In the fifth final for sprinters, Sam Welsford (Team DSM) won the sixth and penultimate stage of the Vuelta a San Juan 2023 in a close sprint, after traveling 144.9 kilometers on a circuit starting and finishing at the Vicente Velodrome Chancay.
For his part, the Colombian Miguel Ángel Supermán López (Team Medellín-EPM) remained the leader of the general classification; while the laureate Egan Bernal withdrew from the contest after suffering a fall suffered in the San Juan round.
The 27-year-old Australian appeared over the last few meters and crossed the finish line first, with a time of 3:03:39″. Welsford passed the Irishman Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) and the Colombian Fernando Gaviria (Movistar Team) in a close ‘photo-finish’, who had to settle for 3rd place.
They starred in the getaway of the day Juan Pablo Dotti (SEP de San Juan), Emiliano Ibarra (Gremios por el Deporte – Cutral Co), Maximiliano Richeze (Argentina national team), Gerardo Tivani (Virgin of Fatima Association), Mauro Richeze (Chimbas Te Quiero ), Rafael Lourenço (APHotels and Resorts – Tavira) and Filippo Magli (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè), but in the final kilometers they were supported by the great peloton.
In the final section, the Italian Magli, a survivor of the escape, rode solo for a while ahead of the peloton, but with seventeen kilometers to go his adventure ended and the pack prepared for a massive arrival.
The Soudal Quick-Step took the lead in the run-up to packing with help from the Trek-Segafredo, also showing up at the front. Going into the home stretch, Fabio Jakobsen got into an excellent position over the final kilometre, however Bora-Hansgrohe took the lead immediately afterwards with Danny van Poppel starting the sprint for Bennett who had Jabobsen at his wheel. It looked to be a duel between these two, but Sam Welsford came from behind with great speed and raced to victory.
This Sunday the last stage of the South American race will take place, which will take the riders around San Juan along 112 kilometers on flat terrain, where we will meet the successor of Remco Evenepoel, winner of the last edition.
Egan Bernal retires after a fall
The winner of the 2019 Tour de France and the 2021 Giro d’Italia, Egan Bernal had to leave the 2023 Vuelta a San Juan in the course of the sixth stage, after the consequences of a fall suffered at the start of the South American round.
The 26-year-old Ineos Grenadiers runner had to retire in the early stages of the day that takes place around the capital of San Juan due to problems with his left knee, after going to the ground in the first fraction.
“Egan Bernal had to withdraw against his will from the Vuelta a San Juan due to pain in his left knee, the result of a fall in the first stage of the race,” explained a statement from Ineos Grenadiers, published on their social networks.
The ‘beetle’ was fourth in the general classification, after arriving with the favorites in the final at Alto del Colorado, corresponding to the fifth part of the Vuelta a San Juan.
Source: Revista Mundo Ciclístico y vueltaasanjuan.org