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Jumbo-Visma speeds to victory in Vuelta a España’s opening team time trial

Dutch team wins in the Netherlands, advantage Roglič

August 19, 2022
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The 77th Vuelta a España, the final Grand Tour of the season, got underway on Friday, with Jumbo-Visma the fastest in the Spanish race’s first team time trial since 2019. The Vuelta had eight straight team time trials from 2010 to 2017. Friday’s kickoff in Utrecht, the Netherlands, meant that all three 2022 Grand Tours started in foreign countries. A Dutch rider, Robert Gesink, took the first red jersey for a Dutch team in a Dutch start.

You can watch the 2022 Vuelta a España at FloBikes.

The Course

Friday’s route was pan flat and 23.3 km in length, with the intermediate time taken at the 11 km mark. It was quite technical, with many corners. The teams would start four minutes apart.

The purple-clad BH Burgos-BH squad, like Arkea-Samsic only fielding seven riders, was the first to roll in Utrecht. The Spanish wildcard team posted 26:38.

Michael Woods’ Israel-Premier Tech was third down the ramp in Utrecht.

So as not to clash with the leader’s red jersey, wildcard Arkea-Samsic changed to a bright yellow uniform for the Vuelta.

Oddly enough, Bahrain-Victorious, a red outfit that changed its kit in the last year’s race, didn’t have a change strip.

Both Astana and Movistar went with a white Vuelta look, which is unfortunate considering how many white teams are in the peloton and how few are blue. The Movistar jersey is printed with Alejandro Valverde’s career win highlights, as this Grand Tour is his swan song.

BikeExchange-Jayco, the ninth team to finish, knocked Groupama-FDJ off the top of the table with a time of 25:11. Winner of the 2018 edition, Simon Yates is the Australian WorldTour team’s GC man.

The final team to launch, Primož Roglič’s Jumbo-Visma, cracked Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl’s best intermediate time. Immediately following this, Ineos knocked BikeExchange off the hot bench with 24:53.

Quick Step was a second slower than Ineos. Only Movistar or Jumbo-Visma could clip Ineos. Movistar was just 10th fastest on Friday.

The Dutch Bees hit the line after 24:50, beating Ineos by 13 seconds. Dutch veteran Robert Gesink was the first over the line, and will wear the first red jersey.

The Vuelta stays in the Netherlands for the weekend before the first rest/transfer day to the Basque Country in Spain.

2022 Vuelta a España Stage 1
1) Jumbo-Visma 24:40
2) Ineos Grenadiers +0:13
3) Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl +0:14

2022 Vuelta a España GC
1) Robert Gesink (The Netherland/Jumbo-Visma) 24:40
2) Primož Roglič (Slovenia/Jumbo-Visma) s.t.
3) Chris Harper (Australia/Jumbo-Visma) s.t.
104) Michael Woods (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) +1:04