Cuban cyclist Yosvani Guti?rrez won the fourth stage of the 20th National Independence Tour, the most important bicycle race of the year in the DR. Guti?rrez, part of a Cuban national team participating in this event, won the 139.5 kilometer segment from Santo Domingo to Ban? via San Crist?bal with a time of 3:24:42. After yesterday’s segment, the individual in first place remains Venezuela’s Tommy Alcedo, with a time of 12:39:55, but an American from the Miami team, John Cipolla, has moved into a close second place with 12:41:13, with a paper-thin lead over Aro y Pedal’s Erico Poitschke at 12:41:30. In the team competition the team representing the Dominican Cycling Association of New York (Asodoci) retains the lead with a combined time of 38:04:43, the Cuban team holds second place at 38:09:00 and Selecci?n Montecarlo has taken over third place with a combined time of 38:12:43. Today’s stage is considered the most difficult, since so much of it is uphill: the cyclists will ride from Santo Domingo to Bonao via Villa Altagracia and Piedra Blanca in the morning; in the afternoon they will ride from Bonao to La Vega, to Santo Cerro and then ascend to Jarabacoa.
