RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 3 sourcesTadej Pogačar claimed the Spanish Vuelta's red jersey for the first time by winning the opening time trial.
Pogačar was 0.09 seconds ahead of Ethan Hayter, with several of Pogačar's main rivals not racing.
Pogačar is looking to become just the eigth man in history to claim all three Grand Tour races.
Tadej Pogačar has produced an explosive finish to win the first stage of the Spanish Vuelta by edging British rider Ethan Hayter by 0.09 seconds in the opening time trial overnight.
Pogačar, who's bidding to become just the ninth rider to win all three Grand Tours, put himself in position from the offset by completing the highly technical 9.5-kilometre course through the streets of Monaco — where he resides — in 10 minutes, 57 seconds.
Hayter, who had gone earlier, must have thought he was going to win as he watched Pogačar on course to finish some seconds slower than he had. But the Slovenian accelerated as he approached the finish and just pipped Hayter to the win.
Hayter finished four seconds faster than compatriot Josh Tarling, who was racing just over a week after his younger brother Finlay Tarling was killed after being struck by a vehicle during the Volta a Portugal.
Pogačar is competing at the Vuelta for the first time since making his Grand Tour debut as a 20-year-old in the 2019 race. He won three stages and finished third at the time — his worst overall result in the three-week events.
Pogačar won the Tour de France for the third-straight time and fifth overall in July — equalling the record – while he also won races at the Tour de Suisse and Tour de Romandie, and celebrated victories in one-day classics.
Pogačar won the Giro d'Italia in 2024 so the Vuelta is the only Grand Tour race he is yet to conquer. The only other men to have won all three are Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil, Alberto Contador, Chris Froome, Felice Gimondi, Vincenzo Nibali and Jonas Vingegaard.
The win was Pogačar's first in the opening stage of a Grand Tour, and it's also the first time he took the red jersey as the Vuelta leader. It's his 36th Grand Tour stage win altogether.
Pogačar's main rival, Vingegaard, is not racing at the 81st edition of the Vuelta as he recovers from a broken collarbone sustained in a crash the day after he was woken at 2am for a doping test at the Tour de France.
Remco Evenepoel, who finished second behind Pogačar at the Tour, is also not competing. The Belgian rider has opted for rest and specific training for the Road World Championships in Montréal next month.
Monaco became the first city to host the start of all three Grand Tours. The Giro d'Italia started in the principality in 1966 and it staged the start of the Tour de France in 2009.
Much of the time trial route on Saturday covered the same course as the annual Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The second stage will also start in Monaco before a 214.3km hilly trek through Provence to Manosque. It will be the longest stage of the race, which finishes in the southern Spanish city of Granada on September 13.
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