Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-Quickstep) scored his first win of the 2023 season, jetting out of a reduced bunch sprint to snatch the stage over Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) and Jon Aberasturi (Trek-Segafredo) in Jáchal.
Jakobsen earned his position at the front courtesy of world champion Remco Evenepoel, who led the bunch through the last turn where a huge split opened up behind the first 20 riders.
Stage 1 winner Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) was late to the party in fourth, and although he was outside the time bonuses, he continues as race leader thanks to his superior finish relative to Jakobsen’s 58th on stage 1.
Jakobsen is now second overall and tied on time Bennett, while Gaviria is in third at four seconds.
“I’m happy, especially after yesterday. Yesterday’s final was really dangerous. But I spoke to the organization yesterday evening and they promised they would make a safe final 5k and they succeeded. I’m happy I could win,” said Jakobsen.
“Michael [Morkov], Pieter [Serry] and Jan [Hirt] did a great job controlling the race, and I think I’ve got one of the fastest lead-outs maybe ever, with Remco, Yves [Lampaert] and Mørkøv so I’m really proud of them. Without them, I could never win. I really need my teammates. They dropped me off in a perfect sprint position. It was a close battle with Fernando – he’s won a lot of races in San Juan so he’s obviously the man to beat.”
How it unfolded
After Sunday’s opening act in and around San Juan, the peloton faced a lengthy transfer from the provincial capital to the tranquillity of San Agustín de Valle Fértil for the start of stage 2, which was itself the longest leg of the race at a shade over 200km. The opening 80km or so of the course were almost entirely uphill, climbing to an altitude of 1500m through the haunting rock formations of the Parque Provincial Ischigualasto, dubbed locally as the ‘valley of the moon.’
Ischigualasto, incidentally, is the Diaguita word for ‘land without life,’ but here it was the site of a vivacious first hour of racing that saw a dozen riders forge clear of the peloton. Óscar Sevilla (Medellín-EPM), third overall in 2020, was the obvious dangerman in the group, but his presence didn’t prevent the escapees from amassing a sizeable advantage on the peloton on the gradual grind towards the stage’s highest point.
The 46-year-old Sevilla had Alessandro Santaromita (Green Project-Bardiani), Stefano Gandin (Corratec) and Tomas Contte (Argentina) for company in the group, and the twelve…
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