Sierra beat the Venezuelan Paula Andrea Patiño and the Mexican Ariadna Gutiérrez

Havana, September 14 (RHC)--  Cuban cyclist Arlenis Sierra finished Tuesday as the best Latin American in the Tour of Ardeche, France, backed by third place in the points classification and eighth place in the overall individual classification.

An Olympian in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020, the Antillean finished 12th in the seventh and last stage, valid to occupy the eighth place with an accumulated 23:21.22 hours, almost three minutes behind the winner, the American Leah Thomas.

The main exponent of the Cuban route and leader of the A.R.Monex club also celebrated the third position in the points classification with 30 points, eight behind the winner Thomas and one behind the Italian Marta Bastianelli, second place.

In the farewell of the French Tour, Sierra crossed the finish line in the town of Privas within the peloton of the 15 best riders of the 81-kilometer route with a time of 2:24.12 hours, three minutes behind the winner of the stage, the Dutch Lucinda Brand.

With this performance, the Cuban international stood out in the Latin American region and overtook the Venezuelan Paula Andrea Patiño (23:34.55) and the Mexican Ariadna Gutiérrez (24:01.36), who are in the 20th and 39th positions, respectively.

The American Thomas (Movistar) with a time of 23:18.13 hours was escorted on the podium of the Tour of Ardeche, the Spanish Mavi Garcia (Alé BTC Ljubljana) and Ane Santesteban (BikeExchange), second and third, in that order.