Winner Anacona wins Vuelta a San Juan

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Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) claimed his first win of the campaign with a huge turn of speed to win the final stage 7 of the Vuelta a San Juan. The Irish sprinter had to do it the hard way, coming from a long way back to beat Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Erik Baska (Bora-hansgrohe) to the line.

"It's really good for the confidence," Bennett said after the stage. "I came here looking for a stage win and it's good for the morale. It's good to start the season with a win in the first stage race so I'm very happy.

Winner Anacona (Movistar) finished safely in the peloton to secure the overall title ahead of Julian Alaphilippe and Oscar Sevilla. However the stage belonged to Bennett, who narrowly missed out on the win yesterday after the peloton were unable to catch the day's break. There was no chance of a repeat performance on the final stage, with Bennett's Bora-hansgrohe team joining forces with UAE Team Emirates and Mark Cavendish's Dimension Data team in controlling the pace and nullifying any dangerous move.

The sprinters' teams controlled the race, only allowing a break to go that included Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA), Carlos Barbero (Movistar), Daniel Díaz (Municipalidad de Pocito), Sergio Aguirre (Municipalidad de Rawson Somos Todos) and Fabio Duarte (Medellin). They gained a minute on the main field as they tackled a series of nine 16-kilometre long laps.

With two laps to go, the break had just 25 seconds over the peloton, although their advantage did swing back out to around 50 seconds with 20km to go, with the bunch unwilling to make the catch at such an early stage.

With 17km to a handful of riders, including Alejandro Marque (Sporting Clube de Portugal - Tavira), made it across to the fading break but six kilometres later the bunch were back together again.

A drop in pace, albeit briefly, allowed for Giovanni Pedretti (Biesse Carrera) and then Nicola Toffali (Sporting Tavira) to put in opportunistic yet futile attacks before Bora, Lotto Soudal and Dimension Data hit the front.

It looked as though Mark Cavendish would be a force in the sprint but as the line approached he was unable to keep pace with former world champion Peter Sagan. The Bora leader was clearly trying to stretch the field for Bennett but the Irishman was patient and instead of following his teammate, latched onto the wheel of Maximiliano Richeze and then Hodeg, before coming through on the Colombian's left hand side in the final few metres.

"The hardest part, I think, was in the final," Bennett said of the stage. "I had the guys doing a perfect lead-out and I think QuickStep's focus was on me. They held me out in the wind really early so in the end I decided to hang back a little bit and decided to come later in the sprint. In the end, I went a little too late but I had enough power, so the most difficult part was probably with 300 metres to go.

"It was amazing. The crowds were like something you see in the Tour de France or Giro d'Italia; great atmosphere, amazing crowds."

For Bennett, the win signalled the perfect tonic after two top-tens earlier in the race. The Irishman endured a frustrating winter, having learned that despite winning three stages in the 2018 Giro d'Italia he would not be returning to the race this year. His Grand Tour plans for the current campaign remain unclear but with a win already under his belt he can return to Europe with confidence. His next major objective will be Paris-Nice in March.

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