Cycling: Rudy Barbier clinched the first victory for the Israel Start-Up Nation team at the start of the Vuelta a San Juan. The Frenchman left all the big names behind in a mass sprint - and that while sitting. Peter Sagan (Bora – hansgrohe) was only #6.
Rudy Barbier wins despite big names
The 38th Vuelta a San Juan has begun with a 163,5-kilometer course starting and finishing in San Juan. As expected, it came down to a mass sprint. However, the result likely surprised most spectators. Neither Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates), nor Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) took the victory.
The winner was Rudy Barbier (Israel Start-Up Nation). Although Deceuninck-Quick-Step and Bora-Hansgrohe set up the sprint perfectly for their fast riders, they couldn't convert the groundwork into a victory. Instead, three relatively unknown riders overtook them. Behind Barbier, Manuel Belletti (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) and Tomas Contte (Continental Municipalidad de Pocito) finished second and third, respectively.
Particularly impressive: Rudy Barbier lost Peter Sagan's rear wheel in the last kilometer. As a result, he seemed to be out of the race while he was around tenth. But in the long left-hand bend, the Frenchman swept past everyone on the right – and he was sitting down!
Stage 1
🇦🇷 ¡Final de carrera, great @rudybarber75!
⚡️ El ciclista del @YallaIsraelSUN he impuso in the sprint in the first stage of the Vuelta in San Juan 2020.🇬🇧 End of the race, @rudybarbier75 ! @YallaIsraelSUN won!! pic.twitter.com/lsh587Fpd2
— Vuelta a San Juan OK (@vueltasanjuanok) January 26, 2020