Published August 14, 2021 07:21PM
Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) won the stage 1 time trial of the Vuelta a España, taking the first red jersey of the race at the end of a scorching evening in Burgos.
The challenging 7.1 km opening time trial started and finished at the 800-year-old cathedral in the historic centre of Burgos, a city that hosts the start of the Vuelta a España for the first time. The riders rolled down a ramp constructed over the steps of the gothic cathedral and onto the very technical course, starting up a 2.5 km 3rd-category climb. The evening test would be a good gauge but the gaps would not be significant.
Adam Yates, co-leader of Ineos Grenadiers, got his Vuelta underway with a strong ride in the first half hour of racing, but his time in the hot seat was short-lived thanks to his punchy teammate Dylan van Baarle. Alex Aranburu (Astana-Premier Tech) laid down a new best time a short while later, and defending champion Roglič was the only rider who could spoil the Spaniard’s day, going six seconds faster. Third place was taken by Slovenian national TT champion Jan Tratnik (Bahrain-Victorious).
Further down the standings, none of the GC favourites had any major problems, but a few lost precious time to Roglič, none more so than Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) who sits 39 seconds down. Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) was the best of the rest 14 seconds in arrears, with Yates leading the Ineos Grenadiers 20 seconds down, Richard Carapaz and Egan Bernal losing 25 and 27 seconds each.