2:17
6. Frank Terwel (NED), Marco Polo, at 2:37
7. Stefano Barberi (BRA), TIAA-CREF, at 3:02
8. Michael Carter (USA), Marco Polo, at 3:23
9. Jason Sager (USA), Aerospace Engineering, at 3:49
10. Michael Lange (USA), TIAA-CREF, at 3:57