A solid display on Alto Colorado helped the 28-year-old make his way into the top 10 overall.
Four categorized climbs lied ahead of the peloton on stage 5 of Vuelta a San Juan, who rolled out from Chimbas with its eyes on the Alto Colorado mountain top finish, which came after more than 160 kilometers in the saddle. The pace was high right from the start, making it difficult for a break to get away. When it finally happened, 19 riders jumped from the peloton, but their gap never stretched past the three-minute mark.
Tim Declercq, one of the eight new riders to join Quick-Step Floors in the off-season, was part of the large escape which was reeled in before the last ascent of the stage. On the first slopes of Alto Colorado, green jersey Rémi Cavagna made a move, testing the waters, but the bunch didn't give him too much space, and it was soon all together. At that point, around 30 riders were still in the front group, but the peloton exploded once the climbers threw caution to win and decided to attack from afar.
The stage was won by Rui Costa (UAE Abu Dhabi), ahead of Rodolfo Torres (Androni Giocattoli) and Ricardo Escuela (Agrupacion Virgen de Fatima), while Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) took over the leader's jersey.
Pieter Serry, who on the previous days worked for Quick-Step Floors, bringing his contribution to the three stage victories nabbed by the team, was up there with the best on Alto Colorado – on a day which saw 12 riders abandon – and as a result made a jump of several places in the general classification, sitting now in 10th with two days to go.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele
