Gaimon takes debut win with Garmin in San Luis

Phillip Gaimon had a dream debut for Garmin-Sharp as the 27-year-old American soloed to victory on the opening stage of Argentina's Tour de San Luis. Emiliano Contreras (Argentina) followed in second at 12 seconds while Marc De Maar (UnitedHealthcare) rounded out the top three at 1:17.

Gaimon was part of a five-man breakaway that escaped very early in the 164km stage from San Luis to Villa Mercedes, run in sweltering conditions in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and ultimately was the last man standing. What was expected to be a routine sprinter's stage proved to be quite a different affair.

"It's hard to describe the emotion right now, it's kind of just washing over me right now. I definitely didn't see it coming," said Gaimon. "Today was sort of a roller coaster. First I was in the early breakaway and I was happy just for that, to help the team, to help our sprinter for the end.

"And then when our gap got big enough I realized it was possible to do something different today."

Not only did Gaimon win the stage, but also earned the Tour de San Luis's first leader's jersey as well as the mountains jersey having claimed the day's only KOM.

The race-winning escape was composed of Gaimon, Leandro Messineo (San Luis Somos Todos), Emiliano Contreras (Argentina), Julian Gaday (Buenos Aires Provincia) plus Marc De Maar (UnitedHealthcare) and the quintet pushed out their lead to more than 11 minutes.

The primary factor contributing to the break's massive lead was a case of tactics involving Omega Pharma-QuickStep calling the peloton's bluff. The Belgian WorldTour squad, thinking of a repeat victory in the Tour de San Luis's opening stage courtesy of Mark Cavendish, assumed initial responsibility of keeping the break in check. However, down a man from six to five riders with Alessandro Petacchi's very early withdrawal, and having no assistance with the pursuit, they sat up after approximately 70km. As a result, what was once a manageable lead ballooned beyond control.

Also tempering the peloton's chase effort was the scalding heat, with nary an iota of shade on offer throughout the day, plus a large crash involving approximately 30 riders which prompted a reduction in pace to allow those affected to return.

Meanwhile, up the road the break's strength was reduced by one. Gaday sat up after he sealed the points jersey following the second and final intermediate sprint after 105km of racing leaving De Maar, Gaimon, Contreras and Messineo to continue at the head of the race.

Teams other than Omega Pharma-QuickStep would eventually work to reduce the deficit to the four escapees, but the decision to chase in earnest would come too late. Three riders, Cristian Da Rosa (Clube Dataro de Ciclismo-Bottecchia), Adrian Alvarado (Chile) and Christian Meier (Orica GreenEdge), would jump away from the peloton in pursuit of the break, but never posed much of a threat to bridge the gap.

With approximately 20km remaining a crash occurred in the break, leaving De Maar and Messineo on the tarmac while Gaimon and Contreras continued onwards to Villa Mercedes. With Gaimon at the front of the break there was confusion as to the correct road to exit from a roundabout. Gaimon made the wrong choice, resulting in De Maar plowing into the Garmin-Sharp rider broadside and hitting the deck. Messineo would hit the fallen De Maar, closing the curtain on a chance of the stage win and leader's jersey for both riders.

After the four riders from the break finished, the trio of chasers crossed the line at 3:52 down, followed by the peloton at 4:35 led in by Lampre-Merida's Sacha Modolo.