Vuelta a Espana 2018: Stage 1

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January 1 - September 16, Malaga, Spain, Road - GT

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Vuelta a España stage 1 time trial - Start times

The 2018 Vuelta a Espana gets underway with an 8km individual time trial in Malaga, and the Andalusian city is the hub for the opening three days of the race. Jorge Cubero (Burgos-BH) gets us underway at 17:26 local time, with the starters setting out at one-minute intervals thereafter. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), second a year ago, is the final starter at 20:21 local time. 

The full start order is available here. It's worth noting that Richie Porte (BMC) sets off in the first wave of riders at 17:44. The final 22 starters, meanwhile, are as follows:

Porte's teammate Rohan Dennis is the favourite to claim the first red jersey of the race, as he did a year ago, albeit as part of BMC's winning team time trial effort. Alasdair Fotheringham has reconnoitred the 8km course and has written this in-depth preview.

Alasdair Fotheringham has also written this fine overview of the entire Vuelta. This is the first time since 2010 that neither Chris Froome nor Alberto Contador are on the start line, though there are still no fewer than four former winners in this year's race - Nairo Quintana (2016), Fabio Aru (2015), Vincenzo Nibali (2010) and Alejandro Valverde (2009). 

Before today's stage gets underway, the Vuelta is observing a minute's silence in memory of Javier Otxoa, who died yesterday at the age of 43 following a long illness. Otxoa claimed a stirring solo win at Hautacam at the 2000 Tour de France, but then endured tragedy in February of the following year, when he and his twin brother Ricardo where struck by a car while training in southern Spain. Ricardo was killed in the incident while Javier suffered serious injuries and was left in a coma. He later returned to competition as a paracyclist, winning two gold and two silver medals at the 2004 and 2008 Paralympics. 

Jorge Cubero (Burgos-BH) has rolled down the start ramp and the 2018 Vuelta a Espana is formally underway. This is the first time the race has begun with an individual time trial since 2009.

The Vuelta first began in Malaga back in 2000, when Alex Zulle defeated Abraham Olano and Jan Hruska to take the first leader's jersey (gold, as it was then) of the race. The race's second start here came in 2006, when CSC won the team time trial. Carlos Sastre wore the leader's jersey on that occasion.

Nine riders have now begun their efforts, and we're not far off seeing what time Cubero will produce over the 8km course.

Cubero crosses the line in a time of 10:46, the first rider to complete the time trial.

Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) is currently out on the course. Richie Porte (BMC) is readying himself behind the start gate - the Australian sets out at 17:44.

Sebastian Langeveld (EF-Drapac) is the early pace-setter, with a time of 10:04, 3 seconds up on Martijn Tusveld (Sunweb). Alex Edmondson (Mitchelton-Scott) has the quickest time at the intermediate check. Richie Porte is also out on the course.

Richie Porte's time of 5:50 at the checkpoint is some 16 seconds off the pace being set by Edmondson at the same point.

Edmondson, however, seems to have gone out too quickly. His time of 10:09 is only good enough for third at the finish, 5 seconds down on Langeveld.

10:30 for Porte at the finish, 26 seconds down on Langeveld. That's only enough for 5th place so far for the Australian, who was stricken by illness in the build-up to the Vuelta.

Porte downplayed his tag as a favourite yesterday, insisting that his current form was nowhere near his level ahead of the Tour de France. "I had a bit of time off the bike after the Tour, the Tour was terribly disappointing, it takes its mental toll, it hasn't been a great run-in. Hopefully we’ll come out of the Vuelta in better nick than going in," Porte said. Read more here.

New best time from Dylan van Baarle (Team Sky), who stops the clock in 9:59. Andrey Amador (Movistar) came home in 10:03, good enough for second best so far.

Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) rolls down the start ramp and gets his Vuelta underway. Steve Cummings (Dimension Data) finishes in 10:09, good enough for 6th place so far.

A decent effort from Jelle Wallays (Lotto Soudal), whose 10:08 is enough to put him the provisional top 5. 32 riders have now completed their time trials.

Laurens De Plus (Quick-Step Floors) is next home, and his 10:08 is just fractions of a second slower than Wallays.

Richie Porte will concede ground to his GC rivals this evening, however it plays out, but he downplayed his prospects on crossing the line. "It’s not been a straightforward run-in to this race, I look forward to building on my form for the World Championships."

Fine ride from Fabio Felline (Trek-Segafredo), and his 10:01 is good enough for second place, one second behind Van Baarle.

Not a bad effort at all from Adam Yates, who clocks 10:19 at the finish, just 20 seconds off Van Baarle.

Alessandro De Marchi (BMC) had the second best time at the intermediate check and he comes ever so close to beating Van Baarle. 10:00 at the finish for the Italian, good enough for second so far.

Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) rolls down the start ramp and begins his Vuelta a Espana. 

A low-key 11:13 for Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis), who is content to pedal around and spare himself for the bunch sprints to come. The Frenchman maintains his form is good ahead of this Vuelta, but Cofidis have included just one lead-out man in their roster. 

This time last year, Pavel Sivakov (Team Sky) was riding the Tour de l'Avenir. The Russian has just begun his maiden Grand Tour. Another debutant is due down the start ramp shortly, as Tour of Utah winner Sepp Kuss (LottoNL-Jumbo) sets out at 18:39.

10:25 at the finish for Mitchell Docker (Mitchelton-Scott). Nobody has come close to Van Baarle's 9:59 since De Marchi and Felline's solid efforts.

Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) posts 10:06 to take the 6th best time so far, 7 seconds down on Van Baarle.

10:10 at the finish for Sivakov, good enough for 12th place so far. 64 riders have now completed this time trial.

Alexis Gougeard (AG2r La Mondiale) crosses the line in 10:21, good enough for 20th place so far.

Sepp Kuss is out on the course, and the American reaches the checkpoint 29 seconds down on Alex Edmondson's best time, and 25 behind Van Baarle.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) rolls down the start ramp and begins his Vuelta a Espana. The Frenchman confirmed during the week that he will remain with Groupama-FDJ for the next two seasons. After a traumatic finish to his Giro d'Italia, Pinot is hopeful he has recovered sufficiently to make a sustained tilt at the GC here.

Kuss came home in 10:57, almost a minute down on Van Baarle. After his exploits in Utah, it will be fascinating to see how the neo-professional performs in his debut Grand Tour.

Pinot was 16 seconds down at the 4.8km mark, and he has continued at a similar tempo over the back end of the course. He crosses the line in 10:19, which puts him in provisional 21st place. He more or less broke even with Adam Yates.

Jack Haig reaches the finish in 10:27. The Australian was one of the outstanding performers on the Giro d'Italia, and he will be a crucial foil for the Yates brothers on this Vuelta.

Brent Bookwalter (BMC) finishes very strongly indeed to record the fifth quickest time so far. The American crosses the line in 10:03.

Gorka Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) scorches around the course in a time of 10:03. A solid ride from the Basque, which puts him in provisional 6th place.

Grand Tour debutant Jai Hindley (Sunweb) reaches the finish line in a time of 10:32. Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Sky) has just started his Vuelta. The Briton will be buoyed his solid showing at the Vuelta a Burgos earlier this month.

Damien Howson (Mitchelton-Scott) performed strongly down the back end of the course, and he comes home in 10:07, good enough for 9th place so far.

Dylan Teuns (BMC) continues the trend and rides strongly over the second half of the course to clock the third best time to date. His 10:01 is just two seconds down on Van Baarle.

10:03 for Tao Geoghegan Hart, meanwhile, which puts him in 8th place thus far.

BMC have three riders in the provisional top 10, which might augur well for Rohan Dennis' ride later this evening. The standings at the moment are as follows:

 

 

Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) reaches the 4.7km mark with a deficit of 18 seconds. Another GC contenders, Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) is in the opening kilometres of his effort.

Spanish time trial champion Jonathan Castroviejo (Team Sky) sets out and he will have designs on a third stint in the red jersey of the Vuelta. He was first across the line when Movistar won the opening TTT in 2012 and 2014.

10:13 at the finish for Rafal Majka, who will not be at all displeased with that for his evening's work.

5:39 for Zakarin at the 4.7km mark, just 5 seconds down on Edmondson at that point. Castroviejo comes through the same point a second quicker than Zakarin. Edmondson fell away in the closing kilometres, but have Zakarin and Castroviejo got something more left in the tank?

10:09 at the finish for Zakarin, who faded slightly down the stretch. That puts the Russian in 20th place of the finishers so far, 10 seconds down on Van Baarle.

Nicolas Roche (BMC) reaches the finish linein 10:14, 15 seconds down on Van Baarle's quickest mark. Now it's Castroviejo's turn to approach the line...

Jonathan Castroviejo falls just short. His time of 10:00 is 1 second slower than his teammate Van Baarle, and is the third best time to this point.

New quickest time from Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), who has produced a scorching ride to clock 9:56, some 3 seconds quicker than Van Baarle.

131 riders have completed the time trial, and the standings are as follows:

George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) are out on the course and navigating the opening kilometres. Michael Woods (EF-Drapac), Davide Formolo (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Dan Martin (UAE-Team Emirates) are the next three starters.

Kelderman is 8 seconds down at the 4.7km mark. The Dutchman is a strong time triallist, but markedly better over longer distances than this evening's prologue.

Kelderman finishes well to clock 10:01, fifth quickest to this point.

Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) rolls down the start ramp. We're almost into the final wave of starters. Alejandro Valverde and Ion Izagirre will follow, and then the final rider from each team will set out. The order is as follows:

Valverde rolls down the start ramp and starts his effort. Cycling history Cillian Kelly dug up a sobering statistic during the week: "Since 2003, Valverde has ridden 209 stages of the Vuelta. Number of days he has been outside top 20 on GC: 4."

 

Michael Woods crosses the line in 10:39. The Canadian will have been glad simply to get around and will turn his attention to the early summit finishes.

Kwiatkowski clocks 5:32 at the time check, which is the fastest time thus far. 

Valverde is 12 seconds off Kwiatkowski at the same point. At this rate, the Spaniard will be hard-placed to finish in the top 20, though he might pick up on ground on the course's one climb, which comes just after the check.

Joey Rosskopf (BMC) clocks 10:07, which leaves him outside the top 10. Kwiatkowski is now entering the finishing straight...

Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) has hurtled through the finish line in 9:45 - some 11 seconds quicker than Oliveira's previous best. One would imagine that only Rohan Dennis might better that mark.

10:03 for Valverde, good enough for 11th best so far. The Spaniard was indeed significantly better over the latter back of the course, though he still conceded more ground to Kwiatkowski.

Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) is another man with designs on the win today. He came very close indeed in the opening time trial of the Giro d'Italia in West Jerusalem, and will be buoyed by the defence of his European time trial title.

Rigoberto Uran starts, and we have just ten riders left to begin their Vueltas:

Peter Sagan - in Bora-Hansgrohe colours for once - starts his Vuelta. He doesn't have a bad record in short time trials, but this might not be quite punchy enough for him.

Fabio Aru (UAE-Team Emirates) is out on the course, and the Sardinian is among those with a point to prove on this Vuelta. His teammate Dan Martin, incidentally, clocked 10:17, 32 seconds down on Kwiatkowski.

Campenaerts hits the 4.7km mark just 2 seconds down on Kwiatkowski. The European champion is giving himself a fighting chance of seizing the first red jersey here.

At the BinckBank Tour last week, as is his wont, Campenaerts was warming down after every stage on his time trial bike, all part of his preparation for this Vuelta time trial.

Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) rolls down the start ramp and starts his Vuelta a Espana.

Rohan Dennis (BMC) sits in the start house and waits for the countdown. The Australian champion will be aware of Kwiatkowski's splits.

Campenaerts climbs from the saddle and sprints frantically in the finishing straight. He clocks 9:46 - a fine effort from the Belgian, but he is one second shy of Kwiatkowski's time. Surely only Dennis can deny Kwiatkowski here.

Nairo Quintana is the penultimate rider to start. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), second a year ago, will be the last man down the ramp.

Nibali sets off. Out on the course, meanwhile, an on-screen graphic suggests Dennis is 2 seconds up on Kwiatkowski in the opening kilometres.

10:17 at the finish for Peter Sagan, 32 seconds down on Kwiatkowski.

Fabio Aru limits his losses to 33 seconds as he clocks 10:18.

Fabio Aru limits his losses to 33 seconds as he clocks 10:18.

Rohan Dennis is on course for the red jersey. The Australian hits the 4.7 km mark with a lead of 5 seconds over Kwiatkowski.

Uran recorded a time of 10:24, some 39 seconds down on Kwiatkowski.

Dennis extends his lead to 6 seconds per the live timing. The Australian is looking very smooth through the corners.

Decent showing from Simon Yates. His 10:08 puts him just 23 seconds off Kwiatkowski.

New quickest time for Rohan Dennis, who clocks 9:39, some 6 seconds faster than Kwiatkowski. The Australian will be the first leader of this Vuelta. He almost caught his minute man Jhonatan Restrepo (Katusha-Alpecin) at the death.

David De La Cruz (Team Sky) comes in 45 seconds down on Dennis. Only Quintana and Nibali have yet to finish, and neither man will trouble Dennis' time.

10:09 for Nairo Quintana, which leaves him 34 seconds behind Dennis.

Nibali crosses the line in 10:19. He wouldn't have expected any better in his first outing since fracturing a vertebra in his crash on Alpe d'Huez at the Tour de France.

Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing Team) wins stage 1 of the Vuelta a Espana.

Result:

Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) is magnanimous as he takes third behind Dennis: "When it [the gap] is 7 seconds - almost 1 second per kilometre - then he is the best."

Rohan Dennis (BMC) speaks: "Kwiatkowski put on a lot of pressure. I was hoping his time would be a little slower so there would be less stress coming into it. I just put everything out there and hoped for the win. I knew that basically the race finished on the top of the hill and you couldn’t take any more time out from there. You might lose one or two seconds but that’s it. I just thought, go all in to the top. I was just thinking about trying to get an individual stage win at the Vuelta, to get a win at the Vuelta was the first goal, especially after what I did at the Giro."

Dennis will wear the leader's red jersey, but also holds the points classification, mountains and combination classifications and BMC leads the teams standings, too. Quite a day for the team.

Thanks for following the Vuelta's opening stage with Cyclingnews. Tune in tomorrow for full coverage of the first mass-start stage.

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