Argentinian Daniel Díaz (FUN) became the first rider to claimed a second overall victory in the Tour de San Luis, whose 9th edition came to a close on Sunday in the streets of the province's capital with a very good result for the Movistar Team. The telephone squad will head back to Spain tomorrow - and land in Madrid on Tuesday morning - satisfied after Nairo Quintana's third place overall, following regular performances in all three mountain-top finishes and Friday's ITT, where Adriano Malori repeated his success to open the 2014 victory account. José Luis Jaimerena, the Blues' sports director in San Luis, reflected on both riders as well as their team-mates' work and the common points between success in Argentina and Australia.

“I don’t know if he was as strong as last year, but as a first contact with racing following his injury and recovery, he didn’t do bad at all," he said about Quintana. "We found strong competitors, coming into this race as a top goal of their season and that didn’t allow us climbing further up the standings, but we’re satisfied with the result. He didn’t feel any pain on his damaged shoulder and the injury is pretty much forgotten. We’re happy.

“We had seen Díaz winning this race two years ago against world-class rivals like Contador, and I already though before coming over that he’d be the man to watch, him being an Argentinian and knowing what he’d done prior. However, it’s true  that Funvic brought three riders -Díaz himself, Diniz and Ramo s- that almost did everything they wanted, to be simple. They controlled with no problems in several crucial points of the race and ended up taking all three mountain stages. We have to keep in mind that this is the first race for all ‘Europeans’, and that has a massive impact. Locals, one way or another, have competed elsewhere and came here with a pace boost which made the difference.

“Teamwork was impeccable here. Stages didn’t have much secrets - flat days were flat and mountain finishes didn’t include any climbs between the flat and the final uphill - yet wherever we needed them taking care and supporting Nairo, or in those moments when we had to work, everyone responded well. You could see that youngsters like Jasha [Sütterlin] and Dayer [Quintana] have improved after their first season. When it comes to Marc [Soler] in his pro debut, he performed really well and we are more than satisfied, both the staff and himself.

“Both Malori and we had the TT marked in red, even more after his victory last year. It was a route that really suited Adriano, but even though he had trained well and came with good legs here, he was doubtful about his own chances because you never know how you will do when you’re facing your first real test. He didn’t perform ideally that day, as it happens when you need some racing form, but he made quite a good performance and was lucky enough to win. After making team-focused efforts all race, he profited from his chance and made us really happy.

“When you start a new season and good results come from the very start, it makes you much more confident and calm. I think that the key for such performances was the continuity of our group from one year to the following. You build a method to face the process, and it makes you tackle races like San Luis or the Tour Down Under as if they were immediately next to the last ones from last year. The regularity and consistency of the whole group and those youngsters showing they can step up and contest the races have brought us much hope. It’s been a great start.”