La Vuelta 2019 – Stage 01 [FULL STAGE – Team Time Trial]

August 24, 2019

La Vuelta 2019 – Stage 1 – Salinas de Torrevieja – Torrevieja TTT : 13,4 km

The 2019 Vuelta a España begins in Torrevieja on Saturday August 23 and finishes in Madrid on September 15. The route, unveiled in a ceremony in Alicante in December, sees the number of summit finishes cut back a touch from nine to eight, but it’s still a mountainous route that sticks with the Vuelta’s recent traditions. Some brutally steep climbs have been sought out for the occasion, with the 4km Mas de la Costa and the painfully steep Los Machucos returning to the route. Andorra is also back on the menu and will host a short but punchy stage to bring week one to a close. The 100-kilometre route comprises five climbs and will ensure some gaps in the overall classification. There will be just over 60 kilometres against the clock, with a 24km team time trial in Torrevieja opening the race and a 36.1km individual chrono in Pau at the start of the second week. The final week of action gives the sprinters more opportunities to find glory, along with two important mountain stages in the Sierras around Madrid, before the last stage into the Spanish capital.

Astana put in a thoroughly dominant and mistake-free ride to win the opening team time trial at the Vuelta a Espana. The men in black and blue finished the 13.4km course in a time of 14:51 to win ahead of Deceuninck-QuickStep and Team Sunweb. The win put Miguel Angel Lopez in the first leader’s jersey of this year’s race after he crossed the line ahead of his teammates.

Deceuninck-QuickStep pushed Astana all the way and may have edged the win had it not been for a poorly parked Jumbo-Visma car. The Belgian team were forced to check their line and then lost two riders on the final corner as they looked to keep their rhythm. They crossed the line just two seconds down on Astana.

Jumbo-Visma’s terrible day didn’t stop there. The Dutch team were the favourites to win the stage and they were in contention until a crash took down several of their squad – including pre-race favourite Primoz Roglic – just after the intermediate check. Roglic battled through despite visible cuts on his left side but his GC chances were dealt a significant blow with close to 50 seconds lost to Lopez.

Astana came into the Vuelta a Espana with a squad built around Lopez but they had to wait until the sun began to set in Spain before their time trial began. Before then, Dimension Data and a strong-looking EF Education First had taken control of the race with the American team looking particularly impressive. They set a time of 14:58 and were the first squad to dip under fifteen minutes in a throwback to their last Grand Tour TTT win at the Giro in 2012.

However, when Astana began on the route it was clear that the team containing Lopez, Fuglsang and Luis Leon Sanchez were on a mission. While Sunweb had already nudged EF-Education First off the top stop, Astana were setting a blistering pace through the first time check. They were fastest by six seconds, ahead of Groupama-FDJ at the intermediate check and continued to dominate to the line.

Jumbo-Visma’s day was a catalogue of errors. They lost Sepp Kuss early on to a mechanical but dragged themselves back into contention with a respectable time in the first check. Then, on a slight rise and left-hand corner, they rode through a short wet patch. One rider then rode onto the white line and at that point seemed to lose control. When he tumbled he took several riders down with him, including Roglic. The Dutch squad, with Tony Martin at the helm, mounted a comeback as they began to regroup but the damage was already done by the time they eventually crossed the line in 18th place.

In July, Jumbo-Visma were the toast of the TTT but a wet patch on the road and a short lapse in concentration offered a timely reminder of how quickly the sport can change.

By the time Astana reached the hot seat, only Movistar and Deceuninck-QuickStep stood in the way as realistic challengers. The Spanish team were already 13 seconds down at the first check and would eventually finish seventh on the stage but Deceuninck – without ever looking spectacular – remained in contention and would have certainly finished closer or even won the stage had they not been hampered towards the end by a Jumbo-Visma car that had stopped in the road to aid a rider. Still, that’s cycling, and that’s the Vuelta. Everything can change in the blink of an eye and there’s still almost three weeks to go.

Results :
1 Astana Pro Team 0:14:51
2 Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:02
3 Team Sunweb 0:00:05
4 EF Education First 0:00:07
5 Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:13
6 CCC Team 0:00:15
7 Movistar Team 0:00:16
8 Groupama-FDJ
9 Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:18
10 Lotto Soudal 0:00:19
11 Team Ineos 0:00:25
12 Bahrain-Merida 0:00:26
13 Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:33
14 Dimension Data 0:00:34
15 Trek-Segafredo 0:00:35
16 Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:37
17 AG2R La Mondiale
18 Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:40
19 Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:00:43
20 Euskadi Basque Country 0:00:46
21 UAE Team Emirates 0:01:07
22 Burgos-BH 0:01:22

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:14:51
2 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
3 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
4 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
5 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
6 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
7 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:02
8 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep
9 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep
10 Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Arg) Deceuninck-QuickStep
11 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep
12 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:03
13 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:00:05
14 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
15 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb
16 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb
17 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:06
18 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First 0:00:07
19 Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First
20 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First
21 Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (Col) Equipo Euskadi
22 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First
23 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First
24 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:13
25 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
26 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Bora-Hansgrohe
27 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
28 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
29 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
30 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) CCC Team 0:00:15
31 Victor De La Parte (Spa) CCC Team
32 Patrick Bevin (NZl) CCC Team
33 Will Barta (USA) CCC Team
34 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team
35 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:16
36 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
37 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team
38 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
39 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
40 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
41 Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
42 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ
43 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
44 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:18
45 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
46 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
47 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
48 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
49 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
50 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
51 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
52 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
53 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:00:19
54 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal
55 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
56 Brian van Goethem (Ned) Lotto Soudal
57 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:20
58 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:23
59 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:24
60 David de la Cruz (Spa) Team Ineos 0:00:25
61 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
62 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Ineos
63 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Ineos
64 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Ineos
65 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:26
66 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
67 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida
68 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida
69 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:33
70 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
71 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
72 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
73 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
74 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data 0:00:34
75 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data
76 Ben King (USA) Dimension Data
77 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
78 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data
79 Rasmus Fossum Tiller (Nor) Dimension Data
80 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:35
81 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
82 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
83 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
84 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
85 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
86 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
87 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:37
88 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
89 Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
90 Alexander Aranburu Deba (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
91 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
92 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
93 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
94 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
95 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:40
96 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma
97 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
98 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma
99 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma
100 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
101 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:00:43
102 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis Solutions Credits
103 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits
104 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis Solutions Credits
105 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits
106 Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits
107 Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:46
108 Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
109 Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
110 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
111 Hector Saez Benito (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
112 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
113 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
114 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
115 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:47
116 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:50
117 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
118 Domingos Gonçalves (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:52
119 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Ineos 0:00:53
120 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:54
121 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Merida
122 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
123 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:55
124 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb
125 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:56
126 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:59
127 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:06
128 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:07
129 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
130 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
131 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
132 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data 0:01:13
133 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:14
134 Willem Jakobus Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:17
135 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:01:18
136 Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:01:22
137 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH
138 Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos-BH
139 Ricardo Augusto Afonso Vilela (Por) Burgos-BH
140 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Burgos-BH
141 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal 0:01:30
142 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida
143 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
144 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) CCC Team 0:01:37
145 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team
146 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:41
147 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team
148 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos
149 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Ineos
150 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:43
151 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:01:48
152 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:50
153 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:52
154 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:54
155 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:57
156 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education First 0:01:58
157 Jorge Cubero Galvez (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:01:59
158 Oscar Cabedo Carda (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:02:12
159 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:13
160 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:19
161 Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
162 Steve Morabito (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
163 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data 0:02:21
164 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First 0:02:25
165 Shane Archbold (NZl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:26
166 Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
167 Pawel Bernas (Pol) CCC Team 0:02:31
168 Juan Sebastian Molano (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:43
169 Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates
170 Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:49
171 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:03:03
172 Nuno Matos (Por) Burgos-BH 0:03:22
173 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:04:22
174 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
175 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:04:46
176 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:05:00