So Pogačar picks up from where he left off at the Tour de France with yet another win – his 20th this season. While a Pogačar victory never exactly comes as a surprise, this one was more unexpected, and it’s only his second in a time trial in his last five attempts.
POGACAR WINS
The last man on the course, Primož Roglič, finishes down in 24th, confirming that, for the 128th time in his career, Tadej Pogačar has won the race!
NEW FASTEST TIME – TADEJ POGACAR
The big man has done it again, but by the barest of margins! Tadej Pogačar mercilessly attacked the final kilometres of the technical route, and defeated Hayter’s time by a mere nine hundreds of a second. Hayter must be devastated.
Van Aert reaches the finish…and he’s 7th fastest!
The stage isn’t Hayter’s yet, though. Pogačar has yet to finish, and he was second fastest at the time check by two seconds. How hard will he go during the technical final section?
Van Aert goes through the intermediate check, and he’s down a bit, 5th fastest. He will need to speed up a lot if he’s to win the stage.
His points classification rival Pedersen reaches the finish down in 13, having slowed down in the second half.
Multiple former winner Primož Roglič is also on the road, meaning there is nobody else left to start. We’ll know who the first wearer of the red jersey will be imminently.
NEW FASTEST TIME – ETHAN HAYTER
Hayter does it! He smashes Tarling’s time at the finish by four whole seconds.
That’s going to be some time to beat, and there’s only a handful of riders left to finish. But one of them Tadej Pogačar, who has just started his ride. This is going to be a hectic end to the stage.
Only a few riders left, and one of them is among the very top favourites for the win today – Wout van Aert. He’s just taken off from the start ramp, and looks like he means business.
Further up the road, Ethan Hayter is on a great day, and has just smashed Tarling’s time at the intermediate check by a whole three seconds! Could there been a swap of Brits at the hot seat?
Some more of the race’s biggest names have just finished. Enric Mas loses 29 seconds with the 36th best time, a time you imagine he’ll be reasonably happy with given his dislike of this discipline. And intriguingly, João Almeida (pictured) finishes 13th fastest at 14 seconds – not his best ride, but a sign he has come into this Vuelta with some form, after such a rough season.
Meanwhile Tarling’s time was immediately put under threat from Christophe Laporte, but the Frenchman must settle for third fastest, two seconds slower.
NEW FASTEST TIME – JOSH TARLING
Tarling has done it, just about! The Brit reaches the lines a mere second quicker than Thornley. He now waits on the host seat to see if that time will be beaten by any of the big names to come, but whatever happens from here, that was a moving performance.
Tarling has made an excellent start! He’s quickest at the first check, by one second. Thornley did do a flyer of a second half on the more technical section, so he’ll have to keep going, but he’s looking good to take the lead.
Josh Tarling is out on the road, and you can only imagine what he is going through. Only last week the Brit lost his youngest brother Finlay after a collision at the Volta a Portugal, and he is riding in his honour today.
NEW FASTEST TIME – CALLUM THORNLEY
Yet another new man on the hot seat, and it’s yet another shock – this time it’s a Red Bull young rider, Callum Thornley. Shortly after Jay Vine finished with the 6th fastest time, Thornley flew to the finish with a time three seconds quicker than Bisiaux.
NEW FASTEST TIME – LEO BISIAUX
The same pattern repeats again – a Decathlon rider sets the new fastest time! Having been 4 seconds down at the first check, Léo Bisiaux rode a superb second half of the route to post the best time at the finish, a fraction of a second quicker than his teammate Chamberlain.
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Jay Vine is the latest stage contender to start. He’s quality against the clock, and was second behind Ganna in the time trial last year. But his questionable technique will be severely tested by this technical route.
Stefan Küng has finished, but he’s not up to the speed he was in Poland. The Swiss rider posts the fourth fastest time, and won’t be on the podium tonight.
He’s narrowly slower than Alessandro Romele, another impressive young performer who has gone third fastest.
NEW FASTEST TIME – OSCAR CHAMBERLAIN
Another surprise, and it’s another Decathlon rider who has delivered it. 21-year-old Oscar Chamberlain has gone two seconds quicker than Kluckers. That ride has come out of nowhere from a man making his Grand Tour debut, who has never before won a pro race.
Veteran Mikel Landa has finished, and is a long way down, losing over a minute with the 90th best time so far. He’s never been a time trialist, and that ride suggests he hasn’t come into the kind of form necessary to push for the kind of high overall finishes he used to.
One rider who is a time trialist is Stefan Kung, who has just started his ride. The Swiss rider is in form having won a the Tour of Poland recently, and won a time trial stage at the Vuelta two years ago.
NEW FASTEST TIME – ARTHUR KLUCKERS
Brennan has been ousted from the hot seat! Kluckers had gone 2 seconds quicker at the time check, and extended that to 4 seconds by the finish. He might have finished 6th at the Tour of Poland time trial recently, but that’s still a surprising ride from the Luxembourger
Onley and Gall (pictured) have both now finished, and they’ve both set similar times – both losing quite a bit of time. Onley was well down in with the 40th fastest time, losing 34 seconds to Brennan, while Gall (though normally the inferior time trialist) limited his losses to 30 seconds with the 33rd fastest time.
Much quicker is young Pablo Torres, who has gone 6th quickest so far at his first ever stage at a Grand Tour.
Another top name for the podium is on the road now, and, all things considered, is going OK. Felix Gall is 16th fastest at the time check, only 3 seconds slower than Carapaz and five seconds slower than Skjelmose. For a man whose Achilles’ heel is the time trial, he will take this.
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Oscar Onley is off an underway! Following an injury-disrupted start to the season, this will be his first Grand Tour since placing fourth at the Tour de France last year. Given the form he showed at the Vuelta a Burgos, he’s one of the top candidates for a podium finish overall, so will race hard today.
NEW FASTEST TIME – MATTHEW BRENNAN
The Brit has indeed gone faster, beating De Pestel by two seconds! That’s one hell of a ride from Brennan, especially considering it’s the sprint we’re anticipating him making an impact at this Vuelta, rather than the time trial. He’s a huge talent whose versatility could become one of the stories of this race.
And he was also one of the young riders we picked to look out for ahead of the race. Have a read to see who else we’re backing, in a race where young talent often comes to the fore.
Cycling’s next generation heads to Spain – Young riders to watch at the Vuelta a España
NEW FASTEST TIME – SANDER DE PESTEL
A turn up for the books here – Sander De Pestel has just posted the best time, five seconds faster than his Decathlon teammate Labrosse. What did the Decathlon riders eat today for lunch? Whatever it is it’s working, as they’re on fire.
De Pestel might not be in the hot seat for long though, as Brennan is flying and has the fastest time at the intermediate check. Watch this space…
A couple more significant GC times to report. Both Mattias Skjelmose (6th at the Tour de France this year) and Tobias Halland Johannessen (6th at the Tour de France last year) have finished 5 seconds slower than Laborsse, and are placed 4th and 3rd respectively on the virtual classification. Skjelmose might have wanted to go quicker than that, given how the time trial is usually one of his big weapons.
For the first time in his career, Matthew Brennan is riding at a Grand Tour! He’s just started his ride, bringing to a beginning a Vuelta debut which has attracted much hype. This probably won’t be a day for him, but he has his eyes on the sprints, which he is a genuine contender for a win based on his brilliant form this season.
Sepp Kuss has just finished, 22 seconds with the 13th fastest ride. That didn’t appear to be a ride from someone going as hard as possible to limit his losses, but nor did he sit up and take it easy.
The 2023 champion has said that is prioritising chasing stage wins over the GC, but that ride suggests he isn’t totally sacrificing the former just yet.
Labrosse’s time is safe for now, with nobody threatening it at the intermediate time check.
While there’s a slight lull in what has been a hectic start, be sure to catch up on what’s happened at both the Renewi Tour and Tour of Britain Women, both of which have finished.
Richard Carapaz has finished his ride, and it looks pretty solid. He’s third fastest, with a time ten seconds slower than Labrosse. We’ll have a much better idea of how good it is later on, once the other non-time trial specialist GC riders start their rides.
A couple of other such rider have just rolled off the start ramp – Matthew Riccitello, and former winner Sepp Kuss. Unlike Carapaz, they are only outside contenders, and may not go hard today if they’re not targetting it.
NEW FASTEST TIME – LABROSSE
Another new leader is in the clubhouse, and this time by a big margin, as 23-year-old Jordan Labrosse (pictured) bests Norsgaard by a whole 16 seconds. That’s a mighty impressive ride, but even he was challenged moments later as sprinter Aulaur came within a second of beating him at the finish.
NEW FASTEST TIME – MATHIAS SUNEKAER NORSGAARD
A Norwegian has been usurped by a Dane! Lidl’s Norsgaard pips Leknessund’s time by a mere second, after Kaden Groves had himself fallen just one second short.
Meanwhile at the start, the first major GC contender has just began – Richard Carapaz. After his star attacking turn at the Tour de France, he’s stated his intent to commit fully to GC at this race, so will go hard to concede as little time as possible.
NEW FASTEST TIME – LEKNESSUND
Uriarte’s time has indeed been beaten, by three riders in quick succession – Beloki, Porter, then Leknessund, who has gone quicker by a whole nine seconds.
He might have faced some stiff competition from Bruno Armirail, one of the few time trial specialists who have set off early, but the Frenchman’s hopes have been dashed by a mechanical.
After taking off first, Diego Uriarte (pictured) has the fastest time at the finish, and none of the five riders who have joined him at the clubhouse so far have manage to better him. But his time is under threat by Andreas Leknessund, who is quicker than him at the intermediate check.
Kaden Groves is the latest to start. The Australian is on a mission to win what would be a third points classification at this race. But he’s unlikely to score any points today. The time trial might be short, but not quite short enough for a sprinter like himself.
There are no real curve balls in the running order, with most of the top riders not setting off until later in the day. But there is one man already out that’s worth keeping an eye on – Markel Beloki. As the son of Joseba, he has the genes, and based on some of his performances since turning pro, he has the talent too.
OFFICIAL START
The first rider is Diego Uriarte, and he rolls down the start ramp to get this year’s Vuelta a España underway!
In terms of the stage win today, there’s very healthy competition among some quality time trialists all vying for the honor of wearing the red jersey. Pogačar is inevitably a contender, but will be up against specialists like Wout van Aert and Josh Tarling. Here’s the full running order of the day.
Pogačar and the other GC contenders’ quest for the red jersey begins with a short, flat, but technical time trial in Monaco. It’s not long enough to cause especially big gaps between the GC contenders, but there’s been much talk about the tricky corners – anyone wanting a high GC finish will have to be careful not to make a mistake.
It’s time at last for the Vuelta a España, the final Grand Tour of the season! After all the thrills of the Tour de France in July and Tour de France Femmes in August, the attention of the cycling world now turns to Spain.
Much like in France, it’s the same man who is hogging all of the attention – Tadej Pogačar The Slovenian is going into this race as even more of a favourite than he was for the Tour, and the world is braced for another special performance from him. Pogačar himself, though, is stressing the need to approach intelligently, and not take things for granted.
Hola and welcome to stage one of the 2026 Vuelta a España!