Ferrari zooms to race lead

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Roberto Ferrari (Androni-Giocattoli) put his last name to the test when he stepped on the gas with 250 metres to go and won the opening stage of the Tour de San Luis on the streets of Justo Daract.

The Italian was one of a handful of sprinters that made the decisive split in the peloton with 20 kilometres to go including Maximiliano Richeze (D’Angelo & Antenucci) who placed second and Jacobo Guarneri (Liquigas-Cannondale) in third.

"I wanted to be on Max Richeze’s wheel and that is where I ended up," Ferrari said. "I thought that in that group of 20 riders he would be the fastest. The sprint straightaway was very long and I started my sprint at a couple hundred metres to go, a little late. I felt really good. It was too hot today but I felt good."

Ferrari will start stage two’s 156 km road race wearing the leader’s jersey but does not expect to hold on to it after the mountaintop ascent to Mirador del Potrero. The best climber competition is led by breakaway rider Jesus Rosendo (Andalucia-Caja Granada) and his race-day companion Juan Lucero (Team Argentina) leads the best sprinter competition.

Strong cross winds force decisive split

After a relatively tranquil 140 kms, the peloton shattered along Highway 7 with 20 kilometres to go due to strong cross winds and the efforts of several motivated teams and racers.

"The wind was very, very strong today and so it was our plan to stay at the front of the race, especially near the end," Ferrari said. "We had Jose Serpa with us and that was great because he is our general classification rider."

Those who made the split included Ferrari’s teammates Angel Vicioso and Jose Serpa, who placed second to Vincenzo Nibali in last year’s general classification. Guarneri ended the race with a podium sprint with help from his teammate Nerz Dominik and overall contender Eros Capecchi (Liquigas-Cannondale).

"We had a few riders in that front group and it was good that we had a fast sprinter like Ferrari," Serpa said. "To have three of us in the front is a good situation for our team. There were a few good climbers in the front group. I am happy because there was a small gap to the next big group and all those small amount of seconds will count later in the race."

Five riders represented Team Argentina in the move with 2007 overall winner Jorge Giacinti, 2009 overall winner Alfredo Lucero, Walter Perez, Mauro Richeze and Gerargo Fernandez. Also in the front move was former stage winner Xavier Tondo (Movistar), David De Lay (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Iker Camano (Endura racing), Patxi Vila and Giorgio Brambilla (De Rosa-Flaminia), Emanuel Yanes and Jorge Soto (Team Uruguay).

The hot and windy long haul to Justo Daract

Liquigas-Cannondale arrived to the start of the opening stage sign-in wearing race radios in protest of the International Cycling Union (UCI) decision to prohibit them. The event’s chief official instructed the team to remove the radios before the start of the race.

The stage opened with three eight-kilometre circuits around the city of San Luis. After two relatively uneventful laps, Jesus Rosendo (Andalucia-Caja Granada) ignited the race with a solo attack. He was later joined by Juan Lucero (Team Argentina) and the pair gained a three-minute advantage ahead of the peloton as they headed out onto Autopista 7. They would stay on that road for the next 140kms until reaching the finishing town of Justo Daract.

Rosendo kicked off the event’s best climber competition after taking full points the stages first and only King of the Mountain located 50 kms into the stage. The pair increased their lead to more than eight minutes however, their chances of making it to the finish line were slim with strong cross-head winds and more than 100 kms to go.

Lucero picked up full points in the two sprint hot spots located in Fraga and Villa Mercedes. The Argentine sprinter will no doubt want to contest the event’s sprint jersey, coached by his teammate and last year’s best sprinter Walter Perez.

Back in the peloton, Liquigas-Cannondale, Movistar and Androni-Giocattoli picked up the tempo to reduce the time to the breakaway to a more manageable margin of one and half minute. Lucero’s breakaway move helped to absolve his nine remaining teammates from having to chase and allowed them to prepare a fresh lead-out for sprinter Mauro Richeze. One of Richeze’s sprint competitors was his older brother Maximiliano along with Ferrari and both ended up taking the two top spots on the podium.

"I am very, very happy with Ferrari," said Androni-Giocattoli directeur Gianni Savio. "He is a very good sprinter and he is not even at 100 percent top form yet. I think he is at about 80 percent right now and I hope that he will continue to win races in Europe. Many compliments to my whole team today."

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