Tour de San Luis – Good start says Quintana

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Second place in the Team Time Trial a good start says Movistar’s Nairo Quintana

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Tour de San Luis – Good start says Quintana

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Team Press Release
The start of the 10th Tour de San Luis saw the Movistar Team taking their collective strength to excellent limits and coming close to their maiden 2016 win against stronger rivals. The squad directed by José Luis Jaimerena finished in 2nd place after the 21km team time trial in and around El Durazno, leaving Nairo Quintana in an excellent position to fight for overall glory in a race where the mountains will take over on Wednesday.

Much cohesive despite physiological differences between their six members, the Blues -Nairo, Dani Moreno, Adriano Malori, Dayer Quintana, Marc Soler and Fran Ventoso, the latter dropped before the finish- kept margins close against big favourites Etixx. The Belgian squad dominated the intermediate standings, putting 7″ over the Movistar Team after 10km, and set local rider Max Richeze in the lead with eight seconds over the ‘green M’ (23’53”, to 24’01”), which left Astana behind by 9”, Tinkoff at 15” and AG2R / Delko almost 50” apart.

The Tour de San Luis will tackle its longest stage on Tuesday -182km between the region’s capital and Villa Mercedes-, a sprint surely to loom under hot conditions in Argentina. Hard slopes will have to wait an additional 24 hours, with the Mirador del Potrero 11km away from La Punta’s finish on day three.

REACTIONS:

Nairo Quintana: “It was a good start. We couldn’t win, yet it was a fine result that we’re satisfied about. Now we’ve made sure that our work during the winter paid off – we’re in a good position for what’s to come. It was a TT difficult to manage, demanding and with really hot conditions; we’ll surely suffer because of the weather during the week, and even more as the mountains come.

“We put some gap on our rivals, and that will keep us calm for the upcoming stages. I even hoped for the victory -I wouldn’t have minded to work to keep the jersey if it came-, but Etixx had better rouleurs, while we were lucky to have Malori by our side with his great TT conditions. It’s good to be in such position; El Amago and Filo Sierras will be stages better suited to me.”

Adriano Malori (via Tuttobici): “We finished really close to Etixx and that’s not a bad result at all. Last year it was me who finished ahead of Kwiatkowski and this time it was their turn to take the win – that’s cycling. I’m personally satisfied with this result; a good start for myself, for Nairo and the whole team. We’re in a great position overall and we’ll fight to keep it the whole week.”

Fran Ventoso: “A nice way to get the legs rolling for a first day of racing. Adriano was really strong today, like a motorbike, just as usual. Halfway through one of the slopes on the course, when he was pushing on full steam, Nairo took over with a strong pace – he apparently was doing well, too. Then, I saw it was too much for me – I had really given all I had and it was enough for me to reach the finish. We raced well together and it’s awful to have lost it by those eight seconds, yet it’s a good start. Good things should come during this week.”

 

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