Image 1 of 30 Astana celebrate their win (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 2 of 30 Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 3 of 30 Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 4 of 30 Astana celebrate their win (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 5 of 30 Movistar Team (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 6 of 30 Tony Martin leads Jumbo-Visma (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 7 of 30 Bora-Hansgrohe (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 8 of 30 UAE Team Emirates (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 9 of 30 Lotto Soudal (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 10 of 30 Astana power through to the win in the TTT (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 11 of 30 Astana on the podium after winning the TTT (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 12 of 30 Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 13 of 30 Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) in the first red jersey of the Vuelta (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 14 of 30 EF Education First in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 15 of 30 Trek - Segafredo in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 16 of 30 Bahrain Merida in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 17 of 30 Mitchelton - Scott in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 18 of 30 Mitchelton - Scott in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 19 of 30 Groupama - FDJ in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 20 of 30 Cofidis in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 21 of 30 Team INEOS in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 22 of 30 CCC Team in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 23 of 30 Caja Rural - Seguros RGA in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 24 of 30 Groupama - FDJ in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 25 of 30 Burgos - BH in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 26 of 30 AG2R La Mondiale in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 27 of 30 CCC Team in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 28 of 30 Euskadi - Murias in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 29 of 30 Team Dimension Data in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 30 of 30 Team Sunweb in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana team time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Astana put in a thoroughly dominant and mistake-free ride to win the opening team time trial at the Vuelta a Espana. The men in black and blue finished the 13.4km course in a time of 14:51 to win ahead of Deceuninck-QuickStep and Team Sunweb. The win put Miguel Angel Lopez in the first leader’s jersey of this year’s race after he crossed the line ahead of his teammates.

Deceuninck-QuickStep pushed Astana all the way and may have edged the win had it not been for a poorly parked Jumbo-Visma car. The Belgian team were forced to check their line and then lost two riders on the final corner as they looked to keep their rhythm. They crossed the line just two seconds down on Astana.

Jumbo-Visma’s terrible day didn’t stop there. The Dutch team were the favourites to win the stage and they were in contention until a crash took down several of their squad – including pre-race favourite Primoz Roglic – just after the intermediate check. Roglic battled through despite visible cuts on his left side but his GC chances were dealt a significant blow with close to 50 seconds lost to Lopez.

Astana came into the Vuelta a Espana with a squad built around Lopez but they had to wait until the sun began to set in Spain before their time trial began. Before then, Dimension Data and a strong-looking EF Education First had taken control of the race with the American team looking particularly impressive. They set a time of 14:58 and were the first squad to dip under fifteen minutes in a throwback to their last Grand Tour TTT win at the Giro in 2012.

However, when Astana began on the route it was clear that the team containing Lopez, Fuglsang and Luis Leon Sanchez were on a mission. While Sunweb had already nudged EF-Education First off the top stop, Astana were setting a blistering pace through the first time check. They were fastest by six seconds, ahead of Groupama-FDJ at the intermediate check and continued to dominate to the line.

Jumbo-Visma’s day was a catalogue of errors. They lost Sepp Kuss early on to a mechanical but dragged themselves back into contention with a respectable time in the first check. Then, on a slight rise and left-hand corner, they rode through a short wet patch. One rider then rode onto the white line and at that point seemed to lose control. When he tumbled he took several riders down with him, including Roglic. The Dutch squad, with Tony Martin at the helm, mounted a comeback as they began to regroup but the damage was already done by the time they eventually crossed the line in 18th place.

In July, Jumbo-Visma were the toast of the TTT but a wet patch on the road and a short lapse in concentration offered a timely reminder of how quickly the sport can change.

By the time Astana reached the hot seat, only Movistar and Deceuninck-QuickStep stood in the way as realistic challengers. The Spanish team were already 13 seconds down at the first check and would eventually finish seventh on the stage but Deceuninck – without ever looking spectacular – remained in contention and would have certainly finished closer or even won the stage had they not been hampered towards the end by a Jumbo-Visma car that had stopped in the road to aid a rider. Still, that’s cycling, and that’s the Vuelta. Everything can change in the blink of an eye and there’s still almost three weeks to go.

Full Results

Teams Pos. Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Astana Pro Team 0:14:51 2 Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:02 3 Team Sunweb 0:00:05 4 EF Education First 0:00:07 5 Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:13 6 CCC Team 0:00:15 7 Movistar Team 0:00:16 8 Groupama-FDJ 9 Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:18 10 Lotto Soudal 0:00:19 11 Team Ineos 0:00:25 12 Bahrain-Merida 0:00:26 13 Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:33 14 Dimension Data 0:00:34 15 Trek-Segafredo 0:00:35 16 Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:37 17 AG2R La Mondiale 18 Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:40 19 Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:00:43 20 Euskadi Basque Country 0:00:46 21 UAE Team Emirates 0:01:07 22 Burgos-BH 0:01:22

General Classification Pos. Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:14:51 2 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 3 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 4 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team 5 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 6 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team 7 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:02 8 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep 9 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep 10 Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Arg) Deceuninck-QuickStep 11 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep 12 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:03 13 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:00:05 14 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 15 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb 16 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb 17 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:06 18 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First 0:00:07 19 Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First 20 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First 21 Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (Col) Equipo Euskadi 22 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First 23 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First 24 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:13 25 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 26 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Bora-Hansgrohe 27 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 28 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 29 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 30 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) CCC Team 0:00:15 31 Victor De La Parte (Spa) CCC Team 32 Patrick Bevin (NZl) CCC Team 33 Will Barta (USA) CCC Team 34 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team 35 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:16 36 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 37 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team 38 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team 39 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 40 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 41 Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 42 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 43 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 44 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:18 45 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 46 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 47 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 48 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott 49 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott 50 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 51 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 52 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 53 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:00:19 54 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal 55 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 56 Brian van Goethem (Ned) Lotto Soudal 57 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:20 58 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:23 59 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:24 60 David de la Cruz (Spa) Team Ineos 0:00:25 61 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos 62 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Ineos 63 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Ineos 64 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Ineos 65 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:26 66 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida 67 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 68 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida 69 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:33 70 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 71 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin 72 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 73 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 74 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data 0:00:34 75 Ben O'Connor (Aus) Dimension Data 76 Ben King (USA) Dimension Data 77 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 78 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data 79 Rasmus Fossum Tiller (Nor) Dimension Data 80 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:35 81 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 82 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 83 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 84 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 85 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 86 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo 87 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:37 88 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 89 Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 90 Alexander Aranburu Deba (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 91 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 92 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 93 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 94 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 95 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:40 96 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 97 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 98 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 99 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 100 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 101 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:00:43 102 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis Solutions Credits 103 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 104 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis Solutions Credits 105 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 106 Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 107 Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:46 108 Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 109 Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 110 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 111 Hector Saez Benito (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 112 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 113 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 114 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 115 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:47 116 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:50 117 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 118 Domingos Gonçalves (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:52 119 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Ineos 0:00:53 120 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:54 121 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Merida 122 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 123 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:55 124 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb 125 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:56 126 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:59 127 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:06 128 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:07 129 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 130 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 131 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 132 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data 0:01:13 133 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:14 134 Willem Jakobus Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:17 135 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:01:18 136 Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:01:22 137 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH 138 Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos-BH 139 Ricardo Augusto Afonso Vilela (Por) Burgos-BH 140 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Burgos-BH 141 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal 0:01:30 142 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida 143 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 144 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) CCC Team 0:01:37 145 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team 146 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:41 147 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team 148 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos 149 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Ineos 150 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:43 151 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:01:48 152 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:50 153 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:52 154 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:54 155 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:57 156 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education First 0:01:58 157 Jorge Cubero Galvez (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:01:59 158 Oscar Cabedo Carda (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:02:12 159 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:13 160 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:19 161 Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 162 Steve Morabito (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 163 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data 0:02:21 164 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First 0:02:25 165 Shane Archbold (NZl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:26 166 Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 167 Pawel Bernas (Pol) CCC Team 0:02:31 168 Juan Sebastian Molano (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:43 169 Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates 170 Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:49 171 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:03:03 172 Nuno Matos (Por) Burgos-BH 0:03:22 173 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:04:22 174 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 175 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:04:46 176 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:05:00

Young Riders Classification Pos. Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:14:51 2 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:02 3 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:03 5 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:00:05 6 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:06 7 Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First 0:00:07 8 Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (Col) Equipo Euskadi 9 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First 10 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:13 11 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) CCC Team 0:00:15 12 Will Barta (USA) CCC Team 13 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team 14 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:16 15 Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 16 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 17 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:18 18 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:20 19 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Ineos 0:00:25 20 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:26 21 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:33 22 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 23 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 24 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data 0:00:34 25 Ben O'Connor (Aus) Dimension Data 26 Rasmus Fossum Tiller (Nor) Dimension Data 27 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:35 28 Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:37 29 Alexander Aranburu Deba (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 30 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 31 Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:00:43 32 Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:46 33 Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 34 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 35 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 36 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:54 37 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 38 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:55 39 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:07 40 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:50 41 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:54 42 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education First 0:01:58 43 Oscar Cabedo Carda (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:02:12 44 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data 0:02:21 45 Juan Sebastian Molano (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:43 46 Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:49 47 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:03:03 48 Nuno Matos (Por) Burgos-BH 0:03:22 49 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:04:22 50 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 51 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:04:46 52 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:05:00