Vuelta Ciclistica Al Ecuador Race Preview
The Rio Grande Elite cycling team is back at the UCI 2.2 Vuelta Ciclistica Al Equador for it’s second year in a row! This year, the race is composed of 6 stages from September 25th-30th with 715kms travelled and over 12,500m of climbing. Shorter, but climb heavy stages starting at 9,000’ will challenge our riders, but we’re ready for the challenge!
Take a look below for information on our roster, the upcoming stages, who we are competing against, and how to follow along!
Our Roster:
Joey Bacala
Nathan Pruner
Fredd Matute
Kade Kreikemeier
Henry York
Our roster this year is filled with team members who have great experience racing internationally:
Joey Bacala raced this race in 2021, and will be looking for breakaway opportunities. Nathan Pruner has spent time in Belgium, and is coming into this race after a strong top 10 at Tour De Beauce. He’s excited for the amount of climbing that is coming up. Fredd Matute has raced in 10 different countries, and will be looking to help guide the guys across the Ecuadorian mountains. Kade Kreikemeier just had a strong ride at the Tour De Panama, finishing 3rd in the U23 general classification. Last but not least, Henry York has raced in 4 different countries this year, and comes to Ecuador for the third time, having secured top 10's on stages at this race in the past.
For more information and background on each rider, head to our Instagram or Facebook pages for there rider bios!
The Stages:
The Teams:
We are becoming more familiar with the central american teams. Club AVV Peru is the team Rio competed with for the U23 jersey at Tour of Panama this year. The 4 UCI teams will also be hard to beat, but we’re familiar with them from racing against them at Joe Martin Stage Race, Tour of Panama, and last year's Vuelta Al Ecuador!
How to Keep Up with the Race?
Last year, there was a youtube livestream which uploaded new clips throughout the stage as they got them (sprint for KOM’s, breakaways forming, etc). Take a look at our facebook/instagram pages for links each day!
On Rio’s end, we will be sharing/posting predominantly through the facebook and instagram stories functions.
The other way to follow the Vuelta Ciclistica Al Equador will be through the Fedeciclismoecu Instagram page and the Federacion Ecuatoriana Ciclismo Facebook Page with constant updates.
Lets Go Rio!
