Jumbo-Visma won the 23.3-kilometre team time trial at their home race in Utrecht, the Netherlands, in a time of 24:40 minutes, making Dutch rider Robert Gesink the first overall leader of the 2022 Vuelta a España.
Second place, 13 seconds behind, went to the British team Ineos Grenadiers led by Olympic champion Richard Carapaz, whose move to the EF Education EasyPost team was announced on Friday. The third fastest team one second behind was the Belgian team Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl with Belgium's cycling hope Remco Evenepoel.
Profile of stage 1 (Friday, 19 August 2022: Utrecht - Utrecht - 23.3 kilometres team time trial)
Bora-hansgrohe in seventh place
The Bora-Hansgrohe team around the Australian Giro-winner Jai Hindley finished in seventh place, 41 seconds behind. Jumbo-Visma captain Roglic had finished the Tour of Spain as overall winner three times since 2019.
The second stage leads over 175.1 kilometres from s-Hertogenbosch to Utrecht on Saturday. The third stage in the Netherlands ends on Sunday after 193.2 kilometres with the start and finish in Breda. After the first rest day on Monday, the race will continue on Tuesday on Spanish soil in the Basque Country. The last of the three major national tours will finish in three weeks' time in Spain's capital Madrid.
Preview of the stages of the Vuelta
Regulations of the Vuelta
Unlike in the Tour de France, the leader's jersey in the Vuelta is not yellow, but red. We have summarised which other leader's jerseys and special classifications there are in the Tour of Spain in our text on the rules.
Numerous top cycling stars will be at the start of the 2022 Vuelta. TOUR has compiled an overview of the line-ups of the 23 teams.
Tour of Spain for women
In addition to the men's race, there will also be another Vuelta for women in 2022, the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta. It will take place from 7 to 11 September with a total of five stages.
The first stage starts in Marina de Cudeyo in Cantabria, with the final section finishing four days later in the Spanish capital Madrid.
History of the Vuelta
The men's Vuelta a Espana is back after the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France the third of the three major national tours (Grand Tours), which will be held in 2022. The Tour of Spain was held for the first time in 1935 and is therefore younger than its Italian and French counterparts.
Until the 1990s, the Vuelta traditionally took place in spring. The date was then moved to August or September. There was one exception in 2020, when the Vuelta was moved to October and November due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The record winner is the Spaniard Roberto Heras with four titles. Three Germans have won the race so far: Rudi Altig (1962), Rolf Wolfshohl (1965) and Jan Ullrich (1999).
