Ireland’s Sam Bennett of the Bora Hansgrohe team sprinted to victory in the first stage of cycling’s Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina on Sunday as the race returned after a three-year hiatus. Bennett prevailed in a time of 3:19:16 to take the leader’s jersey in the general classification. It was the 32-year-old Bennett’s first stage win of the season and the 60th of his career which followed his third stage win in last year’s Vuelta a Espana.

The opening 89 mile stage of the week-long race was held in the city of San Juan, starting and finishing at the Aldo Cantoni sports stadium. This year’s race is taking place for the first time since 2020 after the 2021 and 2022 editions were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

VUELTA A SAN JUAN STAGE 1 RESULTS

1	BENNETT Sam	BORA – hansgrohe	3:19:16
2	MØRKØV Michael	Soudal – Quick Step	0:00
3	NIZZOLO Giacomo	Israel – Premier Tech	0:00
4	VAN POPPEL Danny	BORA – hansgrohe	0:00
5	SYRITSA Gleb	Astana Qazaqstan Team	0:00
6	VIVIANI Elia	INEOS Grenadiers	0:00
7	SAGAN Peter	TotalEnergies	0:00
8	NARVÁEZ Jhonatan	INEOS Grenadiers	0:00
9	ZANONCELLO Enrico	Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	0:00
10	VIVIANI Attilio	Team Corratec	0:00

 

RBA/AFP Photo: Sprint Cycling