Boonen wins 2nd Stage as Viviani Takes Over Race Lead
Stage one winner Fernando Gaviria gave a big lead out to his Quick Step Floors team mate Tom Boonen, and the Belgian finished off by taking the stage win
Team Sky’s Elia Viviani who finished second again now takes over the race lead.
The riders faced a 129 km stage starting and finishing in San Juan.
An earyl break consisting of Antonio Cabrera and Antonio Torres (Chile), Pedro Gonzalez (Equipo Continental Municipalidad de Pocito), Nicolas Tivani (Unieuro Trevigiani – Hemus 1896), and Nicolás Naranjo (Agrupacion Virgen De Fatima) broke away from the peloton and built a lead of three minutes.
Quick-Step Floors Cycling Team controlled the breakaway, avoided two crashes that took down several riders in the closing kilometres and helped to make sure stage 2 would end up in a bunch sprint.
Max Richeze (the only Argentinean to ride at World Tour level) and race leader Fernando Gaviria dug deep to take Tom Boonen to the front and launch him to victory.
The win – first ever of a rider on a bike equipped with disc brakes – means that Quick-Step Floors continues to lead the teams standings going into the third stage of Vuelta a San Juan. That's Quickstep-Floors team’s third win in 2017.
Boonen was full of praise for his teammates at the finish: “Right from the start of the day, the plan was to do the sprint for me, after going with Fernando on stage 1. In the final kilometre, both Max and Fernando did an awesome job and I got the better of Elia. I want to thank them for their help, because in the end, this is a team win. I’ve always had a good experience in Argentina and this victory shows that I’m on the right track for the upcoming races.”
“It’s just the start of the season, but the level in San Juan is a good one. I’m happy to win in Argentina, in front of these unbelievable fans. It’s incredible how many people came at the start and at the finish, you can really feel how much they love cycling and how passionate they are about it”, concluded Tom, who throughout his career has won more than 100 races across 13 countries and four continents.
2017 Vuelta San Juan Stage 3 Top 10
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 3:00:40
2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Italy
3 Matteo Malucelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec
4 Daniel Ricardo Escuela (Arg) Agrupacion Virgen De Fatima
5 Andrea Guardini (Ita) UAE Abu Dhabi
6 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team
7 Luke Keough (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
8 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Wilier Triestina
9 Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek - Segafredo
10 Mattia Viel (Ita) Unieuro Trevigiani - Hemus 1896
2017 Vuelta San Juan General Classification after Stage 2
1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Italy 6:08:12
2 Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:01
3 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:02
4 Franco German Lopez (Arg) Agrupacion Virgen De Fatima 0:00:06
5 Matteo Malucelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec 0:00:08
6 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team 0:00:12
7 Gavin Mannion (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
8 Duilio Ramos (Arg) Asociacion Civil Mardan
9 Oscar Sevilla Ribera (Spa) Medellin - Inder
10 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek - Segafredo
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