Costa Rican female cyclists travel to Mexico seeking Rio 2016 ticket

San Jose, April 2 The Costa Rican cycling team will work hard to make sure of a ticket to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, the Costa Rican Cycling Federation (Fecoci) has said.

Local media said six Costa Rican female cyclists, Milagro Mena, Paula Herrera, Edith Guillen, Marcela Rubiano, Daniela Martinez and Maria Jose Vargas, were sent to Mexico for the first Olympic qualifier for women this weekend at Mexico's seaside resort La Paz, reports Xinhua.

The main goal is to make sure that Mena remains within the first 100 of the world rankings so that Costa Rica will have a ticket to Rio 2016.

"Let us see if we can win more ranking points to get an Olympic ticket for the country. It is a well-formed team ready to fight for this goal," said Mena.

Guillen also said the six women make a good team.

"The aim is to try to qualify (for the Games) and then it will be out of our hands who will represent us (at the Olympics) but I think it is too early to talk about that. First we have to win the place which will be difficult and then we will all fight for the ticket," said Guillen.

The Mexican event includes a 111km race on Saturday starting with a 31-km track followed by a 16km circuit which will be cycled round for five laps.

On Sunday, the cyclists will complete in a 108km race which involves nine laps round a 12km track.