DISCUSSION Vuelta a España stage 1 | Is the sprinter field too weak?

The 2025 Vuelta a España kicked off today, with an initial flat stage that was expected to end in a bunch sprint, and that was exactly what happened.

Alessandro Verre, Hugo de la Calle, Nicolas Vinokourov, Koen Bouwman, Pepijn Reinderink and Joel Nicolau formed the breakaway of the day, with the main goal of taking the KOM jersey in the only climb of the day (La Serra, 6.5km at 5.2%), a valuable prize won by Verre.

Peloton never allowed the break to get a gap bigger than 2 minutes, catching them with still more than 80km to go. Hugo de la Calle was the only rider to rebel against that situation, attacking again and surviving alone in front for a few more kilometres, until peloton caught him inside the last 40km.

After that, there were no attempts to disrupt the foreseeable bunch sprint. The pace increased in the last 15km and in the end it was the biggest favourite, Jasper Philipsen, who took home the win and the red jersey. Ethan Vernon and Orluis Aular completed the podium, while Mads Pedersen was nowhere near to contest it, finishing outside the top 10.

Once the stage finished, we asked some of our writers to share their thoughts and main takeaways about what happened today.

Boring stage, no reason to sugar coat it. The sprinter field level is very small and when Jasper Philipsen decided to come to the Vuelta he knew that a few victories are in the bag if he has a decent leadout. Mads Pedersen is the only rider who could contest the sprint with him today but he was nowhere to be seen, and so the Belgian took one of the easiest wins he could imagine.

My true criticism is regarding the race's start in Torino, the city that had the finish of the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia last year and also the end of the final Italian stage of last year's Tour. Having a Grand Tour start abroad is usually a special or different feeling, providing an opportunity to a country that rarely or never has such an opportunity, but this start in Italy has no atmosphere.

The fact that the Vuelta's first four stages take place fully within roads of the other two countries who already have their own Grand Tour just leaves a very very sour taste in my mouth. Even more so when the opening stage delivers no action, not even the breakaway riders commited to working together to try and have a chance at surprising the peloton.

Not the typical Vuelta stage 1 we're used to, since it usually has some sort of time trial on it, so good that for once they decided to give the sprinters the red jersey (even if more likely just for 1 day).

Jasper Philipsen was the favourite, and he confirmed his status. The sprint felt quite confortable from him confirming that he is far above everyone else for this kind of pure flat finishes. Mads Pedersen had a very underwhelming performance as he wasnt properly placed by the Lidl-Trek block, which is also considerably weaker than in the other Grand Tours (by block i mean basically Soren Kragh Andersen and Daan Hoole).

The break was underwhelming and had no chance of winning the stage, i think noone believe on the break to suceed. But at least some teams got some TV time. Except the mountain sprint wasnt really filmed at all, which lead to some confusion as to who was actually the first mountain jersey for a few minutes.

Visma and Emirates looked solid, positioning their leaders in front, away from danger, for a very long time even taking the efforts that normally the sprinter teams would take in this sort of stages, meaning that overall the sprint blocks are not really very competitive here.

My main issue with this sort of stage though is that from the spectator perspective you dont really have to watch the race throughout the whole day, the last 10km is enough to get the whole view of the race. You didnt really miss anything very relevant during the first 170km of the race.

The positive note in my opinion is that i'm actually surprised that we've been able to have a stage 1 sprint finish with no crashes. Given how fresh everyone is and the fact there's a red jersey on the line i'd figure there would be much more tendency for crashes today.

Very boring first stage in the Vuelta a España 2025. It was expected a sprint finish in which Jasper Philipsen was the big favorite because he is the best pure sprinter in the race... But the content of the day has been very poor.

To begin with, the course had no major difficulties for the fast men. But also, the sprinters' teams, especially Alpecin - Deceuninck, were controlling the breakaway all day. There was never a big gap and everything worked out as expected.

However, the positive news for Spanish cycling is the performance of Movistar Team. They were seen in the front positions at the end and finished with two men in the Top 5: Orluis Aular was third and Iván García Cortina fifth. And that in a finish that did not particularly favor the characteristics of either rider. Therefore, it is something very positive to take into account for the rest of the race.

The Vuelta’s decision to open in Turin feels like déjà vu, as if cycling’s symphony keeps striking the same worn note. After hosting both the Giro and the Tour de France, the city now welcomes Spain’s Grand Tour, but instead of offering novelty it slips into a tired chorus.

Organizers highlight the homage to Angelo Conterno, the first Italian Vuelta winner, yet the gesture resembles a postcard from abroad rather than a true celebration of Spanish heritage. The Vuelta has built its identity on revealing hidden corners of its homeland, but this year it traded discovery for the comfort of marketing strategies.

On the road, however, the story came alive. Jasper Philipsen sprinted like a cannonball, perfectly launched by his Alpecin-Deceuninck train. He exploded in the final 175 meters, leaving Ethan Vernon and Orluis Aular chasing shadows. For Philipsen, still recovering from his Tour de France crash, the victory was a rebirth—a phoenix rising from the ash of injury to seize red and rediscover his rhythm. The whole thing may have begun in the wrong country, but its finish burned bright enough to ignite the Vuelta.

A very dull day overall with a weak breakaway that was doomed from the beginning. Everyone knew that Jasper Philipsen was going to win if there was a bunch sprint, but hardly anybody tried to prevent that from happening.

It is a pity they make the first stage of a Grand Tour a flat one like this. Barely any incentives in the route to try and surprise the sprinters, except for the only climb of the day, which ended with more than 100km to go… and whose fight to be the first KOM leader we could not even see for some reason. The TV production team of the Vuelta didn’t want us to see the only worth mentioning highlight of the day – excluding the final sprint of course. Some things never change, it doesn’t matter the country.

Jasper Philipsen was the clear favourite and he proved why. The sprinters field is really weak, although it can be understandable given that the Vuelta does not have many opportunities for them to shine, so he barely has any competition here. Only Mads Pedersen could be a threat, but the Dane does not truly excel in pan-flat stages, as he needs harder stages to show his true power.

Still, I don’t think the sprinters level here is worse than at the Giro. After all, someone like Tom Pidcock was sprinting there in May and he did the same today, finishing ninth. Ethan Vernon was the best amongst mortals. In the case of the Venezuelan, he already took advantage of the weak sprinting competition at the Giro and narrowly missed on the win a few times, finishing six times inside the top 10. I expect nothing but the same from him at the Vuelta, he has a great opportunity to take his first victory with the Movistar jersey (excluding nationals) in uphill sprints.

I also fully agree with Rúben regarding the start of La Vuelta in Italy and France. I guess from an economic point of view it has been very profitable for the Vuelta to start in Torino, but from a cycling perspective it makes zero sense. Italy already has a Grand Tour, and Torino specifically hosted stages of both the Giro and the Tour last year, why also bringing the Vuelta there? Wouldn’t it make more sense (as Grand Tours seemingly have to start in a different country now for some reason) to go somewhere else where they don’t have the opportunity to host high level bike races that often?