Quinn Simmons cheat sheet pays off: he surprises the sprinters with late retirement | Tour of San Juan 2023

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Surprisingly enough, the third stage in the Tour of San Juan did not end in a classic mass sprint. All the ingredients were present on the car circuit, but the American Quinn Simmons took advantage of a moment of chaos in the peloton. The Trek-Segafredo bad boy kept up his effort to the finish and was allowed to celebrate.

A repeat of 2020

A bunch of Argentinians and some Chilean accomplices let themselves be squeezed like lemons, but they couldn’t get much more than a portion of honor.

Not two without three, the sprinter teams judged and after a sweltering day without pepper and salt, it went to the car circuit at a breakneck speed.

Zdenek Stybar had proven in 2020 that you can give the peloton a pear through the undulations and bends on this finish and Quinn Simmons had done his homework.

In the final kilometer the bad boy spoke to his nose for the good moment and with the lactic acid up to his ears he did hunter Maximiliano Richeze and the fast men’s beards after a powerful swipe.

Remco Evenepoel took the peloton in tow in the closing kilometers, but the Soudal-Quick Step train never got on the rails in all the chaos.

Tomorrow a sprint is a question mark due to the hilly first half, Thursday is a rest day in the Tour of San Juan.

“My coach sent me the video”

“My coach sent me a video of Zdenek Stybar’s attack and victory last night,” Quinn Simmons explained.

“I watched the footage 3 more times this morning. I told my roommate where to drop me off and then I’d finish.”

“It’s nice to do that too. My type doesn’t win sprints or mountain stages, I need such opportunities.”

“I promised the team one thing this season and that is winning more. I had chosen this place of my attack and it worked out. I am one of the best riders on such a finish.”

“Whether I’m competing for the overall victory? I got a time penalty on the first day, unfortunately. But I’ve already taken back 10 seconds.”

Simmons indicated to Renaat Schotte that he paid more attention to his nutrition during the winter and that he also wants to show something in the classics “after 3 terrible years”.

“If I can help Mads Pedersen in the final of the Tour of Flanders, that would be nice. Helping my leaders to victory is a great step before it’s my turn to win,” said the confident American.

(scroll down for the story of first Belgian Yves Lampaert)

Yves Lampaert: “Deserved winner”

Yves Lampart was the first finisher of Soudal-Quick Step as 8th. He attributed the chaotic finale to the wide corners and the wave movements in the peloton.

“We kind of lost each other, the train wasn’t on the rails. It was every man for himself after that.”

“I was on the left when Quinn Simmons went right and before I knew it he had 30 yards.”

“I knew from Zdenek Stybar that such a gap is enough. It is very difficult to close that here. But he deserved to win.”

  1. 11:30 PM. On the autodrome, chaos reigned. There was no line in the sprint and Quinn Simmons appealed to his sense of timing. The American started strongly, was still chased by Max Richeze and eventually stayed ahead of the onrushing Fernando Gaviria and tutti quanti. Neatly done! .
  2. 23 hours 28. Simmons! Yes, the American bad boy does it. He took a good look at Zdenek Stybar. In the confused final phase, he hits the sprinters in all the chaos with a perfectly timed lunge. .
  3. 23 hours 28. Another 500 meters. Will it be a Stybar story? .
  4. 23 hours 27. The world champion takes the lead. Sam Bennett suddenly has to hit the brakes. There will be another late outage. From Quinn Simmons. .
  5. 23 hours 26. Remco Evenepoel lurks over his shoulders. He sees how the platoon blows out and tries to model the train. .
  7. 23 hours 26. The wind doesn’t make moving easy. Soudal-Quick Step has to put something right. .
  8. 11:25 PM. Simone Bevilacqua is eaten by the TotalEnergies men. The speed is very high. .
  9. 23 hours 24. Our loner from the Italian camp has a handful of seconds. In the bends it is occasionally necessary to watch out for drift danger. .
  10. Crash in the back. Falling again. However, the favorites seem to escape. . 23 hours 23.
  11. 23 hours 22. Another 5 kilometers. At Eolo-Kometa they take a different tack. With a late retirement just before the circuit. .
  12. 23 hours 21. Thanks to the tailwind, the peloton smells the circuit. A few are released in the back. .
  13. 11pm 19. Fabio Jakobsen camps near Fernando Gaviria in the Bermuda Triangle, Sam Bennett opts for a different route down the side. .
  14. 23 hours 18. The peloton takes over the width of the road. No team is so rash to take control of these Argentinian “flat” roads now. .
  15. 23 hours 16. The most important sprinters at a glance: Jakobsen, Bennett, Gaviria, Viviani, Sagan, Nizzolo. .
  16. 23:13. The leader, Sam Bennett, gains some positions. The arc of the last 10 kilometers is approaching. That is also the moment when the road starts to slope. .
  18. 23 hours 11. The tension rises. It is still the B teams that set the pace. The rest tries to spare the males until they reach the circuit. .
  19. 23:06. The big men are alert, but the smaller selections also raise their voices. Medellin, among others, pulls the peloton. .
  20. 23 hours 03. At Ineos Grenadiers there is one who drives off the grass. It seems to be Egan Bernal who briefly goes to the roadside, without much concern. .
  21. 23 hours 01. The road surface seems okay, but the roads are not wide. For the time being, everything remains exemplary with the (imaginary) banner of the last 20 kilometers. .
  22. 22 hours 57. Still 24 kilometers. It is still in pencil, but the first sketches are being put on paper. The fast men are surrounded by their servants. In principle, there should still be a lot of fresh legs present in this pack. .
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