levi leipheimer (omega pharma-quickstep) won the individual time trial around san luis, rounding the 19.5km course in 23:17.33.  he finished more than a minute ahead of contador, placing himself in 1st place overall.  vicenzo nibali (liquigas-cannondale) finished in 2nd place with a time of 23:50.01 – stefan schumacher (christina watches-ofone) placed 3rd, 38 seconds behind leipheimer.  it’s still early season and leipheimer is showing strong form: “It’s a new team starting off a new year. I’ve been really happy since I’ve come here. I just wanted to show the team, to show [team manager] Patrick [Lefevre], to show the sponsors that I’m very grateful for them allowing me to be part of it.” (cycling news)

leipheimer currently leads schumacher by 53 seconds in the gc, nibali by 55, and contador by 57 seconds.

photo from velonews.

alberto contador (saxo bank) took the summit finish at the stage 3 finish in mirador del potrero.  levi leipheimer (omega pharma-quickstep) was able to hang onto contador’s wheel as the duo passed daniel diaz (san luis somos todos) and vincenzo nibali (liquigas-cannondale).

earlier in the 168km stage, tomas metcalfe (carmin-prio) and gregory duarte (uruguay) broke off the front towards the first kom – the category 3 climb of la florida.  renato dos santos (brazil) attacked from the peloton at the foot of the climb in pursuit of the duo.  he was 40 seconds ahead of the group, and 2:30 behind the break.  he was able to bridge at the crest – the trio pushed 3:40 ahead of the peloton.  60km marked the day’s first category 1 climb, the alto de nogoli.  the break lead by over 6 minutes as they began the 25.5km climb – they increased their lead to 8 minutes, which stirred up the big teams in the peloton.  as the trio were climbing the final 4km of the category 1 mountain, a select group of 20 riders broke off the front.

saxo bank took charge of the descent, and a group of 60 was able to come together.  jorge giacinti (san luis somos todos) took the intermediate sprint from the bunch.  angelo pagani (colnago-csf inox) launched a solo attack before the last category 1 climb of the day.  50km to go, he had a lead of 1:45.  pagani eventually flatted inside 18km and was passed by the 60-man group.

contador is currently the gc leader, followed by leipheimer 4 seconds back, and stegan schumacher (christina watches-ofone) 19 seconds back.

photo from cycling news.

francesco chicchi (omega pharma-quickstep) and teammate tom boonen sprinted to a 1-2 victory on stage 2 of the tour de san luis.  boonen was supposed to be set up for today’s slight uphill finish, but lost contact with his teammate, jimmy casper, through the final kilometer.

earlier in the stage, antonio cabrera (chile) attacked after 22km of racing.  he built up an advantage of 2:30 of the rest of the peloton as 3 lone riders attempted to bridge: edwin avila (colombia), mauricio neisa (colombia-comcel) and emmanuel guevara (san luis somos todos).  they reached a maximum lead of 5:30.  guevara took the first intermediate sprint, and placed second in the next – he currently sits in the lead for the sprint classification.  he was eventually dropped from the break leaving the trio one man down – they were eventually caught with 10km left to race.  the sprint trains began forming at the head of the group as the peloton wound up for the finish.

chicchi has taken his second stage victory in a row, and currently holds first place in the gc, ahead of jj haedo (saxo bank) and jake keough (unitedhealthcare).  mute the following video:

photo from cycling news.