Evenepoel and Bernal set for Vuelta a San Juan summit meeting on Alto Colorado - Preview

As the Vuelta a San Juan broke for its rest day on Thursday, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and his main rivals were all still locked on more or less the same time. As expected, the absence of a time trial on this year’s route means that the general classification will hinge almost entirely on stage 5, when the race scales the desolate, windswept slopes of the Alto del Colorado, perched some 2,624 metres above sea level.

Aside from a time bonus here - Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) - or a time penalty there (Simmons again), the pre-race favourites have remained largely in step throughout the opening four days. 

“The GC has not moved at all except for some guys who got fines and took some time,” Evenepoel said in Barreal on Wednesday evening. “I think it’s going to be a very open race and that’s the goal of the organisation. Without a TT, they want a very open race in Colorado.”

Yet while the standings have not changed much, it would be remiss to say there hasn’t been movement. The remoteness of the Sierra de Talacasto trumped the practicalities of beaming live television pictures for much of Wednesday’s fourth stage, but word eventually filtered through of a surprising attacker on the category 1 ascent of Gruta Virgen de Andacollo. A year and a day on from the crash that could have ended his life, Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) was back on the offensive in a bike race.

The information reaching the sala de prensa at the finish in Barreal was patchy – the initial list of escapees, for instance, included a rider who had abandoned the race that morning – but a distant helicopter shot eventually provided more reliable evidence that Bernal was indeed at the head of the race.

The time gaps were still obscure, as was the precise sequence of events, but that scarcely seemed to matter. For most of its history, cycling has been a sport more imagined than witnessed. In this age of incessant streaming and instant information, there’s no harm in turning back the clock a little every now and then, restoring a little of the mystery of old.

Some of the gaps in the narrative were filled in later by photographers who had followed Bernal’s move from the pillion of their motorcycles. The early break had already forged clear ahead of the 2,200-metre-high Gruta Virgen de Andacollo when Bernal decided to test the waters with an acceleration on the climb.

No one was certain precisely how much ground he recouped to bridge over to the break, though one estimate put it at two minutes. Everybody agreed, however, that Bernal was travelling at prodigious speed, looking smooth and comfortable as he inexorably closed on the early break, cresting the summit in fourth place.

A reduced peloton swept them back up over the other side with more than 60km to race, and reports varied as to the break’s maximum lead – the consensus suggested between five and seven minutes – but Bernal’s cameo was the talking point of the day. A flash of the vim of yesterday to offer hope about his tomorrows, though Friday’s pivotal day on Alto Colorado will reveal rather more about Bernal's progress. 

Evenepoel

It’s unclear quite how concerned Evenepoel et al were about Bernal’s presence in the break, not least because of the distance still to run to the finish. Indeed, with Fabio Jakobsen jettisoned out the back on the climb, Soudal-QuickStep were content to leave the pace-making in the peloton to Movistar and TotalEnergies.

Evenepoel later made a speculative attempt beneath the flamme rouge, but the fast men would not be surprised on a finale such as this. With two bunch sprints likely at the weekend, the defence of Evenepoel’s Vuelta a San Juan title now rests on his performance on the Alto del Colorado on Friday.

Three years ago, after his crushing win in the Punta Negra time trial, Evenepoel was able to ride on the defensive on the climb, though the day was not without drama. Caught out when the front group split into echelons, he was forced into a breathless chase to ensure he preserved the white jersey. This time out, he will need to go on the offensive.

Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) wears the white jersey thanks to his victory in Barreal, but Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), fourth overall at 14 seconds, is the best-placed GC contender thanks to the time bonus he snared with third place on Wednesday. The Italian placed second overall to Evenepoel in 2020, though he was circumspect about his prospects of lasting the pace again on the gradual slopes of the Colorado this time out.

 “I’ll try to do my best, but the Colorado suits riders who weigh 70kg or less, and I’m almost 90,” Ganna said. “It’s hard.”

Óscar Sevilla (Medellín-EPM) lies 10th at 16 seconds, but it seems more likely that the eventual winner will come from the clutch of riders lying 18 seconds down on GC, including Evenepoel, Bernal, Miguel Ángel López (Medellín-EPM), Daniel Martínez (Ineos) and Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe). The on-form Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), a further five seconds down, could be in the mix too.

Evenepoel knows he cannot bring punchier riders like Higuita and Martínez with him to the finish, while Ineos’ strength in numbers presents them with a strategic advantage to outflank the Belgian. After running through the scales on Wednesday, Bernal may be primed to go again here. Meanwhile, López, cast out of the WorldTour due to his links to Dr Marcos Maynar, will ride like a man with nothing left to lose in what is likely to be the biggest race of his season.

Speaking in Barreal on Wednesday evening, however, Evenepoel struck a confident note. “I see a lot of salt on the jerseys, and I like to see that,” he said of his rivals. “That means they are suffering in the heat, and I often have no problems with that.”

Alto Colorado

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The format of stage 5 is a familiar one, with the peloton setting out from Chimbas and taking in the category 3 Alto de Villicum ahead of the long, three-part haul to the finish atop the Alto Colorado. Officially, the final ascent is 14.4km in length with a manageable average gradient of 4.4%, but the road effectively climbs for the last 80km, making this a considerable test of endurance at this early point in the season.

The category 2 Baños de Talacasto leads directly to another category 2 ascent, the 1752-metre-high Alto de la Cruceita. After a brief respite, the road kicks up once again towards Alto Colorado, where the thinning air is a greater challenge, perhaps, than the modest slopes. The heat and the likelihood of crosswinds also complicate matters, as Evenepoel discovered in 2020.

Three years ago, Miguel Florez won atop Alto Colorado after a reduced front group splintered on the steepest point with three kilometres or so remaining, with Evenepoel comfortably tracking the late moves to seal overall victory. He needs to do a little more to repeat the feat in 2023. 

“It’s really warm so everybody is suffering, especially with the altitude too,” he said. “Heat and altitude together is a bit like suicide, so it’s going to be really, really tough.”