Gaviria’s first victory with Movistar and lead in San Juan

The Colombian Fernando Gaviria raised his arms again after almost a year of drought to give Movistar victory in the fourth stage of Return to San Juan (Argentina) disputed between Villicum Autodrome a Barrealwith a distance of 196.5 kilometers, a victory accompanied by the leader’s jersey.

Gaviria (La Ceja, 28 years old), signed his last victory on February 15, 2022 in the Tour of Oman. Since then the “missile” has been unprecedented, withered. This season, he went to Movistar, and in the fourth race with the blue jersey he returned to his rights in a contested sprint in which he won the Slovak pulse. peter saga (TotalEnergies) and Italian Filippo Ganna (Ineos).

📍 Stage 4 🇦🇷

At the end of the stage, Colombian Fernando Gaviria del @Movistar_Team He won with a time of 4h 35′ 27″.

🥇 Fernando Gaviria
🥈Peter Sagan
🥉 Filippo Ganna#WhereEverythingBegins#VueltaSJ2023 pic.twitter.com/buoHW76mjf

— Vuelta a San Juan OK (@vueltasanjuanok) January 25, 2023

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The Colombian also signed the Argentine’s ninth career victory with a time of 4:35:28, at an average of 42.8 km/hour, a historic day for the new Movistar racing car, as it already has 50 victories to its credit.

The Spanish squad worked on the sprint. Most of the sprinters were cut off on the first climb, which selected a number of candidates. Without Jakobsen, without Bennett and others, Gaviria could not let the victim escape, and his team worked hard for the Colombian.

Fourth general change in 4 days. Gaviria wore the white jersey with light blue squares that adorn the leader in San Juan. The man from La Ceja will arrive on the rest day as captain of the test, maybe one day, because the queen of the mountain arrived in Alto del Colorado on Friday. They are followed in the classification by Peter Sagan at 10 seconds and Ganna at 14.

“I didn’t expect the victory. I’ve had hard times but now I’m on my way again. It’s a great victory for this team, which supports me so much,” Gaviria said at the finish line.

It was a day in the middle of the mountain with the first difficulties of this edition. Baños de Talacasto (3rd Cat.), the ascent to Virgen de Andacollo (1st Cat.), at an altitude of 2,200 meters and the Alto de Calingasta (3rd Cat.) are the incentives before facing the goal of Barreal.

At the beginning, Soudal sang “Happy Birthday” to Remco Evenepoel, who was 23 years old. Then the peloton began to fight at the start. A breakaway of 25 men formed, including Egan Bernal. At the port of La Virgen de Andacollo many sprinters gave way from the main group.

The road runs to Barreal, a city located in the Calingasta Valley, a desert landscape that changes to a scenario of Andean foothills, with snow-capped peaks looming on the horizon. The column of General José de San Martín left from that place crossing the Andes to liberate Chile and Peru, and the group of 50 men who would play the stage was formed in that place.

Opportunity for Movistar, very sweet. The blue team worked hard for their new signing’s glory day. But there is Peter Sagan and Viviani, who are also protected by TotalEnergies and Ineos.

The sprint broke out from afar. Gaviria attacked early, causing doubt, but the Colombian proved to be in a state of grace. He was quick to thank Movistar for signing him. And the fourth is charm. Almost a year later, a luxurious sprinter is back, a runner with 5 stages of the Giro and 2 of the Tour to his credit. Party at Movistar.

This Thursday, the peloton will enjoy a day of rest that will serve to recover before Friday’s queen stage between Chimbas and Alto del Colorado, a rising finish that will be decisive.