When your nickname is 'Polar Bear' and you prefer short sleeves and shorts when other riders are bundled up like the characters in A Christmas Story, Argentina in January may not be the place for you. But UnitedHealthcare's Tanner Putt made the most of his situation on Friday at the Vuelta a San Juan, infiltrating the day's breakaway and flying his team's colours in the high desert off the front for much of the day.
"I really do like the crosswinds, but when it's 90 degrees with it I'm not a huge fan," Putt said of the windy stage 5 to Alto Colorado. "I rode well for this early in the year and in the heat and everything for the kind of rider I am. So, yeah, I'm pretty happy with today."
Putt joined nine other riders in a move that escaped just after the day's first intermediate sprint at 30km, then spent the next couple of hours working the move to try to stay away as long as possible.
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"There was a sprint a little ways into the race for the points, and I knew some of the guys were going for that, so I kind of just sat back and then as soon as the sprint finished it turned left into kind of a tail-crosswind, so I just moved up right after the sprint," Putt said.
"I knew something would go right there, and I followed Tosh van der Sande from Lotto [Soudal], and I ended up getting in the move. It was a tough day to get in the breakaway, for sure. It was very windy and pretty much all uphill, so…"
The group worked well together and eventually gained more than five minutes on the field. At several points, Putt found himself off the front solo. The first time was incidental, the second was on purpose.
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