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Latvian cyclist Emils Liepins On Tuesday, the prestigious multi-day cycling trip “Vuelta a Espana” made its debut in 164th place, while the first to cross the finish line was Slovenian Primožs Rogličs.
In the first stage of the competition, the athletes had to cover a distance of 173 kilometers with three third and one first category climbs, which were a few kilometers before the finish.
Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) reached the finish line in the first stage after four hours, 22 minutes and 34 seconds. He was one second ahead of Ecuadorian Caracas (“Ineos Grenadiers”), but he was also finished by Irish Dens Martin (“Israel Start-Up Nation”), who rides in a team with Latvian Christ Neiland.
Experienced Spaniard Alehandro Valverde (“Movistar”) took 11th place and finished in the group that lost 51 seconds to the leader.
Liepiņš lost 20 minutes and 24 seconds to the leader, ranking 164th among 216 cyclists in his debut.
Meanwhile, the Swiss Matthias Frank (AG2R La Mondiale) and the Belgian Ilan van Wilder (Sunweb) have already left the competition.
The pace of the last rise was maintained by the members of the Karapas team, but Martin and Rogličs were also in the group of several athletes. Slovenia won the first stage 500 meters before the finish, when they made the decisive strike.
It started to rain in the middle of the competition, so it was not enough without several falls at the beginning of the tour.
A section of 151.6 kilometers is planned for Wednesday, which includes two ascents of the third and one ascent of the first category.
The Spanish tour will finish on November 8 in Madrid. The first six days of the race will overlap with this year’s Giro d’Italia.
This year, the first three stages of Vuelta a Espana were planned in the Netherlands, but due to a national pandemic, the prestigious cycling race was refused. As a result, Vuelta a Espana will have only 18 stages this year, not 21.
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