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DSM-Firmenich wins Vuelta a España opening team time trial in treacherous conditions

Last squads not only raced in pouring rain but also in the dark

August 26, 2023
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The final Grand Tour of the 2023 season started on Saturday with Lorenzo Milesi the surprise first red jersey after his DSM-Firmenich squad won there opening Vuelta a España team time trial in Barcelona. Conditions were nasty, as pouring rain and encroaching night made the course treacherous. It wasn’t a good day for Jonas Vingegaard, three-time victor Primož Roglič, Juan Ayuso and Joao Almeida, but it was for champion Remco Evenpoel and three-time runner up Enric Mas.

The Course

It was the 20th Vuelta team time trial since 1989 and the second consecutive opening stage TTT. Last year Jumbo-Visma triumphed in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Barcelona was shorter than Utrecht, 14.8 flat kilometres. It was very wet and wrecks were common in the latter half.

The teams launched with four minute gaps. Early starter DSM-Firmenich was on the hot sofa with 17:30. Arkea-Samsic crashed in one of the final corners and dribbled over the finish line. Six Jayco-AlUla fellows hit the deck. Individual riders crashed all over the course.

Vingegaard with a look of concern at the start ramp.

Jumbo-Visma had a couple of nervy moments in the dying daylight and had to slow down to reorganize. The team came in 32 seconds down on the other Dutch squad, leaders DSM.

Movistar clipped DSM’s best intermediate time by seven seconds. Ahead, UAE-Emirates hit the finish line 37 seconds slower than DSM, who held off Movistar by less than a second.

When the last team Soudal-Quick Step finished fourth place in the dark, Evenepoel and his teammates were rather peeved about the conditions.

Sunday features the famed Montjuïc climb cresting 3.6 km from the line in Barcelona followed by an uphill finish.

2023 Vuelta a España Stage 1
1) DSM-Firmenich 17:30
2) Movistar s.t.
3) EF Education-Easypost +0:06.