Sam Bennett and Fabio Jakobsen, two of the biggest name sprinters in the world, were going head-to-head for victory in the stage 6 sprint finish at Vuelta a San Juan today when Sam Welsford beat them both to the line.
While the 27-year-old Australian, riding for Team DSM, won an all-start sprint for a stage victory at Tour of Turkey last year, Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) and Jakobsen (Soudal-QuickStep) were the more fancied riders today, though they both arguably made their final effort a little too early in the finish today.
Welsford left it late and came through strong to win, from Bennett, by the very narrowest of margins. Stage 4 winner Fernando Gaviria (Movistar Team) also put in a last gasp effort to pass Jakobsen and take 3rd place at the end of the 144.9km stage into Velódromo Vicente Chancay.
In the final sprint today, Danny van Poppel was Bennett's last lead-out man, as usual, though he was forced to take the front a little earlier than normal, hit fill speed with nearly 500m to go after the Team DSM lead-out effort faded a little.
That resulted in Bennett and Jakobsen kicking for the line from a long way out and ultimately it was Welsford who profited when they left it a little later.
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