20-year-old Fernando Gaviria is the first leader of the Tour de San Luis after a surprise victory in stage 1 where he beat Mark Cavendish in Villa Mercedes.

The Colombian rider who is a double junior world champion on the track, used his full power (1.80 meters, 70 kilos) to overcome Cavendish and Sacha Modolo. The surprise provided him with great satisfaction: "It is an immense joy to beat a great rider like Mark Cavendish, I have always dreamed about fighting against him in the Giro and the Tour and today it is very satisfying to beat him in our first battle.

"In the sprint I had the biggest nerve in my life when I saw myself fighting against Cavendish. I have never been able to challenge him and today I could beat him. That's incredible. It was the biggest win of my career. 

"What a joy! I have to congratulate the team for their excellent work. There was a crash in the final. I do not know what the reason was but I luckily managed to avoid it. In the final kilometre, I followed [Carlos] Alzate and 300 meters from the finish I found a gap and I realized I could beat Cavendish. It's great, today is the most important victory of my career, mostly because I beat a ride who has won a lot of races.

"This morning I was nervous, I never thought I could beat Cavendish but I'm happy to have made him realize who Fernando Gaviria is. A dedication? To my parents and my sister who is recovering from an injury to get back to racing on the track, and my trainers who have given me confidence.

"My story is short because I'm young, I'm from a small town near Medellin, won two world championships on the track and a world cup in the omnium and madison. That's it."

For Gaviria, it is a great triumph and he thanked his Colombia teammates who protected him throughout the stage. "Seeing the Etixx-Quick Step tran, I thought it was impossible to beat them, but eventually I succeeded. It was important to pay back the team's work. I had the space and in the last 300 meters I saw that I could win."

Finally, he expressed his national pride: "We started very well, giving it all for our country. The team jersey doesn't matter but the feeling of support from an entire country helps us a lot. We all want to be like Rigoberto Uran or Nairo Quintana. They are our role models."