La Vuelta 2016 – Stage 01 [FULL STAGE – Team Time Trial]

August 14, 2016
La Vuelta 2016 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE] – Ourense – Parque Náutico Castrelo de Miño – 27,8 km (Team time trial)

The 2016 Vuelta a España is a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race that is scheduled to take place in Spain between 20 August and 11 September 2016. The race is the 71st edition of the Vuelta a España and it will be the final Grand Tour of the 2016 cycling season.

Team Sky claimed the opening stage of the 2016 Vuelta a Espana with victory in the 27.8 kilometre time trial. The British team clocked 30:37 to edge out Movistar by less than half a second. Peter Kennaugh led Chris Froome and his teammates over the line and will wear the first leader’s jersey of the race on stage 2.

Orica-BikeExchange had led the stage and looked set to win but were forced to settle for third, six seconds off the wining time.

Alberto Contador’s Tinkoff team looked in contention for a top five place at the first time check but suffered in the second half of the race and conceded a telling 52 seconds at the line.

The win marked Kennaugh first appearance in the leader’s jersey of a Grand Tour and comes after he missed the Tour de France through injury and ruled himself out of contention for the Olympic Games due to a lack of form.

Both Team Sky and Movistar were evenly matched throughout the testing course with the Spanish team 8 seconds off Froome’s squad at the first check at 9.4 kilometres. The gap dropped to 6 seconds at 18.2 kilometres before Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana’s team set the provisionally fastest time at the finish, nudging out Orica in the process.

When Team Sky came to the finish they were on the rivet with Kennaugh driving for the line but Chris Froome momentarily cut adrift from the remaining five riders. The Tour de France winner made it back, just, with the win secured and the race lead guaranteed when Contador’s men limped home.

How it unfolded

The third Grand Tour of this campaign started in tranquil conditions as the sun set over Balneario Laias. Bora Argon were the first team to start and they duly set about posting respectable times at all of the intermediate time checks. The same could not be said of Giant-Alepcin, AG2R La Mondiale or Lampre Merida, with all three teams off the pace even after just 9.4 kilometres of racing.

Astana, coming into the race with Miguel Angel Lopez as their leader were forced to wait when the rider slipped his chain but they recovered well, finishing behind Bora by just one second at the finish.

Former world champions in this discipline, Etixx QuickStep soon pushed the German team into second but back down the course Orica BikeExchange and BMC Racing were locked in a close dual.

The two teams were locked on the same time at the first check before BMC nudged ahead by 6 seconds at the 18.2 kilometre time check.

Sky, meanwhile, were pacing their effort well, doing just enough to keep the two leading teams within a few seconds.

When Orica clocked a time of 30:43 they looked to be the squad with BMC unable to push them off the top spot.

However Movistar and Team Sky were still to finish. Both teams came into the race with serious ambitions of winning the overall but Sky, and Kennaugh, drew first blood.

Results :

1 Team Sky 0:30:37
2 Movistar
3 Orica-BikeExchange 0:00:06
4 BMC Racing Team 0:00:07
5 Etixx-QuickStep 0:00:22
6 LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:27
7 Trek-Segafredo 0:00:50
8 Cannondale 0:00:52
9 Tinkoff
10 Bora-Argon 18 0:00:57
11 Astana Pro Team 0:00:58
12 FDJ 0:01:05
13 IAM Cycling 0:01:13
14 Katusha 0:01:17
15 Dimension Data
16 Lotto Soudal 0:01:27
17 Cofidis 0:01:34
18 Caja Rural-RGA Seguros 0:01:36
19 Ag2r-La Mondiale 0:01:48
20 Giant-Alpecin 0:01:50
21 Direct Energie 0:01:55
22 Lampre-Merida 0:02:09

General Classification after Stage 1:

1 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky 0:30:37
2 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky
3 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
4 Leopold Konig (Cze) Team Sky
5 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
6 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team
7 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Movistar Team
8 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
9 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team
10 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team
11 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:01
12 Damien Howson (Aus) Orica-BikeExchange 0:00:06
13 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica-BikeExchange
14 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-BikeExchange
15 Jhoan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Orica-BikeExchange
16 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-BikeExchange
17 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-BikeExchange
18 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) BMC Racing Team 0:00:07
19 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
20 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
21 Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) BMC Racing Team
22 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
23 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Team Sky 0:00:09
24 Svein Tuft (Can) Orica-BikeExchange 0:00:10
25 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:00:22
26 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx – Quick-Step
27 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step
28 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step
29 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
30 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:27
31 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
32 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
33 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
34 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
35 David De La Cruz Melgarejo (Spa) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:00:43
36 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:47
37 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:50
38 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
39 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
40 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
41 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
42 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
43 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team 0:00:52
44 Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team
45 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team
46 Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team
47 Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team
48 Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team
49 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Tinkoff Team
50 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Tinkoff Team
51 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Tinkoff Team
52 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff Team
53 Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Tinkoff Team
54 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Tinkoff Team
55 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Argon 18 0:00:57
56 Gregor Muhlberger (Aut) Bora-Argon 18
57 Bartosz Huzarski (Pol) Bora-Argon 18
58 José Joao Pimenta Costa Mendes (Por) Bora-Argon 18
59 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Argon 18
60 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:58
61 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Astana Pro Team
62 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
63 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Astana Pro Team
64 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
65 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) FDJ 0:01:05
66 Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ
67 Laurent Pichon (Fra) FDJ
68 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ
69 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ
70 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) FDJ
71 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:12
72 Jonas Vangenechten (Bel) IAM Cycling 0:01:13
73 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) IAM Cycling
74 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) IAM Cycling
75 Marcel Wyss (Swi) IAM Cycling
76 Dries Devenyns (Bel) IAM Cycling
77 Mathias Frank (Swi) IAM Cycling
78 Clement Chevrier (Fra) IAM Cycling
79 Simon Pellaud (Swi) IAM Cycling
80 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) IAM Cycling
82 Rein Taaramae (Est) Team Katusha 0:01:17
81 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team
83 Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Team Katusha
84 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Team Katusha
85 Tiago Machado (Por) Team Katusha
86 Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data
87 Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin (Eri) Dimension Data
88 Jacques Willem Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
89 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Dimension Data
90 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Dimension Data
91 Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:01:19
92 Michael Gogl (Aut) Tinkoff Team 0:01:20
93 Matvey Mamykin (Rus) Team Katusha 0:01:17
94 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:27
95 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
96 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal
97 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
98 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
99 Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky 0:01:32
100 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step
101 Florian Senechal (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:34
102 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
103 Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
104 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
105 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
106 Romain Hardy (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
107 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:01:36
108 Eduard Prades Reverte (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
109 Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
110 Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
111 José Gonçalves (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
112 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
113 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:48
114 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
115 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
116 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
117 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
118 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:01:50
119 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin
120 Zico Waeytens (Bel) Team Giant-Alpecin
121 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin
122 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
123 Chad Haga (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
124 Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie 0:01:55
125 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie
126 Ryan Anderson (Can) Direct Energie
127 Brian Nauleau (Fra) Direct Energie
128 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Direct Energie
129 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Bora-Argon 18 0:02:01
130 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky 0:02:03
131 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team
132 Silvio Herklotz (Ger) Bora-Argon 18
133 Martijn Keizer (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:02:05
134 Bram Tankink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
135 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Astana Pro Team
136 Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) Lampre – Merida 0:02:08
137 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Lampre – Merida
138 Ilia Koshevoy (Blr) Lampre – Merida
139 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Lampre – Merida
140 Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre – Merida
141 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:13
142 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team
143 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:02:18
144 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:19
145 Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) FDJ 0:02:23
146 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team 0:02:34
147 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team
148 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team
149 Benjamin King (USA) Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team
150 Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha
151 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Argon 18 0:02:46
152 Kenneth Van Bilsen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
153 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:49
154 Julien Morice (Fra) Direct Energie 0:02:51
155 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:03:00
156 Nick Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data 0:03:04
157 Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data
158 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Dimension Data
159 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
160 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Team Katusha 0:03:06
161 Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-BikeExchange 0:03:09
162 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:03:13
163 Sindre Skjoestad Lunke (Nor) Team Giant-Alpecin
164 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:03:14
165 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:03:15
166 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff Team 0:03:16
167 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Tinkoff Team
168 Jaime Roson Garcia (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:03:18
169 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:22
170 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Argon 18 0:03:24
171 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:03:27
172 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:39
173 Loïc Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:03:47
174 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Lampre – Merida
175 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Lampre – Merida
176 Federico Zurlo (Ita) Lampre – Merida
177 Jack Haig (Aus) Orica-BikeExchange 0:03:50
178 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky 0:04:04
179 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:04:19
180 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
181 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
182 Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Soudal
183 Martin Velits (Svk) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:04:32
184 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:04:34
185 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
186 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team 0:04:39
187 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
188 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
189 Tony Hurel (Fra) Direct Energie 0:04:44
190 Mario Jorge Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida 0:04:45
191 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:04:51
192 Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha 0:04:53
193 Lorenzo Manzin (Fra) FDJ 0:05:14
194 Kévin Reza (Fra) FDJ
195 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:05:25
196 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:05:40
197 Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie 0:06:02
198 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie