Chicchi shuts out Napolitano, Loddo

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Italy’s Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas Doimo) won his first race of the season at the opening stage of the Tour de San Luis on Monday. The 168-kilometre stage finished in a bunch kick that saw Chicchi rocket to the finish line ahead of Edgardo Simon (Funvic-Pindamonhangaba) and compatriot Danilo Napolitano (Katusha), who took second and third respectively.

“I’m very happy to be here racing in Argentina,” Chicchi said. “This is the first win of the year for the team so that make is very, very important. The finish was very, very fast. There was Katusha contending with my team Liquigas and the sprint was very, very strong. My team was incredible today for the amount of work that they did.”

It was a well-deserved victory on behalf of his entire Liquigas-Doimo team, which staged an unbeatable lead-out through the race’s final 10 kilometres. However as the peloton barreled around the final corner with one kilometre remaining it was Italian Road Champion Filippo Pozzato who single-handedly brought teammate Napolitano into the final metres of the sprint, only have him be passed near the line by one faster man.

“In the last kilometre I had Pozzato and Marco Bandiera there for me pushing in the last 500 metres,” Napolitano said. “In the last metres there were guys like Alberto Loddo and a few other guys lined up but Chicchi was the superior sprinter, better than everyone else and he won. This is my first race so I will be going for stage wins here.”

Argentinean sprinter Simon may not have had the most impressive lead-out of his own, but he used his savvy skills to weave his way through the chaotic final few hundred metres. He found himself in the perfect position to sprint for a podium place.

“It was a very important stage today,” Simon said. “When there are teams like Liquigas, Katusha and Diquigiovanni Androni-Giocattoli then the speed is very high and the riders are very strong. We did a good job. I don’t consider myself the fastest sprinter but for us this podium is very important and we are very happy.”

Young Argentinean shines in front of thousands of local fans

The local San Luis junior cycling team kicked off the opening stage of the Tour of San Luis riding ahead of the well-attended peloton for the duration of the neutral start. Activity from the peloton ignited upon the official start of the opening stage of the Tour of San Luis, a 168.4 kilometre road race set along Autopista number 7.

Spanish Professional Continental team Andalucia- Cajasur proved the most aggressive team in the first half of the 168-kilometre stage as its rider Jesus Rosendo put the pressure on an early break away that gained a maximum time advantage of nearly eight minutes.

His break away companions included an array of Spanish speaking riders from South American and Latin American National teams such as Emanuel Guevera (Team Argentina), Luis Mansilla (Team Chile), Arnols Alcolea (Team Cuba), Arlos Castro (Team Colombia).

The five shared the work for some 60 kilometres with the exception of the first mountain sprint located at the 20-kilometre mark that was won by Mansilla, who became the mountains classification leader. The first intermediate sprint was later won by Alcolea.

Mid-race, the large time margin was reduced as the five riders appeared to lose the motivation needed to tackle the endlessly flat highway spanning across thousands of acres of prime Argentinean land. Guevera took matters into his own hands and attacked his breakaway companions gaining an additional three minutes of padding as the others disappeared back into the peloton.

“Everyone start working less and I am here selected by the Argentinean team to race here in the Tour de San Luis,” Guevera said. “This was a great day and I have to thank the province of San Luis.”

Guevera, 20, is the current Argentinean National Champion in the track sprints and his country’s rising star cyclist. Local fans cheered for the young Argentinean, giving him additional motivation to press on alone.

“Being front alone was good and I was able to collect some points today,” Guevera said. “I’m in good form but I was a little nervous to be out there for so long. I want to be out there racing and taking opportunities. Tomorrow will be another day.”

Back in the bunch, teams with quick sprinters not represented in the early move geared up for the second half of the race, eager set up and capture the first stage win. Sprinters nestled protected in the bunch included Italians Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas-Diomo), Danilo Napolitano and Filippo Pozzato (Katusha), Alberto Loddo (Androni-Giacatolli), Brazilian Luciano Pagliarini (Scott-Marcondes and American Ivan Dominguez (Jamis-Sutter Home).

After more than 120 kilometres on Autopista number 7 heading south east, Guevera got a break from the monotony and made the first right hand turn in nearly three hours of racing. He turned toward the city of Justa Daract where he won the second intermediate sprint of the day, earning the event’s Best Sprinter leader’s jersey and a five thousand pesos bonus.

Signs for the intermediate sprint city also signified some 30 kilometres to the finish line as the lone leader and the peloton made a U-turn back onto the Autopista number 7 this time heading northwest back to the finishing city of Mercedes. His time gap was drastically reduced form six minutes to two minutes to one minute until he was reabsorbed into the peloton.

The Scott Marcondes squad may have been the first team to organize its men in an early lead-out with 20 kilometres out, however, with ten kilometres remaining it was Liquigas-Diomo that proved to have the dominant lead-out train. Other team trains that had a presence near the front was Androni-Giocattoli, Nutrixxion-Sparkasse, Jamis-Sutter Home, Andalucia-Cajasur and Scott-Marcondes.

Weimar Roldan (Colombia) was the last rider to make one final flyer with five kilometres to go but the speed of the peloton eager to sprint swarmed the lone attacker one kilometre later.

Liquigas-Diomo held a firm grip on the front of the peloton as they barreled down Mercedes City streets, in and out of tight corners and undulating pavement. Italian National Champion, Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) popped out front with one kilometre to go down the final straightaway in a valiant effort to keep his teammate Napolitano sheltered. Pozzato swung off the front and let Napolitano loose with 500 metres to go, just enough distance to allow Chicchi to surge past for the victory.

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