Report: Great Day for Movistar in Argentina

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Movistar find another TT hero as Adriano Malori wins Time Trial in Argentina whilst Nairo Quintana seizes overall lead with two days left for finale. Adam Yates holds on to Young riders jersey

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It was an unforgettable Friday evening for the Movistar Team in the 8th Tour de San Luis, fortune giving its best face to the riders. After Thursday’s convincing win by Nairo Quintana atop the Cerro El Amago, the telephone squad upped their victory account to two with Adriano Malori, the strongest man on the 19-kilometer individual time trial in and around the province’s capital wearing Endura’s latest skinsuit.

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Twenty-two minutes and eleven seconds made the Italian unbeatable -it was actually the best time in seven editions of the course with only Taylor Phinney (BMC) getting close in 2nd, three seconds back.

A two-hour wait for the Blue rider on the hotseat lasted until the GC guys, including Nairo Quintana, the penultimate man down the start ramp as second overall who proved his ambition with the 16th best time of the day – just over a minute behind Malori and barely twenty seconds slower than Andrey Amador, a notable 5th today- to beat race leader Gaimon (GRS) for the orange jersey, with just two days remaining before the triumphant march on Sunday.

The Movistar Team will now have to defend a 26-second margin over the American and more than two minutes on third-placed Godoy (SLS)- with the final mountain-top finish scheduled for Saturday: the Mirador del Sol (6.4km at 8.5%, with infamous final slopes), the finish point of the longest stage in the Argentinian race (184km) from Las Chacras.

Adriano Malori: “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to win because Phinney was focused on taking the win here and was the number-one favourite. But once I got into the race, I realized I was rolling strong.”

“I knew the parcours from last year’s race, when I claimed 5th, and I knew my time was going to be good because I was feeling well. I did another recon this morning behind the team car and was determined to perform well, because I liked the route. It’s a very important win for me, especially from a psychological point of view.”

“It’s January 24th yet, and this gives me much confidence for the remainder of the season. My next goal will be Dubai, where I hope to shine in the TT, too. It’s true that Phinney seems like the man closest to the likes of Martin, Cancellara and Wiggins, and I beat him, but my main challenge this year is precisely that, and I talked about it with Eusebio Unzué: getting closer to those three references, the best specialists in the world.”

“This victory is dedicated to my girlfriend, Elisa, who will be celebrating her birthday in three days’ time, and to a friend who did a lot for me, Mirko Rossato. I’m feeling better here than I ever imagined. I feel like I’ve spent more than a month with them, because there’s great bond within its members, and that’s the biggest strength of this group.”

“The day was perfect, with my victory and Nairo’s leader jersey. Now it’s time for me to focus on defending it tomorrow and helping Ventoso out on Sunday so he can win the sprint.”

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Nairo Quintana: “It was a beautiful day for the whole team and that what makes me most happy. Especially with Malori, who did a remarkable time trial, and myself, as I could take over the leader’s jersey. I was coming into this TT a bit more with focus on not losing time and testing my legs against the clock, but I felt strong during the parcours and the result proves it.”

“Though I was riding for the first time with this TT bike, I felt really well. It’s an amazing bike and the legs responded well, too. This gives me confidence for the days left in the race. I’m tackling that final mountain stage in a different way that I expected.”

“I had to attack to win, but now we’ll be racing in a more defensive way, letting a small break going away and responding to attacks that will certainly happen into the final ascent. Having such a strong team makes me even more confident – not onl for tomorrow, but for the whole season and ever since the very first day of racing. Let’s hope we can retain this jersey until Sunday.”

“After that, it’ll be time to head back to Spain for the team presentation and then again back to Colombia, to witness the birth of my baby. I can’t really miss that particular stage – at all!”

Yates Holds on to Young Riders Jersey

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Adam Yates continues to impress in his debut race with ORICA-GreenEDGE. The neo-pro was the team’s top finisher on the Tour de San Luis stage five individual time trial. Yates stopped the clock at 24’06 after 19 kilometres, 1’55 slower than surprise stage winner Adriano Malori (Movistar. The Brit’s time was good for 36th place on the stage and 13th overall, 4’10 behind new race leader Nairo Quintana (Movistar). Yates now has a firm grasp on the best young riders jersey with nearly a five minute buffer to Caio Godoy in second place.

Christian Meier, Yates’ roommate in Argentina describe the day. Aside from the wind, it was a much nicer day today. The weather has cooled down quite a bit. We actually wore long sleeve jerseys when we went out for a ride this morning. It was cold compared to the oppressive heat we’ve raced in during the last few days. By the afternoon, the temperature had crawled up to 24°C, which was about 20°C cooler than yesterday.

No one on our team has a time trial bike here except for Santaromita as none of us expected to challenge for the stage or the overall. Despite lacking time trial bikes, we all treated today as a good opportunity to go through the same motions that we would for any time trial.

Adam had a very respectable time riding disc wheels and aerobars on a road bike. He has repeatedly shown that he’s on some really good early season form, which is a great thing. While Adam may have told you that his jersey isn’t a priority, he’s wrong.

It’s been great to have the jersey. He gets to stand on the podium every day with the team logo across his chest. It’s fantastic. We’re definitely proud of him, and we’re happy to support his efforts.

Realistically, there’s not much of a chance that he’ll lose the jersey at this point – barring any sort of catastrophe. The guy in second place is pretty far back. We want to keep it, but there’s not a whole lot of work involved in doing so.

Stage six is another uphill finish. With the form Adam’s shown, he can have another crack tomorrow – not just for the jersey but in general. He will be given free rein to see what he can do. He’s moving well, and he’s been very consistent. This has been a great start of the season for him.

RESULT
1 MALORI Adriano Movistar Team 22:11
2 PHINNEY Taylor BMC Racing Team 00:03
3 GIACINTI Jorge San Luis Somos Todos 00:29
4 WARBASSE Lawrence BMC Racing Team 00:48
5 AMADOR BAKKAZAKOVA Andrey Movistar Team 00:52
6 QUINZIATO Manuel BMC Racing Team 00:53
7 BOONEN Tom Omega Pharma – Quick-Step 00:57
8 HONDO Danilo Trek Factory Racing 01:02
9 TERUEL ROVIRA Eloy Jamis – Hagens Berman 01:03
10 SAGAN Peter Cannondale 01:05
14 NIBALI Vincenzo Astana Pro Team 01:14
16 QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander Movistar Team 01:18
20 CAVENDISH Mark Omega Pharma – Quick-Step 01:27
36 YATES Adam Orica GreenEDGE 01:55

OVERALL
1 QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander Movistar Team 17:18:14
2 GAIMON Phillip Garmin – Sharp 00:26
3 GODOY Sergio Daniel San Luis Somos Todos 02:01
4 MOYANO Enzo Josue San Luis Somos Todos 02:17
5 DE MAAR Marc UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis 02:47
6 STETINA Peter BMC Racing Team 02:57
7 ARREDONDO MORENO Julian David Trek Factory Racing 02:59
8 SEPúLVEDA Eduardo Bretagne- Séché Environnement 03:13
9 ATAPUMA HURTADO John Darwin BMC Racing Team 03:21
10 RUBIANO CHAVEZ Miguel Angel Team Colombia 03:30

13 YATES Adam Orica GreenEDGE 4:10

Young Rider: Adam Yates

 

 

 

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