Deignan looks to have started his 2013 season in great shape and is nicely poised in Argentina
Philip Deignan has gotten his 2013 season off to a fantastic start at the Tour de San Luis in Argentina, where in the past few days he has displayed the kind of form that has mainly eluded him in recent seasons.
The Unitedhealthcare professional has put in two very good displays on the mountain stages and posted a very solid time trial, all of which put him in 13th place on the overall standings in a race that includes some of the biggest names in the world including former Tour de France winner Alberto Contador.
Deignan put in a particularly good ride on the fifth stage today, Friday; a 169.8km mountain run from Juana Koslay to Carolina.
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He was 13th on the mountain top finish, some 1:46 down on stage winner, Argentine Emmanuel Guevara (San Luis Somos Todos). The Irish man was six seconds down on Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) and only 27 seconds adrift of Contador.
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He came home in the bunch on stage 1 on Monday, which was won by Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma Quickstep), and was again in the bunch on the second stage which was also settled in a sprint.
On Wednesday’s third stage things got a lot more serious, with the race finishing at the top of an 8km climb, where Deignan was 20th, just 1:12 down on the winner Alex Diniz (Funvic Brasilinvest).
That ride moved him up to 21st overall, a place he held after yesterday’s 19.23km TT where he came home in 52nd place but crucially did not lose much time to many of the climbers he had distanced the previous day.
His ride today moved him up to 13th, some 3:10 down on overall leader Ricardo Diaz (San Luis Somos Todos). Tejay van Garderen (Garmin-Sharp) is second, the Brazilian Diniz is third, Contador in fourth with Van Dec Broeck in fifth.
The race finishes on Sunday on top of a category 1 climb that will shake things up further. Deignan is just under one minute outside the top 10.
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