Tour de San Luis: Diaz victorious atop Alto el Amago

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Dani Diaz, it seems, is in a race all of his own at the Tour de San Luis. The Funvic-São José dos Campos rider took a giant step towards a second overall victory in his home race after he claimed victory atop the mighty Alto El Amago with disarming facility on Thursday afternoon.

The Argentinian was already an emphatic victor on the Mirador del Potrero on stage two, but conventional wisdom had it that the shorter, more explosive climb was better-suited to the local riders who are in the midst of their season: the expectation was that the likes of Nairo Quintana (Movistar) would fare rather better on the 10.5 kilometre haul up the Alto El Amago.

Instead, however, it was Diaz who was again utterly dominant. He held fire when Quintana launched a searing acceleration with four kilometres remaining, allowing his teammate Alex Diniz to respond. But when Quintana tried again shortly afterwards, Diaz sensed his moment had arrived. Rising from the saddle, the 25-year-old launched a ferocious effort that quickly put daylight between him and the Colombian.

“I felt very strong on the climb even though the speed was really high at the bottom,” Diaz said. “Nairo attacked twice. The first time, my teammate Diaz went with him, and then the second time, I knew that it was time to act.”

Diaz simply took flight thereafter, dancing up the sharp series of hairpins with his leader’s jersey flapping open. Further behind, the chasers were floundering, seemingly lost amid the rock-strewn mountainside. Quintana battled gamely to get on terms, with Eduardo Sepulveda (Bretagne-Séché), Rodrigo Torres (Colombia) and Diniz for company, but they could make little inroads into Diaz’s lead.

Cheered on by a raucous smattering of home fans at the summit, Diaz crossed the line with ample time to zip up his jersey and savour his victory, while his teammate Diniz led the chasers home 52 seconds further back. The impressive young Torres took third, at 54 seconds, while Quintana had to settle for fourth on the stage, a further two seconds back.

Quintana falters

As Diaz was guided back towards the finish line for the podium protocol, Quintana was being helped into the back of the Movistar team van, where he sat exhaustedly while a soigneur helped him to stretch his legs. After draining a bidon, Quintana beckoned a small group of reporters forward.

“There was an incredibly fast tempo at the bottom of the climb, it was very difficult,” he said quietly. “I tried to attack but Diaz came with me, and when he attacked, I couldn’t follow.”

Quintana is now in fourth place overall, 1:23 down on Diaz, and he shook his head when asked if he believed he could wrest the jersey from the Argentinian between now and the finish. “The overall? It’s unthinkable,” he said.

Diaz looked to preach caution in his winner’s press conference, pointing out that he has a lead of just one minute over the second-placed Torres and insisting that he might struggle in Friday’s individual time trial in San Luis.

“I don’t think a one-minute lead is enough,” Diaz said. “The time trial could make a big difference and you could very easily lose a minute on the last mountain stage if you have a bad day, so it’s definitely not over.”

Villa Dolores

There was a festive atmosphere at the start in Villa Dolores, as the neighbouring province of Cordoba celebrated the Tour de San Luis’ first visit to its territory, though curiously, the occasion was marked by an exhibition of Brazilian samba rather than a local dance. By day’s end, of course, the beat would be decidedly Argentinian.

The early break featured Julian Arango (Colombia National Team), Dario Diaz (SEP-San Juan), Giacomo Berlato (Nippo-Vini Fantini) and Juan Pablo Valencia (Colombia), and they built up a maximum advantage of seven minutes over a peloton content to allow them some early freedom.

Their lead was still a decent four minutes by the time they hit the final 20 kilometres, but from there, the terrain became significantly more rugged and their advantage tumbled accordingly. By the descent from the third category El Embalse, it was down to two minutes and their early unity was showing signs of fissure.

The base of Cerro El Amago is flanked by pleasant rolling scrubland, bordered by neat stone walls, but the landscape takes on a distinctly rockier, wilder hue as the altitude rises. By a similar token, the intensity in the main peloton seemed to climb in tandem with the narrow road to the summit. The early escapees were picked off one by one on the lower slopes, while the bunch fragmented into small clusters of survivors thanks to the forcing of Quintana, Diaz et al.

The race finally took some semblance of shape midway up the climb, as Quintana looked to impose his logic on proceedings with two extended accelerations, but in the end, it was the startling Diaz who imposed his law with rather staggering ease. “The sensations were very good and I think you could see that on the last climb,” he said, with considerable understatement.

The 25-year-old has spent the majority of his career on the America Tour, although he spent time in Europe in 2010 and 2011, first as a stagiaire with Footon-Servetto and then as a neo-professional with La Pomme-Marseille, where a fourth place finish at Paris-Troyes was his best result.

“I was at La Pomme Marseille for my first year as a professional and I got a lot of experience and that’s helped me a lot,” he said, though he was coy on the prospect of returning to race in Europe.

For now, Diaz has eyes only on a second Tour de San Luis title, and despite his protestations that he will suffer in Friday’s time trial, there is an increasing inevitability about the outcome. “I feel like I’m in the best moment of my career, not just physically but mentally too,” Diaz said. “I’m very happy and that showed in my performance today.”

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