A tough day on the mountain for Team NetApp
On the third day of the Tour de San Luis, Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) prevailed on the mountain ahead of Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Miguel Angel Rubiano (Androni), thus also taking the lead in the overall standings. As expected, Team NetApp had a tough time on the 168.2 km stage from Estancia Grande to Mirador del Potrero. Coming in 44th place, Markus Eichler was the team’s best-placed rider and is now 20th in the overall standings.
“We fought today and gave it our all, but the mountain stage was very difficult for our team, which consists almost only of classics riders,” Sport Director Jens Heppner said after the race. Sixty kilometers after a category 3 climb at the beginning of the route, a category 1 climb up Alto de Nogoli awaited the riders. The 20 km uphill climb took the peloton to an elevation of over 2000 meters above sea level.
“Alto de Nogoli was quite a challenge – a very steep, long climb. Our riders did a great job fighting their way through. Today I was especially surprised by Markus Eichler’s performance. Not only are climbs not his speciality, but he also has trouble with high temperatures. The fact that he did so well today shows that he is already in excellent shape.”
Tomorrow the individual time trial is on the agenda in Argentina. The 19.5 km course is almost completely flat and less demanding from a technical point of view. “Our time trial specialist Timon has recovered from his stomach flu, and we hope that he will put in a good race tomorrow,” Heppner concluded.
stage 1, 23 January: San Luis – Villa Mercedes, 189.3 km
stage 2, 24 January: Fraga – Juana Koslay, 145.3 km
stage 3, 25 January: Estancia Grande – Mirador del Potrero, 168.2 km
stage 4, 26 January: ITT San Luis, 1.,5 km
stage 5, 27 January: La Toma – Merlo 160.6 km
stage 6, 28 January: Lujan – Quines, 201 km
stage 7, 29 January: San Luis – San Luis, 167.1 km
