Superman López, happy with the sprint cycling winner’s cup
Remco Evenepoel and Egan Bernal were eliminated from the competition, still tender, and Superman López, the one who most wanted to justify himself after a few turbulent months, the one who arrived best prepared since he had made a priority goal of the Argentine round , took the Tour of San Juan victory, and he recalled once again what was odd about his situation: father and son fired from the WorldTour in Europe for his suspicious relationships with Marcos Maynar and Vicente Belda, who were being investigated by a court in Cáceres, find sanctuary in Medellín and beat the best in the world, blow them up. He was joined on the podium by Italy’s Filippo Ganna, second, 30 seconds back, and Colombia’s Sergio Higuita, third, 44 seconds back.
López sealed the race in stage five, the toughest, which ended at an altitude of 2,600 meters. The further stages were decided by the minimum on the last meters. Four were decided in a massive sprint, with victories for Bennett, Jakobsen, Gaviria and Welsford; in another, a Simmons misstep frustrated the sprinters. The last one also finished in the sprint. It consisted of seven laps of the San Juan ring road, enlivened by a detail by Remco for his audience, a 10-kilometer charge accompanied by Simmons and by marches with the Argentine flag of national glory, Max Richeze, as he said farewell by the screams of a fan who loves him and remembers his work pitching for Gaviria, Kittel or Viviani in the Quick Step, and ahead of Jakobsen and Nizzolo prevailed Sam Welsford, the Australian who had been the surprise on Saturday. The almost unknown driver was the only sprinter who could achieve two victories. Jakobsen’s final advance was halted 25 meters from the line when his face, goggles and helmet, traveling at 70 an hour, collided with the phone of an amateur who was carelessly filming the sprint at arm’s length. The phone and glasses were thrown and Jakobsen, who could not have passed Welsford, braked early. The Dutchman, who was on the verge of death in a sprint crash during the 2020 Tour of Poland, reacted with resignation.
🇳🇱 Fabio Jakobsen comes into contact with a supporter who knocks his glasses off his face in the middle of the sprint.
This shows that safety in the finish sprint needs to be improved! People shouldn’t be able to have their arms so close to the riders when they are sprinting!#VueltaSJ23 pic.twitter.com/SYv9DDvydv
— Domestique (@domestique___) January 29, 2023
Neither Remco nor Egan, the most anticipated, wanted to fight to continue the only debate they were involved in almost two years later in San Juan, when the Colombian defeated the Belgian Rooster by KO at the Giro 2021, who he was seven months he returned to competition after breaking his hip in a fall.
Egan Bernal is now a Zen monk, a year after his accident, in search of happiness, inner peace, and a blow in the left knee doesn’t even seem to bother him on his way to the light, which drew him into retirement on Saturday Attention . “It doesn’t seem like much and it doesn’t jeopardize his progress, and most likely he’ll be contesting the Colombian championship in Bucaramanga by Víctor Hugo Peña on Sunday, a test he’s really looking forward to,” says Xabier Zandio, the director of Ineos . “Of the range of possibilities we anticipated going into the race, Egan moved the most optimistically. He had to prove himself, clear his doubts, and he did it with his attack on stage four and his work on stage five for Filippo Ganna in Alto Colorado.”
After the Colombian championship, Egan will travel to Europe to compete in the Ruta del Sol in Andalucia (February 15-19) and Paris-Nice (March 5-12). “And from then on, I have no idea. I have no idea. I think that looks the same, right? Even after the Ruta del Sol, if I’m really screwed up, they won’t take me to Paris-Nice,” says the 2019 Tour winner. “If I’m good, not so much to win, but well, me I’m going to France, but if I’m suffering a lot, they might say, let’s stretch out a bit and go to the Volta a Catalunya instead [20 a 26 de marzo]. But hey, let’s see, it would be fine.” In the Andalusian round, he will share the lead of Ineos with Granada’s Carlos Rodríguez, who starts his season there. Meanwhile, Juan Ayuso will make his debut at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana on February 1st.
Remco hoists the Argentine flag Maximiliano Blanco at the start of a stage (Getty Images
While he maintains his fighting spirit and desire to always stand out, Remco isn’t overly concerned, saying he hasn’t lived up to expectations or his historical profile at the Vuelta a San Juan that everyone remembers, including himself the almost childish 2020 Remco who won the time trial and overall final before he was 20 after losing just 4 seconds with the Colombian climbers in Alto Colorado. “I didn’t come that prepared and to run well at 2,600 meters you have to be very fit. The Colombians have spent winter training at altitude and Ganna is in top form and thinking about the Europeans on the slopes next week. This year he came more to help Jakobsen with the sprints,” says Remco, who had to take charge of the Quick Step in 2020 due to the last-minute scare and his unforeseen trip to Colombia by the team’s designated leader, Julian Alaphilippe, at the time with the world champion’s rainbow jersey worn by this Remco 2023. “Also, I ran really badly in Alto Colorado. With ten kilometers to go, I felt strong and launched a suicide attack. At kilometer three he was dead. It was a stupid attack. The good thing is that San Juan is a race where mistakes are allowed. I’m not disappointed with my form, just my mistakes.”
The first big goal for the Belgian of the Year, who will compete in the Giro in May, will be the UAE Tour (February 20-26), where he will have one of the few face-to-face encounters of the year with Tadej Pogacar The Slovenian, who Fighting to win his third Tour in July, his season will kick off on February 13 at the Jaén Classic through the olive trees, while the winner of the last Tour, Dane Jonas Vingegaard, will do so on February 23 at O Gran Camiño, the Galician test in stages, which ends on the 26th, and then he will meet Egan in Paris-Nice.
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