Having dominated the previous two bunch sprints in the Vuelta a San Juan, Quick-Step Floors was the big favourite on stage 4, a flat 160-kilometre one, starting and finishing in the town of San Martin. As a result, the Belgian team along with the Italian National Team and Trek-Segafredo kept the break of the day on a leash, making sure the gap didn’t go too far north of five minutes.
Inside the last 25 kilometres, the peloton really began to chew into the escapees’ advantage, bringing the gap down to around one minute with 10 kilometres left.
The finale was a chaotic one, but Quick-Step Floors’ lead-out train took the front when it mattered paving the way for Fernando Gaviria, who outsprinted Elia Viviani (Italian National Team) and Nicola Ruffoni (Bardiani-CSF), thus taking his second victory of the year.
“It was another nice day for us, and the team did a perfect job again. They controlled every single aspect of the race and I was glad to finish off their work and score another victory in San Juan”, said Gaviria, who was asked by the media for the reason behind his celebration gesture. “While in Denia, I lost my bracelet, which was a gift from my girlfriend. To remind me of it and of Valentina, who’s always supporting me, I kiss my wrist every time I win a race.”
Today’s fifth stage of the race is the most difficult of the Vuelta a San Juan, as it climbs four categorized ascents, including Alto Colorado, which comes right at the finish.
