Jumbo-Visma and Roglič stamp authority on Vuelta a España team time trial
Jumbo-Visma and Roglič stamp authority on Vuelta a España team time trial
Jumbo-Visma won the Vuelta a España’s opening time trial by 13 seconds over Ineos Grenadiers, placing defending Vuelta champion Primož Roglič into an early lead over his GC rivals.
The Dutch squad smoothly conquered a tricky 23-kilometer course in Utrecht, finishing the first team time trial in a grand tour since the 2019 Vuelta with their entire eight-man squad. They were 17 seconds up at the halfway split and held onto most of that at the finish.
Ineos put in a strong showing, minimizing losses for likely team leader Richard Carapaz, in his last grand tour with the team, as well as Giro d’Italia champion Tao Geoghegan Hart.
Robert Gesink, racing on home Dutch roads, led the team across the line and will wear the race’s first red leader’s jersey on stage 2 Saturday.
The 36-year-old Dutchman has become a crucial workhorse in Jumbo-Visma’s rise to grand tour prominence, and the red jersey feels a fitting reward for his efforts.
“I can’t believe it,” Gesink said. “I’m really grateful to the boys, they were crazy strong. I’m really grateful to be in the red jersey. It’s one of the highlights of my career.
“I heard the intermediate splits and they were fast but obviously we had to make it to the end. Anything can happen in a TTT but I knew we had the possibility to win because we have so many strong guys in this group.
“Usually my job is to help the team and Primož and so this is a really nice way of them to say thank you for all those years of helping,” he said.
Early rain affected some teams, including a BikeExchange-Jayco squad that looked built for success on the day. Most top general classification riders finished within a minute of Jumbo, assuaging fears of dramatic losses before the race sees a single climb.
More to come.
La Vuelta ciclista a España (2.UWT) Utrecht → Utrecht
Jumbo-Visma
GESINK Robert
HAYTER Ethan
Jumbo-Visma