photo credits @ Drapac Cycling
Peter Koning (Drapac Pro Cycling) claimed stage 3 of the Tour de San Luis today, after attacking from the day’s escape group to secure a memorable solo victory in La Punta.
Meanwhile, overnight race leader, Fernando Gaviria (Etixx-QuickStep), led home the chase group for second place, with Travis McCabe (Tinkoff) rounding out the podium in third.
As a result of today’s stage victory, Koning was able to wrest the leader’s jersey from Gaviria, and takeover the general classification.
Race Highlights
An early four rider escape group containing, Koning, Elias Tello (Chile), Gonzalo Najar (Sindicato de Empleados Publicos de San Juan) and Emmanuel Guevara (San Luis Somos Todos), and spent most of the day out front.
With 30 kilometers remaining, Koning successfully attacked his escape group companions, just as Najar suffered a mechanical problem.
From there, Tello and Guevara simply unable to stay on terms with the Dutch rider, who proceeded to drop the Etixx-QuickStep duo, while Tinkoff-Saxo and Movistar continued to drive the pace of the peloton from behind.
Inside the final 20 kilometers, Koning hit the second-category climb of El Mirador del Potero, putting in a huge effort to try and stay away from the rapidly-encroaching chase.
In the meantime, as the peloton continued driving the pace up the climb, riders were being spit out the back of the group left and right.
Back up front, Koning crested El Mirador del Potero, while still well out front.
Back in the chase, a group including world champion Sagan, Gaviria, Quintana and Nibali surged off the front of the peloton in an attempt to catch the Drapac rider.
But as the gradient eased off, no one seemed willing to lead the chase and Koning took the victory unchallenged.
Top 10 Finishers
1 Peter Koning (Ned) Drapac Professional Cycling 3:08:41 2 Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:01:37 3 Travis Mccabe (USA) Holowesko / Citadel p/b Hincapie Sportswear 4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 5 Mauro Abel Richeze (Arg) San Luis Somos Todos 6 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 7 Julien Loubet (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 8 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team 9 Dayer Uberney Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 10 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Astana Pro Team
General classification after stage 3
1 Peter Koning (Ned) Drapac Professional Cycling 7:57:43 2 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Etixx – Quick-step 0:00:06 3 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Etixx – Quick-step 0:00:22 4 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Etixx – Quick-step 5 Dayer Uberney Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:30 6 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 7 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team 8 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 0:00:39 9 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Astana Pro Team 10 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
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