Vuelta a San Juan 2023 – Stage 5 [FULL STAGE]

January 27, 2023

Vuelta a San Juan 2023 – Stage 5 – Chimbas – Alto Colorado : 173,7 km

The Vuelta a San Juan is a week-long stage race held in and around the eponymously-named region of western Argentina. It’s one of the biggest races to take place in South America and, falling right at the start of the year, it offers riders from across the globe an opportunity to kickstart their seasons with a bang. The race’s first edition was held in 1982, but it wasn’t until 2017 when the UCI upgraded it to 2.1 status that it became an internationally recognised event. It was bumped up again in 2020, to the UCI’s ProSeries. These upgrades have helped to increase the prestige of the race and, in turn, attract more and more world-class riders to Argentina to compete. Since 2017 and its arrival on the international racing calendar, the Vuelta a San Juan has followed a similar format with a handful of flat stages, a couple of mountain stages and an all-important individual time trial. It’s a perfect race for all-rounders, as well as a fantastic warm-up for the bigger races that often follow in February and March.

Miguel Angel López (Medellin-EPM) made a big statement at the Vuelta a San Juan with a late attack and solo victory on stage 5 atop Alto del Colorado. With the win, the Colombian rider takes the overall race lead with two days remaining.

A chase by Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) faded on the final 7.1% gradient with 2km to go and he rode to second, 30 seconds back. Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished in third, two seconds ahead of Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Einer Rubio (Movistar).

Team Medellin-EPM grouped at the front of the peloton as the kilometres clicked down to just 14 remaining and worked to pull back a two-minute deficit to the two leaders, Manuele Tarozzi ( Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) and Leandro Carlos Messineo (Chimbas Te Quiero).

With 7.5km to go Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) made a surge at the front, only to fade quickly as Higuita led a small group that included Ineos pair Bernal and Ganna, Rubio and López across to catch Tarozzi and Messineo. Evenepoel managed to finish seventh, 1:09 off the pace set by the eventual stage winner.

With 5km to go, López set off solo in quest of the precious metal mined in the area. Ganna went into time trial mode but could not close the gap to López, who struck gold at the top of Alto del Colorado.

How it unfolded
Peter Sagan’s retirement announcement/birthday party had scarcely ended on Thursday night when a gusting wind began to sweep through San Juan, rustling jacaranda trees and rattling window panes all over the city. A heavy electrical storm broke out shortly afterwards, and when the peloton awoke on Friday morning, they found the previously-sweltering summer temperatures had dropped to something altogether more manageable for stage 5 of the Vuelta a San Juan.

Indeed, the early news filtering into town from the lofty summit of the Alto Colorado suggested that the mercury had plummeted considerably, though by early afternoon, the sun had burned off enough of the cloud cover to ensure conditions were brisk rather than bitter on the long road to the finish.

The entire outcome of the race hinged on its lone mountain stage, and at the start in Chimbas, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) warned of the collective threat posed by Ineos Grenadiers, who counted Egan Bernal, Daniel Martínez and Filippo Ganna among their number. “They can bet on several horses, and I expect they will use a very special tactic today,” the world champion said.

A seven-man break forged clear in the early kilometres, with new king of the mountains Tarozzi eager to sweep up the points on offer before the long haul to the finish. Christofer Jurado (Panama) beat him to the top of the first ascent of Alto Villicum, however, where the escapees had over four minutes on the bunch, which was being led by Ineos and the Movistar team of ephemeral leader Fernando Gaviria.

The final 50 miles of the stage were almost entirely uphill, and the three-part climb towards the 2,623m-high summit of the Colorado began with the category 2 Baños de Talacasto, where Jurado was again first to the top. With the Panamanian drawing closer in the standings, Tarozzi struck out alone on the following Alto de la Crucecita, cresting the summit with a minute in hand on his erstwhile pursuers and five on the bunch, where Gaviria himself and Elia Viviani (Ineos) were setting the tempo.

The plateau that followed the summit of the Crucecita proper saw a considerable uptick in the intensity of the reduced peloton, with Bora-Hansgrohe, Astana and Soudal-QuickStep joining the pursuit and Tarozzi’s lead contracting accordingly. Come the base of the Colorado with 18km to go, his buffer was down to 2:45 and not even the arrival of reinforcements in the shape of Leandro Messineo (Chimbas) could prevent the inevitable.

The first major move in the group of favourites game with 14km remaining, when Medellín-EPM hit the front en masse and set a supersonic pace on behalf of Miguel Ángel López. There was no harm in asking the question of the WorldTour teams. Evenepoel answered emphatically with 10.5km, climbing from the saddle and casually ripping clear of the bunch.

Nobody dared to go with him, but Ineos marshalled a steady pursuit with Ganna taking the reins to limit the damage, and Evenepoel was persuaded to desist with 8km to go. Moments later, Miguel Angel López (Team Medellin-EPM) accelerated with Bernal, Ganna, Sergio Higuita and Einer Rubio on his wheel. Evenepoel was suddenly and unexpectedly distanced, and an entirely new race began.

Results :