Vuelta a San Juan: Tivani wins breakaway sprint at Autodromo El Villicum

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Germán Tivani (Agrupacion Virgen De Fatima) pulled off a shock win on stage 6 of the Vuelta a San Juan in a three-up sprint to deny the WorldTour teams. The 23-year-old was part of the day's early break and managed to hold off the entire peloton that contained the likes of Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish to take a huge win for the third tier team from Argentina on a day that everyone expected to be decided by the bunch sprinters.

Tivani escaped with his teammate Daniel Zamora, Dayer Quintana (Neri Sottoli - Selle Italia), and Daniel Diaz (Municipalidad de Pocito) and built up a lead of over five minutes in the early phase of the race. It looked as though the sprinters had the move under control but in the second half of the stage, as the wind changed to a strong tailwind the break began to turn the tables.

They bravely held their advantage as the kilometres ticked by and despite a frantic chase that involved Bora-hansgrohe, Movistar and QuickStep the lead held at 2:35 with 20km of racing remaining.

With 10km to go, the gap was down to 1:37 and cracks began to appear when Quintana was dropped with a flat tire. However, the remaining three riders in the break held their nerve and worked together as they hit the finishing racing circuit. Even a late shower, which turned the corners slick couldn't stop them and with 5km to go the lead was still 50 seconds as the bunch behind began to break up.

With 2km to go, it was clear that the remaining trio would decide the stage and it was Zamora who took a huge turn on the front as Tivani sat at the back and waited for his moment.

With the line in sight the 23-year-old came from the back of the group, and around his teammate and the tiring Diaz who was sporting the King of the Mountains jersey. The climber could offer little resistance, with Tivani taking a huge win to delight the home crowd.

Sam Bennett came home in fourth at the front of a frustrated peloton.

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