Description
January 29, 2023
Vuelta a San Juan 2023 – Stage 6 – Velódromo Vicente Chancay – Velódromo Vicente Chancay : 144,9 km
The Vuelta a San Juan is a week-long stage race held in and around the eponymously-named region of western Argentina.
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January 29, 2023
Vuelta a San Juan 2023 – Stage 6 – Velódromo Vicente Chancay – Velódromo Vicente Chancay : 144,9 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.
Sam Welsford (Team DSM) took victory in a tight sprint on Stage 6 of Vuelta a San Juan with the Australian Team DSM rider pushing through the Sanchez de Loria finish line first after a fast tailwind run in to the line on wide roads.
He took out the 145km stage ahead of Sam Bennett (Bora Hansgrahe) and Fernando Gaviria, while Miguel Angel López (Medellin-EPM), who claimed a solo victory and the overall lead on stage 5 atop Alto del Colorado, maintained his leading position on the GC heading into the final stage with a 30 second gap to Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers).
The victory on Saturday in Argentina was the second for the professional victory on the road for the 27 year old who last season turned his focus away from the track and signed with Team DSM.
“It was really a hard day out but pretty controlled for the sprint teams,” said Welsford immediately after the win. “The run in was really fast. I think we hit speeds of up to 75km/h in the sprint so it was really fast and that last 5km was really tough.”
Once the break was caught at around 18km to go, Filippo Magli (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) holding out the front that little bit longer than the rest. That left it to the teams of the sprinters to get set for the finish on the straight wide ride roads leading into Sanchez de Loria. Soudal-QuickStep was being lead by Remco Evenepoel until the final km with Trek Segafredo alongside and Team DSM jockeying for position among the rest of the teams, however they bought Welsford into position right when it mattered most.
He launched from Fabio Jakobsen’s (Soudal-QuickStep) wheel to snatch victory ahead of Bennett and Gaviria who had looked to be fighting a tight battle for the top step, right until the very last moment. Jakobsen came fourth.
How it unfolded
The dust of this Vuelta a San Juan appeared to have settled after Friday’s summit finish atop the Alto Colorado, but the race reserved unexpected drama for the penultimate stage, which started and finished at the site of the 2025 UCI Track World Championships.
A year on from the training crash that left him with career-threatening injuries, Egan Bernal (Ineos) had placed a heartening fourth on the Alto Colorado with a performance that boded well for his prospects at next week’s Colombian Championships and beyond.
18km into Saturday’s stage, however, news crackled over race radio that Bernal had abandoned the Vuelta a San Juan. Ineos reported shortly afterwards that he was suffering from pain in his left knee, apparently caused by a crash on the opening stage of the race last Sunday.
Those opening kilometres had been characterised by a flurry of attacking, and it took some time for the break of the day to establish itself on the road out to the striking Dique Ullum reservoir and the steady climb to Punta Negra. The eight-man move that ultimately spent most of the day in front was led by the retiring Max Richeze (Argentina), who was making another attempt to land a valedictory stage win on home roads after his near miss behind Quinn Simmons earlier in the week.
Richeze made a late, late effort there. This time, he struck from long range, and he was joined by his brother Mauro Abel Richeze (Chimbas), Filippo Magli (Green Project-Bardiani), Rafael Lourenço (APHotels and Resorts – Tavira), Juan Pablo Dotti (SEP San Juan), Emiliano Ibarra (Gremios) and Gerardo Matias Tivani (Agrupación Virgen de Fatima – San Juan Biker Motos).
The presence of Magli, three minutes behind Miguel Ángel López in the overall standings, meant the break was kept on a tight leash by Medellín-EPM for much of the day, and their advantage shrank still further when the sprinters’ teams shook themselves into action.
After Remco Evenepoel’s GC challenge fell short on the Alto Colorado on Friday, Soudal-QuickStep were never likely to let the chance to tee Fabio Jakobsen up for victory pass them by. Together with Sam Bennett’s Bora-Hansgrohe team, they closed in inexorably on the break, sweeping them up with a shade under 18km to go.
Results :
 took victory in a tight sprint on Stage 6 of Vuelta a San Juan with the Australian Team DSM rider pushing through the Sanchez de Loria finish line first after a fast tailwind run in to the line on wide roads.
He took out the 145km stage ahead of Sam Bennett (Bora Hansgrahe) and Fernando Gaviria, while Miguel Angel López (Medellin-EPM), who claimed a solo victory and the overall lead on stage 5 atop Alto del Colorado, maintained his leading position on the GC heading into the final stage with a 30 second gap to Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers).
The victory on Saturday in Argentina was the second for the professional victory on the road for the 27 year old who last season turned his focus away from the track and signed with Team DSM.
“It was really a hard day out but pretty controlled for the sprint teams," said Welsford immediately after the win. "The run in was really fast. I think we hit speeds of up to 75km/h in the sprint so it was really fast and that last 5km was really tough.”
Once the break was caught at around 18km to go, Filippo Magli (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) holding out the front that little bit longer than the rest. That left it to the teams of the sprinters to get set for the finish on the straight wide ride roads leading into Sanchez de Loria. Soudal-QuickStep was being lead by Remco Evenepoel until the final km with Trek Segafredo alongside and Team DSM jockeying for position among the rest of the teams, however they bought Welsford into position right when it mattered most.
He launched from Fabio Jakobsen’s (Soudal-QuickStep) wheel to snatch victory ahead of Bennett and Gaviria who had looked to be fighting a tight battle for the top step, right until the very last moment. Jakobsen came fourth.
<strong>How it unfolded</strong>
The dust of this Vuelta a San Juan appeared to have settled after Friday’s summit finish atop the Alto Colorado, but the race reserved unexpected drama for the penultimate stage, which started and finished at the site of the 2025 UCI Track World Championships.
A year on from the training crash that left him with career-threatening injuries, Egan Bernal (Ineos) had placed a heartening fourth on the Alto Colorado with a performance that boded well for his prospects at next week’s Colombian Championships and beyond.
18km into Saturday’s stage, however, news crackled over race radio that Bernal had abandoned the Vuelta a San Juan. Ineos reported shortly afterwards that he was suffering from pain in his left knee, apparently caused by a crash on the opening stage of the race last Sunday.
Those opening kilometres had been characterised by a flurry of attacking, and it took some time for the break of the day to establish itself on the road out to the striking Dique Ullum reservoir and the steady climb to Punta Negra. The eight-man move that ultimately spent most of the day in front was led by the retiring Max Richeze (Argentina), who was making another attempt to land a valedictory stage win on home roads after his near miss behind Quinn Simmons earlier in the week.
Richeze made a late, late effort there. This time, he struck from long range, and he was joined by his brother Mauro Abel Richeze (Chimbas), Filippo Magli (Green Project-Bardiani), Rafael Lourenço (APHotels and Resorts - Tavira), Juan Pablo Dotti (SEP San Juan), Emiliano Ibarra (Gremios) and Gerardo Matias Tivani (Agrupación Virgen de Fatima - San Juan Biker Motos).
The presence of Magli, three minutes behind Miguel Ángel López in the overall standings, meant the break was kept on a tight leash by Medellín-EPM for much of the day, and their advantage shrank still further when the sprinters’ teams shook themselves into action.
After Remco Evenepoel’s GC challenge fell short on the Alto Colorado on Friday, Soudal-QuickStep were never likely to let the chance to tee Fabio Jakobsen up for victory pass them by. Together with Sam Bennett’s Bora-Hansgrohe team, they closed in inexorably on the break, sweeping them up with a shade under 18km to go.
<strong>Results : </strong>
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