Tour de San Luis: Malori wins stage 5 time trial

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 Adriano Malori (Movistar) was the class of the time trialling field at the Tour de San Luis and he duly lived up to that billing by claiming victory in the 17.4 kilometre test on Friday, four seconds clear of the rapidly-finishing Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep). 

If Malori’s victory was entirely to be expected, the performance of overall leader Daniel Diaz (Funvic-Sao Jose dos Campos) – by his own admission no time trial specialist – was rather more of a surprise. The Argentinian not only defended the jersey but extended his lead over each of his rivals, and he carries a seemingly impregnable 1:09 buffer into the final two days.

The 17.4 kilometre long test stuck largely to the two-lane highway on the fringes of San Luis and, as such, was a tester’s dream. Two 180 degree turns aside, the only real obstacles Malori faced on the course were the men he was picking off in front of him, but he swept past unhindered to clock a time of 20:07 for an average speed of some 51.897kph.

“The last few kilometres were tougher than I expected with the false flats and the headwind, and I wasn’t sure of my form, but there’s no better way to start the new season than with a win,” Malori said, who hoped his performance was an augury for the year to come. “I came fifth in the time trial here last year and then I went on to have the season of my life, so let’s hope I go even better in 2015.

As Malori settled into the hot seat past the finish – and it was no misnomer, the temperature topped 36 degrees on Friday afternoon – it seemed as though Kwiatkowski would be the only man to challenge his time. That eventually proved to be the case, although when the Pole reached the intermediate time check at 17 seconds down on Malori’s time, it seemed as though he was well out of the running.

The opening leg of the course was slightly downhill and buffeted by a tailwind, but the false flats into the wind in the final kilometres proved inexorable for many a rider, including Katusha’s Ilnur Zakarin, who was quickest through the time check but then slipped to sixth, some 33 seconds down, by the finish.

Kwiatkowski, by contrast, had measured his effort well, and he ate into Malori’s lead on the run-in to the line. The world champion left himself with just too much to do in the finale, however, and he had to settle for second place and satisfaction at a good early work-out.

Kwiatkowski explained that he had looked to follow a set power output over the duration of the course and he declared himself pleasantly surprised by the final result. “I think Malori’s a little bigger so going on the tailwind and descent at the start was easier for him,” he smiled. “But you know I was trying to pace my effort with the same power and I did that really well and I’m happy with what I did. Finishing second behind Malori is a really good result.”

Ag2r-La Mondiale’s Hugo Houle claimed third place on the stage after matching Malori almost pedal stroke for pedal stroke on the front end of the course. Although the Canadian ceded a little ground in the final, he came home just five seconds down. “The way out was really very fast but then the return was so much harder with the wind,” Houle said. “I’m really happy with my ride because I wasn’t expecting to be so good.”

Diaz moves in on overall victory

Malori’s show of force meant that the race for stage honours was decided relatively early in the afternoon and by the time the final starters rolled down the ramp shortly after 6pm local time, all eyes were trained firmly on the battle for the general classification.

There was one early curiosity in that regard on Friday afternoon, however, when it emerged that Diaz’s Funvic teammate Alex Diniz had withdrawn from the race before his start time, citing illness. “He had an intestinal infection and he wasn’t in the condition to ride today,” Diaz said of the man who had been lying third overall. “I’ll miss him tomorrow.”

Nairo Quintana (Movistar) insisted beforehand that his overall ambitions were already non-existent but the exercise was a useful early-season work-out ahead of the 14-kilometre time trial that will kick off his Tour de France challenge in July.

Perhaps surprisingly, Quintana was noticeably better on the flat, downhill opening part of the course, clocking an intermediate time just seven seconds down on Malori, before paying a price for his early effort in the finale, finishing the stage in 12th place, 44 seconds down.

By contrast, Dani Diaz improve as the time trial wore on. At the 9.5km mark he was seven seconds behind Quintana but he clawed back the deficit to clock a time two seconds quicker than Quintana and nine faster than second-placed Rodolfo Torres (Colombia). In the overall standings, Diaz is now 1:09 up on Torres. Quintana, by dint of Diniz’ abandon, moves up to third overall, albeit now 1:25 behind Diaz.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect this,” Diaz said. “When I crossed the line, I was even asking if I’d done enough to keep the jersey. I really didn’t think I’d gain time.”

Diaz’s startling displays of strength on the two summit finishes to date mean that Saturday’s finale at Filo Sierras Comechingones, some 2,140 metres above sea level, will hold few fears for him, despite his protestations in his post-race press conference.

“It’s a short, intense stage and the last climb is so long that you could easily lose a lot of time,” he said. “And Nairo has a very strong change of rhythm, so tomorrow will be difficult for me.”

Beside him, Quintana’s teammate Malori was less convinced. “Nairo is getting better every day but seeing what Diaz has just done today, I don’t think he’ll be too worried about losing his jersey,” he said. “Nairo could win the stage but I think pegging back more than a minute would be almost impossible.” 

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