Vuelta a España stage 1: Primož Roglič blasts to TT victory

BURGOS, Spain (VN) — The first major showdown of the 2021 Vuelta a España went to Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma).

The reigning Olympic time trial champion blasted to victory Saturday on a short and intense 7.1km time trial course around the buzzing historic center of Burgos, and carved out some small but important gains on his direct GC challengers.

“It’s crazy, huh?” Roglič said. “I’m happy and pleased with how the race has gone.

“It was seven kilometers, but still super hard. It’s full out from the start to the finish. I don’t know the intermediate times, you had to go fast up, go fast down, survive the corners, and push on the flat. It’s a beautiful start.”

The Slovenian bested his rivals in 8:32 (49.9km/h) and topped an early fast time set by Alex Aranburu (Astana-Premier Tech) to win for the first time in Europe since the Basque tour in April.

Also read: Check out Roglič’s special time trial bike

https://twitter.com/JumboVismaRoad/status/1426618623628660740

 

More than the win, Roglič clawed out some significant gains to his direct GC rivals.

The two-time defending champion also slips into the overall leader’s jersey in what was the first shot of the highly anticipated showdown between Roglič and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers).

Bernal could not match Roglič’s pure power, and finished at 27 seconds off the pace in 46th, a result that was not what the Colombian would have liked. Adam Yates led the way for Ineos Grenadiers in 16th at 20 seconds slower, with Olympic road champion Richard Carapaz at 25 seconds slower.

Roglič picks up where he left off with the Vuelta last fall, back in the red leader’s jersey.

With a time trial waiting on the final stage in Galicia on September, could Roglič carry red jersey from start to finish?

“We’ll see, huh?” Roglič said. “Right now I am enjoying this, and I want to enjoy this with the team in the coming days.”

 

Sepp Kuss wins King of Mountains jersey

Aranburu set an early fast marker, and sat in the “hot seat” until Roglič pipped him for the win at 6 seconds faster as the final starter. Jan Tankink (Bahrain-Victorious) was third at 8 seconds slower.

“After a few weeks, I didn’t know how I’d feel,” Aranburu said. “I like the course, so I decided to go as fast as I could. The shorter time trials are usually good for me, so we’ll see how the time holds up.”

The race started on the portico of Burgos’s 12th century cathedral, and opened with a short 2.5km climb to the top of a castle overlooking the town, before looping back through the narrow streets of Burgos’s historic district packed with fans and tapas bars.

Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) was fastest on the climbing sector to win the King of the Mountains jersey after opting to race with his time trial bike.

Also read: No Vuelta leadership no big deal for Kuss

It was a nice way to start the Vuelta for Kuss, hot off winning a stage at the Tour de France in July.

“It’s pretty good,” Kuss told VeloNews at the line. “This course suits me pretty well, you just go and not look at your power. I saw some guys starting on road bikes, but I thought a TT bike was faster. There is so much hard racing to come, this won’t count for too much.”

Also read: Eight North Americans tackling Vuelta

Lawson Craddock (EF Education-Nippo), racing in the American national jersey, also posted a solid time to finish eighth as was best among six U.S. starters in the Vuelta.

https://twitter.com/EFprocycling/status/1426611771167715328

Kuss was 12th at 15 seconds slower, and Chad Haga (DSM) was 13th at 17 seconds slower. Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), racing in his grand tour debut, finished more than one minute off the pace.

First chance for sprinters

Light clouds moved in late Saturday afternoon to take the edge off the heat, which hit the high 90Fs by mid afternoon. With the last starters not heading down the start ramp until 8:45 p.m. local time, temperatures were still warm, but not as hot as riders will face in Sunday’s first road stage.

Also read: Heat will be additional rival in first half of Vuelta

The Vuelta continues Sunday with the 166.7km second stage from Caleruega to Burgos over rolling terrain. Unless winds break up the peloton, the stage should deliver the first bunch gallop of the race.