Vuelta a San Juan: Evenepoel wins stage 3 time trial

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European champion Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) took his first win of the young 2020 season Tuesday in Argentina, setting the fastest mark in the Vuelta a San Juan's stage 3 time trial at Punta Negra Dam and riding into the overall lead.

Evenepoel covered the 15.5km route in 19:16, the first rider to go under the 20-minute mark. Italian champion Filippo Ganna, riding for the Italian national team, was the only other rider to crack 20 minutes, taking second with a time of 19:48. Oscar Sevilla (Team Medellin) was third at 20:24.

“The time trial was short, but it felt like the longest one I did in my life because of the straight roads, even the climb felt endless,” Evenepoel said. 

“I went for the win and getting it makes me happy. Today I gained time on the flat, where I could sustain a strong pace, but also on the climb, where I accelerated. This means I had good legs, which is a nice feeling so early in the season.”

Evenepoel now leads the general classification by 32 seconds over Ganna and 1:38 over Sevilla. 

"It’s nice to be atop the overall standings, but we don’t have to lose our focus, as there are still four more stages to go," Evenepoel said. "I’m not thinking about winning the GC, just taking it one day at a time, continue helping the team whenever and wherever I can, and we’ll just see at the end of the week where that takes me.”

Overnight leader Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) started in the final position and had to deal with high winds from a lightening storm that moved in quickly as the race concluded. 

The sudden inclement weather caused organisers to cancel the podium ceremony at the dam as skies darkened and the winds and lightening made the conditions dangerous.

How it unfolded

Unlike previous time trials at the Vuelta a San Juan, this year’s 15.5km individual time trial from Ullum to Punta Negra Dam included some climbing as the route rose to the finale. 

The lack of time trial bikes complicated things for the specialists, but it lowered the cost of travel and logistics for the race and the teams, so the stage was run on normal road bikes but with the familiar aero TT helmets.

UAE Team Emirates’ Tom Bohli set the early mark to beat with a time of 21:43 over the 15.5km, but the Swiss rider wouldn’t get too comfortable in the hot seat. Leonardo Cobarrubia (SEP de San Juan) climbed into the hot seat next with a ride of 21:09, a mark that would last for more than 45 minutes before Rally Cycling’s Gavin Mannion crossed the line with a new best mark of 20:59.

The American Rally rider had a very short sit in the hot seat as five-time Polish time trial champion Maciej Bodnar (Bora-Hansgrohe) knocked him out of the top spot fairly quickly with a new best mark of 20:43.

The times continued to fall fast as Nelson Oliveira (Movistar Team) topped the field with a mark of 20:41, only to be beaten almost immediately by Oscar Sevilla (Team Medellin) with 20:24.

All of the previous shuffling in the hot seat was just to keep it warm for Evenepoel, however, as the European champion crushed the course, the first rider to go under 20 minutes with a time of 19:16.

Italian champion Filippo Ganna also cracked the 20-minute barrier, but he couldn’t match Evenepoel’s effort, crossing the line in 19:48 and slotting into second.

No other riders made it under the 20-minute mark after that, with only UAE Team Emirate's junior time trial world champion Brandon McNulty coming close, riding into fifth, 1:26 behind his Belgian counterpart.

With the previous two sprint stages setting the pecking order going into the stage 3 time trial, sprinters and their lead-out men inhabited the last starting spots, but the weather took a turn as the likes of Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and overnight leader Fernando Gaviria  (UAE Team Emirates) were on course. Winds kicked up and slowed their efforts, with the weather eventually causing organisers to cancel the podium ceremonies.

Results

General Classification