Argentinean champion Daniel Diaz made steps today towards repeating his 2013 overall win in his country's biggest stage race, the Tour de San Luis. Diaz escaped on the climb to Mirador de Potrero in stage two, held on for the summit finish win and the overall lead.
Mark Cavendish lost the sprint in yesterday's opening stage to little-known Colombian Fernando Gaviria. Again today, one of the locals from South America won over cycling's top stars.
Rodolfo Andres Torres (Colombia) placed second at six seconds and Kleber Ramos (Funvic Brasilinvest) third at 24. Spain's Daniel Moreno (Katusha) placed fifth at 27 seconds, and defending champion and 2014 Giro d'Italia winner, Nairo Quintana (Movistar) placed seventh also at 27 seconds.
Diaz, 25 years old, is no surprise for Tour de San Luis followers. Two years ago, he won the overall by 33 seconds over Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing). Cycling's top Grand Tour star, Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) placed fourth at 1-02 minutes.
A five-man escape rode free for much of the 185.3 kilometres leading to the summit finish at 1270 metres. They faded just in time for the top climbers to battle on the 4.8-kilometre ascent. Movistar tried to control for Quintana, the group whittled down to around 10 riders, and Diaz and Torros attacked with over a kilometre to race.
Diaz, with the stage winner's time advantage, took the leader's jersey from Gaviria, but kept the lead among the local South Americans.
Tomorrow's undulating stage is one for an escape, but Thursday's summit finish to Alto El Amago, at 1710 metres, should further sort out the overall classification. The race finishes on Sunday in San Luis’s centre.
Results
Tour de San Luis 2015, stage two: La Punta to Mirador del Potrero, 185km
1. Daniel Diaz (Arg) Funvic Brasilinvest
2. Rodolfo Torres (Col) Colombia at 6 secs
3. Ramos Kleber (Bra) Funvic Brasilinvest at 24 secs
4. Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Bretagne-Seche Environnement at 27 secs
5. Daniel Moreno (Spa) Katusha at same time
Overall classification after stage two
1. Daniel Diaz (Arg) Funvic Brasilinvest
2. Rodolfo Torres (Col) Colombia at 6 secs
3. Ramos Kleber (Bra) Funvic Brasilinvest at 24 secs
4. Daniel Moreno (Spa) Katusha at same time at 27 secs
5. Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Bretagne-Seche Environnement at 27 secs
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