Gallery: Fireworks at the Tour de San Luis team presentation

The 2013 Tour de San Luis starts today and the local population was treated to an impressive teams' presentation on Sunday night that included a firework display and a warm welcome for the teams and riders set to take part in the seven-day Argentinean stage race.

The event took place at the grand, if a little remote, Independence Hall, which was built in 2010, as a bicentennial honour of Argentina's independence from Spain in 1810. The structure is a replica of an important government building in Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, where independence from Europe power and talk of sovereignty were cooked up.

While Contador and his WorldTour companions attracted the attention of the international media it was the San Luis Somos Todos team who received the warmest cheers from the partisan crowd. The eight-man team comprise of seven Argentine riders and one Chilean, however they represent the cream of local cycling and were allocated the final, headlining slot, as teams were brought on stage in quick succession.

The race kicks off on Monday with a 164 kilometre stage from San Luis to Villa Mercedes, with the sprinters expected to shine.
 

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Daniel Benson

Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.