Tour de San Luis (st. 6)
Colombian from Movistar Team shows courage at beginning of Filo Sierras Comechingones climbs, takes 4th place in Tour de San Luis queen stage before claiming 3rd spot overall tomorrow
Kléber Da Silva (FUN) took a surprise victory in the most demanding finish of the 9th Tour de San Luis, over the 16 long kilometers of the Filo Sierras Comechingones after another 100km full of speed and fighting spirit from the very start in Achiras, Córdoba. The Brazilian completed an incredible ascent, after pushing for his team leader and orange jersey holder Dani Díaz for most of the climb, by outsprinting the 4-man selection into the final kilometer. Once again, Nairo Quintana responded with his current form and completed another notable performance in his 2015 debut race.
The Colombian, always well protected by his Movistar team-mates until the foot of the climb -the Blues even made it into the opening attacks as yesterday's winner Adriano Malori rode for a brief period into the early break-, showed his usual courage to end a fine performance in the 'puntana' mountains by jumping away with 9km to go, even before the summit of the traditional Mirador del Sol. Quickly countered by the race leader, the 12-man group of favourites rode defensively and conserved their GC places before tomorrow's sprint. Díaz, Torres (COL, 2nd, +1'02") and Nairo (+1'35") are just 122km away from their trophies.
“I’m calm,“ explained Nairo briefly for our colleagues from Tuttobiciweb. “I launched only one attack, mainly as a bit of a test for myself, and later chose to ride steady, on the wheel of my rivals, which have proven to be really strong this week. I’m neither really happy nor disappointed with the final result; I’m just feeling calm and satisfied, because I completed some days of good work in the beginning of my Tour preparations.”