Gaviria wins Vuelta a San Juan opener in Pocito

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Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) won the opening stage at the Vuelta a San Juan on Sunday, taking out the bunch sprint in Pocito after Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) tired to lead out teammate Sam Bennett. However the Irishman lost the battle for Sagan's wheel and had to fight his way back and so was unable to match the final acceleration when Gaviria jumped. 

Bennett found a way through the traffic but Matteo Malucelli (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) got by Bennett after a clash of shoulders to finish second, with Bennett crossing the line for third.

Italian Pro Continental team Androni Giacattoli-Sidermec led the peloton under the flamme rouge but was swamped as the sprinters' teams fought for position. Sagan jumped up the left side of the road and got the early advantage but when Gaviria surged up the right-hand side of the road, Bennett found himself boxed in and unable to follow the Colombian fastman, who earned his first win for UAE Team Emirates in his first race with the team.

How it unfolded

The opening day at the Vuelta a San Juan featured a 159.1km stage from San Juan to Pocito. The flat parcours made it a day destined for the sprinters, but two category 3 climbs and two intermediate sprints spiced things up along the way. The first sprint came 26km into the day, followed by KOMs at 57km and 67km. Riders then contested the final sprint at 133km. 

The South American summer was in full affect for stage 1, with light winds from the northeast providing little respite from temperatures that hovered around 36-38C for most of the race. Riders suffered in the heat, going into survival mode.

A breakaway of eight riders animated the early going and had an impressive gap of 4:30 just 24km into the day. In the move were Robert Mendez (Uruguay), Alessandro Ferreira (Brasil), Victory Arroyo (Argentina), Pedro Gordillo (Municipalidad de Rawson), Hector Lucero (Municipalidad de Pocito), Gerardo Tivani (Municipalidad de Pocito), Emiliano Contreras (Asociacon Civil Mardan) and Daniel Zamora (A.C.A. Virgen de Fatima).

Tivani took top honours at the first intermediate sprint of the day, followed across the line by Arroyo and Contreras. The gap came down to a more manageable distance after the first sprint, and the leaders held their gap above two minutes as they reached the bottom of the first KOM, the category 3 climb up Alto de las Vacas. Zamora took maximum points on the climb ahead of Lucero and Gordillo, and the breakaway riders regathered themselves to head for the second-and-final KOM at 67km. Zamora topped Contreras and Gordillo at the second KOM, guaranteeing he'd spend stage 2 in the mountains jersey.

The effort spelled the end of the day for the 2019 Vuelta a San Juan's first breakaway, however, as the wheels started coming off for the leaders from there, and less than 20km later they were all back in the fold. Zamora was the last to succumb to the chase as the peloton swept him up with 70km remaining, and the race reshuffled as the heat stifled any immediate counter attacks.

The peloton remained intact and appeared to be in no apparent hurry to get to the day's final sprint at 26km to go. One of the local teams picked up the pace-making and set a steady tempo on the front as the peloton remained content to pedal away the kilometres, many of the riders experiencing their first racing day of the season.

Hostilities remained calm until several riders got antsy with about 42km to go and jumped away from the bunch. This set off a bridge attempt from young Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep), who was quickly reined in by the now-active bunch. 

A trio of riders that included Maximiliano Navarrete (Argentina), Tiago Machado (Sporting Tavira) and Alejandro Osorio (Nippo Vinia-Fantini-Faiz) set off for the next adventure up front. Higiño Lucero (Municipalidad de Rawson) soon bridged to form a lead group of four with 35km to go. UAE Team Emirates and QuickStep went to the front of the bunch at this point and kept the leaders in check, keeping the gap around half a minute as the race approached the final intermediate sprint.

Navarrete claimed the three bonus seconds and top points at the second sprint, which would also serve as the day's finish line 26km later. Once again the desire for a sprint won out, however, the the UAE-led peloton left the leaders to dangle off the front as the kilometres ticked down on the final closing loop around Pocito.

With 10km to go, the leaders had 24 seconds, but with UAE and QuickStep sharing work on the front of the bunch, the riders in the chase rode with the confidence of knowing the breakaway would come back as soon as the bunch decided to make it happen.

The peloton made the catch with 4km to go, and the bunch sprint in Pocito was on.

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