We’re here in Costa Rica for the 2022 Clasico San Jose! The peloton has 212km of undulating terrain ahead of them on the route, with almost constant climbing and almost not a single flat portion of road in sight. From the startline, the peloton will face 18 ascents of 4 climbs in somewhat of a circuit. Last year was the first running of the race, and it was won by a massive outsider in Mathew Holmes of PCT team cycleYorkshire. The riders lining up here in Costa Rica are fighting to be only the second winner here in this race’s history.

The big favourite here in Costa Rica is undoubtedly American Boswell. He’s had a blistering start the season, taking out the Gisborne GP from a late attack and a stage at the C1 Hong Kong Challenge and is preparing himself for potentially his biggest season yet. He no longer has the yin to his yang in Eiking to contend with as the Norwegian has ascended up to the PCT for this season, whilst he still faces great opposition realistically he should be strong enough to overcome them. He has the most ability in the CT division over shorter climbs and should be able to rely on his teammates like Rodriguez and Fikri Azka to control the race.

The second rider on our list is none other than Italian Moscon. He has had a trepidatious start to the season finishing 12th in New Zealand before riding an anonymous race in Hong Kong in support of his mate Masnada. He’ll be looking to make amends here and will look to kick start his season and keep the momentum Jura has going into February. The last time he was in CT two season ago, he was one of the best riders in the division and with that pedigree he cannot be discounted.

Edmondson is another rider coming to Costa Rica hoping to get their season rolling. He finished 9th in Gisborne, winning the sprint from his large group which tells you the advantage he has over most of his compatriots – speed. He can be lethal going towards the finish line in a small group and will be a rider that the others will not want to bring to the line. He had a good season last year and will have strong support with him here in the shape of Australian road champion Calvin Watson, who on a good day could even take the win himself.

Quevedo arrives here after a strong outing in Hong Kong for one of the new teams on the block, Caja Rural. He’ll be looking to continue their strong start to the season here. Ukranian Budyak is back hoping to go one better and land himself on the podium this time around after finishing 4th here last season. He likes both long and short climbs so will be one to keep an eye on and will be tough to shake. Hoelgaard has started the season well after finishing 2nd to Boswell in the Gisborne GP. Like Budyak, he doesn’t mind the longer climbs but also possesses a decent kick which could prove vital. He hasn’t got a lot of support here, but will definitely still strive to do well.

Vliegen leads the way here for riders with an outside chance at victory. Riding for his former team Bralirwa here last season, he managed to finish 2nd beating Eiking in the process. He didn’t have much support here last season, so being in a similar situation without many climbing friends this season hopefully shouldn’t bother him too much.

Le Gac is a strong puncheur and will be hoping for a strong result here for new team Oktal Pharma. Mudarra is also a strong and very well-rounded puncheur who will be hopeful of a good result here. He will need to utilise his climbing skills here as he doesn’t have the quickest acceleration of the bunch. McKenna is quite competent over the hills and along with hiss terrif acceleration should definitely be fighting for a podium place at least. He will probably wish the race was a little bit shorter, though.

Besada along with teammate Vogt will be looking to cause an upset here. Bianchi come here with some crazy depth. They have Le Roux, Svab, Rota, Vendrame and Luchshenko here making them the strongest overall team and also giving them an option for almost any outcome – especially Svab as he is also a decent climber and Luchshenko, who had a great first day out for Bianchi in NZ finishing 3rd in the Gisborne GP. Can they assert themselves as the crabpack of the hills?


Rodriguez lines up here for Bordeaux where he will hope to make an impact while Skjerping leads the way for the PCT teams here for Gjensidgie along with Dieteren for Kraftwerk. Le Court will have to rely on a little bit of luck and good positioning here as his acceleration isn’t the greatest. Senyenov is here with Pibernik in support for Trans who have had a fantastic start to the season, and can continue that here with a possible top-10.