Blivar Espinosa

Panama City, Nov 29 (PL) Cyclist Bolivar Espinosa (Panama is Culture and Values) was crowned champion of the XLIV International Tour of Chiriqui, an eight-stage tour.

The outstanding 27-year-old athlete accumulated 20 hours, nine minutes, and 55 seconds to be at the top of the overall individual classification, escorted by his fellow countryman Michael Caballero (Rally Giant), at 2:12 minutes; and Costa Rican Andrés Alpizar (Ciclo Cafe-Coffe Expert-Repuestos Mena Volcano), at 2:22 minutes.

The cyclist from the competition's host province maintained Panama's dominance for the second consecutive year after Franklin Archibold won the 2023 edition.

This is another title for Espinosa, since in 2022 he conquered the Tour a Panama, according to the Panamanian Cycling Federation (Fepaci).

This Thursday, Christofer Jurado (Panama is Culture and Values) won the eighth and last stage of the race—a closed circuit of 60 kilometers in the Chiriqui capital of David—with a time of one hour and 23 minutes.

Second place went to another Panamanian, Víctor Jaén (Rally Giant), eight seconds behind; and third place went to Costa Rica's Jason Huertas (Costa Frut-Giant-AC Marriott Belén), nine seconds behind the leader.

In declarations to Fepaci, Espinosa highlighted the team work to be able to dominate the final stage of the race and win the overall individual classification.

In the Vuelta 76 cyclists represented Cuba, Mexico, Panama, the United States, Costa Rica, and Colombia.