Jumbo-Visma began the crusade to lead Primož Roglič to a fourth consecutive Vuelta a España name with his front foot after dominating the first time trial in Utrecht on Friday night.
The Dutch team swept the flat 23. 3km course at home to give Robert Gesink the first red jersey of the race, setting the fastest time at the intermediate checkpoint of 14 seconds as the team passed under 12 minutes.
In the end, 24h40 after the start, Jumbo-Visma crossed the finish line thirteen seconds ahead of their nearest rivals, an impressive margin to start the race.
Ineos Grenadiers and Richard Carapaz were the most productive team from the moment to the end, while QuickStep-AlphaVinyl and Remco Evenepoel were a moment, the only two groups within Jumbo-Visma’s 30 moments.
Simon Yates’ BikeExchange-Jayco team took fourth place, with the Briton starting the road stages 31 seconds behind the leader, while João Almeida’s UAE Team Emirates was two seconds further in fifth place.
“I really can’t, I’m actually grateful to the guys. They were incredibly strong and I’m so grateful to be in red. It’s definitely one of the highlights of my career,” Gesink said.
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Daniel Ostanek is editor-in-chief of Cyclingnews, joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and was later hired as editor. Prior to joining the team, he had written for most of the leading publications in the world of cycling, adding CyclingWeekly, Rouleur and Tips for Cyclists.
Daniel reported on racing in the world, adding the Tour de France and the Spring Classics, and interviewed several of the sport’s biggest stars, adding Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Mark Cavendish, Demi Vollering and Anna van der Breggen.
In addition to the original reporting, story and report writing, and production work, Daniel also directs The Leadout newsletter and oversees the season’s How to Watch guides. His favourite races are the Strade Bianche and the Volta a Portugal, and he drives a Colnago C40. .
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