Grischa Janorschke ranks 11th again despite defect
Elia Viviani (Team Liquigas) won today’s sixth stage of the Tour de San Luis, followed by Juan José Haedo (Saxo Bank) and Andrea Guardini (Farnese Vini). Grischa Janorschke crossed the finish line in 11th place. Just before the last curve he had to cope with a defect, missing out on a good starting position. There were no changes at the top of the general classification. Team NetApp’s Markus Eichler moved up into 22nd place overall.
“We were so close to getting a really good result. The guys did a good job crossing the mountain, just like we planned. They brought Grischa into a very good position for the final sprint. But then he had a defect and had to take the last curve slower because there was hardly any air left in his tire so he couldn’t sprint at top speed. We came really close to ending up on the podium today,” said Jens Heppner, reporting on today’s stage.
The field remained together up until the mountain. Finally, a group of seven riders managed to break away and gain a lead of as much as 11 minutes. But just like the prior stages, the big teams were once again able to catch up with the breakaway riders just before the finish.
Tomorrow’s final stage of the Tour de San Luis will take the peloton around San Luis three times, covering 167.1 km. The course is hilly with a category 3 climb, but it won’t be nearly as difficult as the last couple of stages.
“Based on the route profile, we expect the field to stay together up to the end. A new day and another opportunity for us to try to finally make it into the top 10 after three unlucky sprints. Luck should be on our side tomorrow,” Jens Heppner said with an optimistic outlook on tomorrow’s stage.
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
