First win of the season for Bora-Hansgrohe: Bennett wins first stage of the Vuelta a San Juan

The 32-year-old Sam Bennett won the 144-kilometre opening stage with start and finish in San Juan in eastern Argentina ahead of the Dane Michael Morkov (Soudal-Quick Step) and the Italian Giacomo Nizzoli from Israel-Premier Tech. Nizzolo's rider Rick Zabel from the second-class Israeli pro team crossed the finish line in 16th place. With his success in the first stage in Argentina, Benett also took the overall lead in the Vuelta a San Juan 2023.

The "old" Sam Bennett again

"My team-mates and I have worked hard this winter, so it's nice to start the season with a win. After a difficult year in 2022, it now feels like I'm back to my old Sam Bennett self. I'd like to thank my team-mates who worked hard in a very hectic finale and helped me to victory with a perfect lead-out at the end," said Bora-Hansgrohe-sprinter Bennett. The Irishman won the green jersey at the 2020 Tour de France.

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Evenepoel, Bernal & Co.: Top riders at the start of the 2023 Vuelta a San Juan

Although the eight-day Vuelta a San Juan only belongs to the second category of the UCI, it has a prominent line-up due to the rather thin race calendar at the moment. World champion and Vuelta winner Remco Evenepoel is also at the start, as is former Tour winner Egan Bernal and two-time time trial world champion Filippo Ganna. Top German talent Marco Brenner from Team DSM, who is only 20 years old, is expected to captain the team in the overall classification. Brenner crossed the finish line with the peloton and finished in 19th place.

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