Primož Roglič showed no sign of the heartbreak he suffered at the Tour. His team proved to be the strongest one again, with Sepp Kuss doing most of the damage with a series of attacks. Tom Dumoulin wasn’t quite as strong and finished 51 seconds behind the winner. The winner was Primož Roglič, of course, who attacked with 1 km to go and none of his rivals could match his effort. He is now the Jumbo-Visma’s outright leader and we’re looking forward to see if anyone can strip him of the red jersey.
🇬🇧 Stage 1 | #LaVuelta20
Already winner of the last edition, @rogla made the most of the first summit finish of the 2020 race to claim back La Roja as the overall race leader at the historical Alto de Arrate.
⬇️ Enjoy the best of the stage with this summary ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/YANeryP6D3
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) October 20, 2020
The peloton lost its biggest champion, Chris Froome (Ineos Grenadiers). The 35-year-old was dropped from the peloton while his teammates were pushing the tempo up front. And none of them even flinched. Obviously, it was Richard Carapaz who was Brailsford’s GC hope all along.
🎥El sufrimiento de Froome (@INEOSGrenadiers) para seguir el ritmo en el Alto de Elgeta / 🇬🇧 Hard efforts by former winner @chrisfroome to keep the pace from the bunch at Elgeta climb! #LaVuelta20 pic.twitter.com/K2V8EuZfUU
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) October 20, 2020
Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) won’t be the one to challenge Roglič either. The Frenchman tends to ride well at La Vuelta but clearly, he’s not at the same level here as the rest of the GC contenders. Same goes for the 24-year-old Alexander Vlasov (Astana). It might have been the illness that forced him out of the Giro but he finished 4:31 down on Roglič.
Now, let’s focus on the ones who did finish in the front group. Who do you think will challenge Roglič? The 34-year-old Dan Martin? Carapaz and the Ineos Grenadiers? Or will it be Enric Mas, the Spaniard? Let us know your opinion!
General classification after stage 1
1. Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) – 4:22:33
2. Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) + 5 s
3. Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) + 7 s
4. Esteban Cháves (Mitchelton-Scott) + 11 s
5. Felix Großschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe)
6. Enric Mas (Movistar Team), all at same time
7. Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling) + 14 s
8. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) + 20 s
9. George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) + 50 s
10. Andrea Bagioli (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) + 1:01
Points classification after stage 1
1. Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) – 25 points
2. Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) – 20 points
3. Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) – 16 points
Mountains classification after stage 1
1. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) – 10 points
2. Quentin Jaurégui (Ag2r La Mondiale) – 6 points
3. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) – 6 points
Youth classification after stage 1
1. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) – 4:22:35
2. Andrea Bagioli (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) + 50 s
3. Gino Mäder (NTT Pro Cycling) + 1:31
