Tour de San Luis 2014 - Stage 5

The Tour de San Luis continued today with stage five, a 19.2 kilometre time trial around the city of San Luis. The course was predominantly flat, but the turbulent Argentinian conditions made the race very difficult.

Garmin-Sharp's Phillip Gaimon held the leader's jersey going into the stage, but looked fatigued and ended up finishing off the pace. He ceded the jersey to Nairo Quintana, who now leads the race by twenty six seconds. Quintana now looks set to win the race should he be able to hold off any major challenges on the last summit finish of the race. 

Taylor Phinney of BMC Racing Team was one of the named favourites for the stage win, and was Lanterne Rouge's pick for the day. Phinney encountered mechanical problems on the stage however, stating he was unable to shift into his 11-tooth cog in the stage. He also suffered with tactical errors, not having the mechanics fit a big enough chain ring so he could continue pedalling at high speeds. 

Adriano Malori, the new signing for Movistar Team, had no such problems, and posted a very impressive time of 22:11, besting Phinney by three seconds. The time would not be beaten on the stage, meaning Malori had got his stint with his new team off to a perfect start. Malori not only proved Lanterne Rouge wrong in their prediction, but also made the race even better for Movistar.

Movistar not only won the stage, but gained the leader's jersey with Quintana, a good double to take into the final two stages over the weekend. After Saturday's summit finish the general classification should be sorted, I cannot see Quintana having his jersey taken off him with the form he is in. Phillip Gaimon had a good run in the race lead, but it is unlikely that he will out-climb the Tour de France runner up.