The Movistar Team turned the G.C. of the 2019 Vuelta a San Juan upside down with an exhibition of teamwork on Friday’s Queen stage, 169km from San Martín to the almost-2,600m-high Alto Colorado. The victory went to Movistar domestique Winner Anacona, who also claimed the blue & white leader’s jersey with two stages remaining in Argentina.
Jorge Arcas, Carlos Barbero and Eduardo Sepúlveda took the lead in the bunch with just over 30km from the finish, trying to protect the team’s main hopes into the crosswinds and later bringing back a fifteen-man breakaway, which started the climb with a 3 minute gap. Anacona made his acceleration with 14km to the finish, initially trying to test the favourites’ legs and eventually helping him achieving success.
An excellent job by Anacona’s teammate Richard Carapaz released some of the pressure off Anacona’s shoulders, giving him free reign to move past Medellín duo Óscar Paredes and Christian Montoya to claim Movistar’s first 2019 success.
“I feel so happy about this victory. It’s been four years since the last time I won, and this is a big moment for me,” Anacona said at the finish. “This was one of my main goals for 2019 – claiming a victory – and I’m so glad to have achieved it so early. I feel at ease when I work for my team-mates, both Nairo and the rest of the team, but I can’t deny this was an aspiration of mine, and it should give me confidence to move forward and become a better rider. And indeed, this win was a consequence of perfect teamwork. They protected me well, they gave me the confidence I needed, and I can’t thank them enough for their work for me.
“This was a stage we had to take advantage from – the only mountain-top finish, the last chance. My attack was our plan to test the waters, to see how our rivals were doing, and I didn’t think I could reach too far. However, and once I built a decent gap, everything just went like we wanted to. Nairo was telling me through the earpiece: ‘Go on, everything’s alright here, everything’s under control, no one is really chasing behind.’ He looked after me, he covered the attacks, added problems to our rivals’ work. I was feeling great, even if the long attack made for a very hard final kilometers. It’s not a really steep climb, you’re always at nearly 30kph, yet there’s not much shelter, and the winds become a crucial enemy. In that situation, I was only thinking about aiming at the GC lead, I was thinking one of the two Medellín riders would beat me into the sprint – but I had good legs in the end and took what’s also a surprise victory for me. I’m so happy to have claimed both the stage and the lead.
“Now we’ve got to defend this jersey. There’s nothing sealed before we cross the last finish line, though the stages remaining are not too complicated, rather than sprinter-suited ones. I think we’ve got a strong team to defend ourselves. We must stay near the front and avoid any incidents through Sunday. For the time being, I’m just thinking about enjoying this victory and thanking everybody who roots for me, especially my team and my family, my wife and my kids, for always being by my side.”
Stage 5 Brief Results:
- Winner Anacona (Movistar) in 4h25’10” (10 second bonus)
- Cesar Paredes (Medellin) s.t. (6 second bonus)
- Cristhian Montoya (Medellin) s.t (4 second bonus)
- Richard Carapaz (Movistar) at 32″
- Oscar Sevilla (Medellin) s.t.
- Efren Santos (Sel. Mexico) at 45″
- Alejandro Osorio (Nippo – Vini Fantini) at 55″
- Dayer Quintana (Neri-Sottoli) s.t.
- Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) s.t.
- Gino Mader (Team Dimension Data) at 57″
General Classification After Stage 5:
- Winner Anacona (Movistar) at 16h1’08”
- Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quickstep) at 41″
- Oscar Sevilla (Medellin) at 57″
- Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates) at 1’03”
- Felix Grossschartner (BORA-hanshrohe) at 1’13”
- Richard Carapaz (Movistar) at 1’20”
- Cesar Paredes (Medellin) at 1’24”
- Nairo Quintana (Movistar) at 1’29”
- Remco Evenpoel (Deceuninck – Quickstep) at 1’36”
- Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) at 1’38”
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