Quintana off to a flyer
With the Giro d’italia his big target for 2014, the the Colombian looked in fine fettle in Argentina
1 As far as ProTeam
debuts go, Phil Gaimon’s for Garmin-Sharp must be right up there. Temperatures in excess of 100 degrees aren’t normally conducive to successful all- day escapes but Gaimon doggedly clung on from the remnants of the five-man break.
2 Tom Boonen takes
extreme measures to stay cool on day one. The crazy heat will likely have seemed a minor matter for the Belgian, who’s simply glad to be back racing after a torrid 2013 season.
3 3 As a season opener,
the mountainous San Luis is arguably a tougher prospect than the WorldTour Tour Down Under going on at the same time. Here, on stage 2 and the first summit finish, Trek’s flyweight climber Julián Arredondo edged out BMC’s Peter Stetina.
4
British champion
Mark Cavendish trails team-mate Boonen on stage 3 but with Cav’s main season goals coming later in the year, it would be him on unfamiliar lead- out duties.
5 Filippo Pozzato may
have spent much of his winter in the warmth of southern California but the stifling temperatures of stage 3 proved too much even for him. The race was his first step towards what he hopes will be a better Classics season than 2013.
6 It was the first
chance for BMC’s new Colombian climber Darwin Atapuma to show his talents on stage 4 to Alto del Amago. He had to settle for third, however, after being undone by a devastatingly strong Nairo Quintana.
7 Quintana celebrated
his win with the nauseating ‘cradle rock’, in advance of the birth of his first child, due in February. The Colombian put 50 seconds into second placed Sergio Godoy, though Phil Gaimon clung onto GC over Quintana by 4 seconds.
8 Adriano Malori took
the 19.2km stage 5 time trial ahead of a disappointed Taylor Phinney. Quintana’s 19th place, 1:18 back, was good enough to leapfrog Gaimon into the GC lead.
9 Arredondo eyeballs
Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R) but it would be local hero Godoy whom he’d end up pipping in the sprint atop Mirador del Sol on stage 6. His second win – and Trek’s third – represented an excellent return in the team’s first month of existence.
10 Despite missing out
to his compatriot Arredondo on stage 6, Quintana clung onto the leader’s jersey and also extended his lead over Gaimon. His 35-second cushion would be hard to cancel out heading into a fast, flat final stage.
11 Lampre-Merida had a
wretched season in 2013 but there’s a rosier outlook this year. While they’ve signed Rui Costa and Chris Horner, it was another new addition, Sacha Modolo, who sprinted his way to final stage glory.
12 As expected, it was
Quintana who held onto his lead for the first of what could be many victories. His great early season form was explained by the news that he’d be leading Movistar at the Giro d’Italia in May.