The most consistent pilot of the Andes Pacifico was François Bailly-Maitre celebrating his first place in Matanzas after completing the 7 stages of the fifth day when the riders arrived at the Pacific Ocean.
The young Scot from Santa Cruz Bicycles, Mark Scott, accompanied him atop the podium who was in the top three riders every day. In third place was the 2014 World Champion Jerome Clementz. The Frenchman said, “During the five days I went from less to more, I’m happy with the result and I really like the format of these races with a few days and lots of stages”.
The best Chilean was Milciades Jaque in fourth place who said, “I learned a lot during these 5 hard days, I focus on one objective to finish the race and also I focus on keeping my fitness during the race (…) I end up very happy, this is a very good way to start the year and I’m sure I can improve in the future”.
Tracy Moseley demonstrated why she has many titles, she won Andes Pacifico by a good margin of 12 minutes to Pauline Dieffenthaler in second place. In third place arrived the Chilean credit Florencia Espiñeira, who had a really good race despite a flat tyre the first day that made her lose precious time.
The master class was won by the Chilean legend Claus Plaut who took the lead in the final day over the US Master Champion Michael West. In third Place arrived the three-time Andes Pacifico participant from South Africa Rene Damseaux.
We closed Andes Pacifico 2016 with the feeling that we had a great race in amazing places, showing the variety of single tracks and landscapes that Chile has for mountain biking. From the high Andes passes to the famous Colchagua Valley full of vineyards, ending in Matanzas, a little town that is the capital for windsurfing and waves.
