On the third day of the Tour of San Luis, the sprinters were finally able to flex their muscles. The finale of the 175-kilometer stage from Tilisarao to Juana Koslay held a few surprises. Because those who were looking forward to Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) were disappointed. Rather pulled The Manx Missile for his teammate Tom Boonen at the sprint. And that looked good at first. But with just under fifty meters to go, the Belgian visibly ran out of breath. In the end he finished third, beaten by the fast-paced Italian Giacomo Nizzolo, who gave his Trek Factory Racing team their second win in two days, and Francisco Ventoso (Movistar).
The stage initially determined a breakaway group again. Clement Koretzky (Bretagne-Seche Environnement), Julien Barrientos, Ruben Ramos and Juan Curuchet (Argentina) as well as Patricio Almonacid (Chile) and Ignacio Maldonado (Uruguay) had left the field with the start. However, the Garmin-Sharp team around overall leader Phil Gaimon kept the escape group on a short leash. The maximum lead of 5:30 minutes was quickly used up towards the end of the stage.
There were no changes in the overall rating.
//Result
1. Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) 4:14:19
2. Francisco Ventoso Alberdi (Movistar) 0:00:00
3. Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma – QuickStep) 0:00:00
4. Tyler Farrar (Garmin Sharp) 0:00:00
5. Davide Appollonio (Ag2R-La Mondiale) 0:00:00
//overall rating
1. Phillip Gaimon (Garmin Sharp) 12:34:53
2. Marc De Maar (United Healthcare) 0:01:47
3. Christian Meier (Orica GreenEdge) 0:03:56
4. Peter Stetina (BMC Racing Team) 0:04:16
5. Julian Arredondo Moreno (Trek Factory Racing) 0:04:16