2016 Tour De San Luis
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The 2016 Tour de San Luis was a
road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same laws a ...
stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a racing, race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day race, multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages ...
that took place in Argentina between 18 and 24 January 2016. It was the tenth edition of the
Tour de San Luis Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which ...
. The race was used by many European-based riders as the beginning of their 2016 road seasons. It was rated as a 2.1 event as part of the
2016 UCI America Tour The 2016 UCI America Tour was the twelfth season for the UCI America Tour. The season began on January 8, 2016 with the Vuelta al Táchira and ended on October 2, 2016, with the Tobago Cycling Classic. The points leader, based on the cumulative ...
. The defending champion is the Argentine cyclist Daniel Díaz (). The race took place over seven days. The first stage was a
team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...
; there were also two stages suitable for sprinters, two suitable for riders who can both climb and sprint, and two mountain-top finishes suitable for the best climbers. The team time trial was won by , putting their rider
Maximiliano Richeze Ariel Maximiliano Richeze Araquistain (born 7 March 1983) is an Argentine professional cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2006 until January 2023. Richeze won the silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games (Men's Team Pursuit). His b ...
into the lead. Another rider,
Fernando Gaviria Fernando Gaviria Rendón (born 19 August 1994) is a Colombian professional road and track racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He is well known as a sprinter (cycling), sprinter. Riding for the Colombian national cycling team, ...
, won the second stage and took over the race lead. He lost this the following day to
Peter Koning Peter Koning (born 3 December 1990) is a Dutch professional racing cyclist, who most recently rode for UCI Continental team . He was named in the startlist for the 2017 Vuelta a España. Major results ;2007 : 1st Time trial, National Junior Ro ...
(), who won in a solo breakaway. The first mountain stage was won by Eduardo Sepúlveda (), giving him a three-second advantage over Dayer Quintana (). This was maintained through the following stage, won in a solo breakaway. The final mountain stage was won by Miguel Ángel López (), with Quintana taking enough time out of Sepúlveda to put himself into the race lead. The final sprint stage was won by
Jakub Mareczko Jakub Mareczko (born 30 April 1994) is a Polish road cyclist, who rides for Mazowsze Serce Polski. A sprinter, Mareczko was described by the Italian national cycling coach Davide Cassani as one of the best young hopes for Italian cycling. Caree ...
(Italy), with Quintana taking the overall win.


Participating teams

The race organisers selected 28 teams to take part in the race, including 7
UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road bicycle racing, road cycling, the UCI World Tou ...
s. There were also six
UCI Professional Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...
teams, seven
UCI Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...
teams and eight national teams.


Pre-race favourites

The Tour de San Luis is one of the earliest races in the cycling calendar. It takes place at the same time as the
Tour Down Under The Tour Down Under (currently branded as the Santos Tour Down Under for sponsorship reasons) is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia. It is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and UCI Women’s WorldTour ...
, which takes place in Australia. The Tour de San Luis takes place on far more mountainous terrain than the Tour Down Under and is used by many riders, especially climbers, as a way to begin the season. The
general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulati ...
is expected to be decided in the two mountainous stages and the
team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...
. The contest involves both riders from the top European teams who are beginning their seasons and also riders from South America who are in the middle of their summer. Many of the South American riders use the Tour de San Luis to prepare for their national championships. Because so many of the European riders were beginning their seasons at the race, it was unclear which were in good form. There were two riders from European teams who had won the Tour de San Luis in the past.
Nairo Quintana Nairo Alexánder Quintana Rojas, Order of Boyacá, ODB, (born 4 February 1990) is a Colombian racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Nicknamed "Nairoman" and "El Cóndor de los Andes", Quintana is a specialist climber, known fo ...
() had won the 2014 race and had come third in
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
; he was one of the principal favourites for the overall victory. Another favourite was
Vincenzo Nibali Vincenzo Nibali (; born 14 November 1984) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional from 2005 to 2022. He is one of seven cyclists who have won all three of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours i ...
(), who won the 2010 race and who came to the race with the intention to compete for the overall victory. Other riders from WorldTeams with a chance of victory included Quintana's teammate
Daniel Moreno Daniel Moreno Fernández (born 5 September 1981) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2018 for the , , , and teams. He specialised in mountain and high-mountain races along with Grand T ...
, Nibali's teammate Miguel Ángel López,
Rafał Majka Rafał Majka (Polish pronunciation: ; born 12 September 1989) is a Polish professional Road bicycle racing, road bicycle racer, who rides for UCI WorldTeam . He is known as a strong climber, and rose to prominence at the 2013 Giro d'Italia, wher ...
(),
Jean-Christophe Péraud Jean-Christophe Péraud (born 22 May 1977) is a retired French cyclist who rode for and during his professional career. He was a member of the French team at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. Career Péraud was European cross-country champ ...
() and
Andrew Talansky Andrew Talansky (born November 23, 1988) is a former professional cyclist. Between 2011 and 2017, he competed for on the UCI World Tour, cycling's highest road racing category. Early life and education Talansky was born in Manhattan, New York ...
(). The principal South American favourite was the defending champion, Daniel Díaz. Díaz had won the 2015 edition and the 2013 edition. Díaz, an Argentine rider, had moved to a higher-level team for the 2016 season – the
UCI Professional Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...
– and was expected to be highly motivated for the race. His team, however, was expected to struggle in the team time trial. Other South American riders with a chance of victory included Rodolfo Torres (), who was second in 2015, and Eduardo Sepúlveda (). Several other riders came to the race hoping for stage victories. These included
Peter Sagan Peter Sagan (; born 26 January 1990) is a Slovak former professional cyclist who competed in road bicycle racing and mountain bicycle racing. Sagan had a successful junior cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing career, winning the junior cross-c ...
(Tinkoff), who was looking for his first victory in the
rainbow jersey The rainbow jersey is the distinctive cycling jersey, jersey worn by the reigning World Cycling Championship, world champion in a cycling discipline, since 1927. The jersey is predominantly white with five horizontal bands in the Union Cycli ...
he wore as the 2015 road race world champion,
Fernando Gaviria Fernando Gaviria Rendón (born 19 August 1994) is a Colombian professional road and track racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He is well known as a sprinter (cycling), sprinter. Riding for the Colombian national cycling team, ...
(), who won two races in the 2015 Tour de San Luis and
Elia Viviani Elia Viviani (born 7 February 1989) is an Italian professional Cycle sport, cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProSeries, UCI ProTeam . On 10 May 2015, Viviani won his first Grand Tour stage victory at the 2015 Giro d'Italia, Giro d'Italia, win ...
(riding for the Italian national team).


Route and stages

The race will include seven stages. The first will be a
team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...
. The second stage, the longest of the race at , is mostly flat and will suit the sprinters; the third stage is also likely to end in a sprint, although a climb shortly before the finish could be suitable for an attack. The fourth stage finishes with the climb of the Alto del Amago. There is a shorter uphill finish the following day, which is unlikely to cause significant time gaps. There is another mountain stage on the sixth day, however; it finishes on the Filo Sierras Comechingones, which is described by ''
Cycling Weekly ''Cycling Weekly'' is the world's oldest cycling publication. It is both a weekly cycling magazine and a news, features and buying advice website. It is published by Future plc, Future. It used to be affectionately referred to by British club c ...
'' as "fearsome". The final stage will be held on a circuit in San Luis itself and will again suit the sprinters.


Stage 1

Stage 1 was a team time trial around El Durazno over rolling terrain, with no significant or difficult climbs. were the first team to set a time: they finished in with an average speed of . They were soon beaten, however, by , who were six seconds faster. The Colombian rider Carlos Alzate was the first UnitedHealthcare rider to cross the line. This time was good enough to beat several of the next teams to race, including the WorldTeams and . Eventually, took over the lead by finishing 31 seconds ahead of UnitedHealthcare. Their lead was brief, however, as soon finished a further 23 seconds ahead with a time of 23' 53" and an average speed of . At this point there were four teams left to race. The Continental-level team Holowesko–Citadel finished well down the field, but the remaining teams were all WorldTeams with contenders for the overall victory. , led across the line by Vincenzo Nibali, finished 17 seconds behind Etixx–Quick-Step. were much further back, losing nearly a minute. The final team across the line was ; although they could not match the winning time, they did finish second. Etixx–Quick-Step therefore won the stage;
Maximiliano Richeze Ariel Maximiliano Richeze Araquistain (born 7 March 1983) is an Argentine professional cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2006 until January 2023. Richeze won the silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games (Men's Team Pursuit). His b ...
was the first to finish and so he was the first individual leader of the race. The win also put Rodrigo Contreras, the defending champion of the youth classification, into the lead of that competition. Nairo Quintana was the best-placed of the general classification riders; he took time out of all his rivals. This was in large part due to the work of his teammate
Adriano Malori Adriano Malori (born 28 January 1988) is an Italian former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2010 and 2017 for the and squads. During his professional career, Malori took fifteen victories, primarily in individual time trial ...
. , ,


Stage 2

19 January – San Luis
Villa Mercedes Villa Mercedes is a city in the province of San Luis, Argentina. It lies on the center-east of the province, on the left-hand banks of the Quinto River, 32 km from the border with Córdoba, on National Route 148, and near the intersection ...
,


Stage 3

20 January – Potrero de Los FunesLa Punta,


Stage 4

21 January – Terrazas del PortezueloCerro El Amago,


Stage 5

22 January –
Renca Renca is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It was founded on 6 May 1894. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Renca spans an area of and has 133,500 inha ...
Juana Koslay,


Stage 6

23 January –
La Toma ''La Toma'' ( Spanish: ''The taking'') was a significant legal declaration made by Don Juan de Oñate on April 30, 1598. This event marked the formal assertion of Spanish sovereignty over the territories north of the Rio Grande, in present-day Texa ...
Filo de la Sierra de Comechingones,


Stage 7

24 January – San LuisSan Luis,


Classification leadership table


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tour de San Luis, 2016
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
2016 in Argentine sport 2016 UCI America Tour January 2016 sports events in South America