Vuelta a España stage 1 LIVE: Tadej Pogačar and Wout van Aert take part in Monaco time trial Gran Partida

A Norwegian has been usurped by a Dane! Lidl’s Norsgaard pips Leknessund’s time by a mere second, after Kaden Groves had himself fallen just one second short.

Meanwhile at the start, the first major GC contender has just began – Richard Carapaz. After his star attacking turn at the Tour de France, he’s stated his intent to commit fully to GC at this race, so will go hard to concede as little time as possible.

Uriarte’s time has indeed been beaten, by three riders in quick succession – Beloki, Porter, then Leknessund, who has gone quicker by a whole nine seconds.

He might have faced some stiff competition from Bruno Armirail, one of the few time trial specialists who have set off early, but the Frenchman’s hopes have been dashed by a mechanical.

2026-08-22T14:37:54.646Z

After taking off first, Diego Uriarte (pictured) has the fastest time at the finish, and none of the five riders who have joined him at the clubhouse so far have manage to better him. But his time is under threat by Andreas Leknessund, who is quicker than him at the intermediate check.

2026-08-22T14:32:51.232Z

Kaden Groves is the latest to start. The Australian is on a mission to win what would be a third points classification at this race. But he’s unlikely to score any points today. The time trial might be short, but not quite short enough for a sprinter like himself.

2026-08-22T14:26:26.579Z

There are no real curve balls in the running order, with most of the top riders not setting off until later in the day. But there is one man already out that’s worth keeping an eye on – Markel Beloki. As the son of Joseba, he has the genes, and based on some of his performances since turning pro, he has the talent too.

The first rider is Diego Uriarte, and he rolls down the start ramp to get this year’s Vuelta a España underway!

2026-08-22T14:14:26.498Z

In terms of the stage win today, there’s very healthy competition among some quality time trialists all vying for the honor of wearing the red jersey. Pogačar is inevitably a contender, but will be up against specialists like Wout van Aert and Josh Tarling. Here’s the full running order of the day.

2026-08-22T14:08:57.545Z

Pogačar and the other GC contenders’ quest for the red jersey begins with a short, flat, but technical time trial in Monaco. It’s not long enough to cause especially big gaps between the GC contenders, but there’s been much talk about the tricky corners – anyone wanting a high GC finish will have to be careful not to make a mistake.

2026-08-22T14:04:47.021Z

It’s time at last for the Vuelta a España, the final Grand Tour of the season! After all the thrills of the Tour de France in July and Tour de France Femmes in August, the attention of the cycling world now turns to Spain.

Much like in France, it’s the same man who is hogging all of the attention – Tadej Pogačar The Slovenian is going into this race as even more of a favourite than he was for the Tour, and the world is braced for another special performance from him. Pogačar himself, though, is stressing the need to approach intelligently, and not take things for granted.

2026-08-22T13:57:37.907Z

Hola and welcome to stage one of the 2026 Vuelta a España!