What an opening day. We waited all afternoon to see whether the time-trial specialists could hold on, and then Tadej Pogacar came along and beat Ethan Hayter by nine hundredths of a second.

Nine hundredths. That is almost nothing. After 9.4 kilometres of racing and nearly eleven minutes of effort, the difference was basically the blink of an eye.

It was not Pogacar’s most dominant victory, but that somehow made it more entertaining. At the intermediate checkpoint, he was still 2.18 seconds behind Hayter. For a moment, it looked as though the British champion had done enough. But Pogacar paced the final part perfectly and stopped the clock at 10:57.14, compared to Hayter’s 10:57.23.

There is something almost predictable about Pogacar winning now, but it never really becomes boring. He does not need to destroy the entire field every time. Sometimes he just finds the smallest possible margin, and that is enough.

He also immediately gained time on several of his main rivals. That will not decide the Vuelta a Espana, of course, but Pogacar has already started doing what Pogacar normally does: winning and making everyone else chase him.

For me, though, Joshua Tarling produced the most emotional performance of the day.

Tarling has had to deal with the loss of his brother, Finlay, and his grandfather. It is difficult to imagine what it must have taken simply to stand on the start ramp, let alone race at that level. He did not just complete the time trial either. He flew around the course, took the hot seat and eventually finished third, only 4.19 seconds behind Pogacar.

Under normal circumstances, Tarling might look back at that result and wonder whether he could have found those four seconds somewhere. On this occasion, the result almost feels secondary. To compete after everything he and his family have been through showed enormous strength.

Seeing the message “In memory of Finlay Tarling” during the day put the sporting side of the race into perspective. Tarling’s performance was a reminder that we are not only watching cyclists and numbers on a screen. There are real people behind those helmets, carrying things we cannot always see.

Whatever happens during the rest of this Vuelta, that ride deserves a lot of respect.

From a purely sporting perspective, the British riders were brilliant. At one stage, it felt as though every new fast time came from another British cyclist.

Ethan Hayter was outstanding and came painfully close to winning. Josh Tarling had already set a brilliant benchmark, while Callum Thornley was another major surprise in fourth place. Oscar Chamberlain finished seventh and Matthew Brennan had also spent time in the hot seat earlier in the afternoon.

Three of the first four riders were British, with Hayter second, Tarling third and Thornley fourth. That is a serious statement.

Hayter will obviously be disappointed. Losing by 0.09 seconds is probably worse than losing by ten seconds because you immediately start thinking about every corner, every gear change and every moment when you might have pushed a little harder. Still, he showed that he can compete with the very best specialists and even with Tadej Pogacar on this kind of short, explosive course.

Tarling’s quality against the clock is no secret, but Thornley’s performance was one of the nicest surprises of the day. Finishing just over five seconds behind Pogacar in a field like this is a huge result.

Decathlon CMA CGM Team also deserve a lot of credit. Their final results were impressive, but what stood out to me was how visible they were throughout the entire time trial.

Jordan Labrosse set an early benchmark. Sander De Pestel also moved into the provisional lead, before Oscar Chamberlain and Leo Bisiaux continued the team’s excellent afternoon. Bisiaux eventually finished sixth and Chamberlain seventh, both inside ten seconds of Pogacar.

That is a fantastic collective performance. They did not have the winner, but they kept putting riders near the top and forcing the bigger names to respond. For a team, that kind of depth can be just as encouraging as one spectacular individual result.

Felix Gall lost more time, which is obviously less positive from a general classification perspective, but the team’s overall showing was still one of the main stories of the day.

Javier Rampe of CiclismoAlDia closely followed the action on the streets of Monaco and was full of praise for the world champion’s performance.

Tadej Pogacar demonstrates every time he races why he is the greatest cyclist in history. If there were only a few disciplines in which the Slovenian still had to prove himself, prologues were among them: today he beat the best specialists.

The UAE Team Emirates rider comes to the Vuelta a España as the sole favourite to win the red jersey in Granada. The rest of the contenders are in a third tier. And the streets of Monaco have borne witness to that.

Focusing on the time trial, besides Pogacar, the British talent pool deserves to be highlighted. The number of powerful time triallists emerging from the British Isles is incredible: Ethan Hayter, Joshua Tarling, who was unable to dedicate the victory to his sadly deceased brother, and Callum Thornley. All three showed themselves to be at an outstanding level in the race against the clock.

From a Spanish point of view, fans may be left with mixed feelings: Iván Romeo did not live up to expectations in a discipline and on a course where much was expected of him.

On the other hand, Carlos Rodríguez showed that he is Netcompany INEOS’ strongest general classification rider, and who knows whether today he put himself forward as a candidate to lead the British team. The Andalusian finished ahead of Johannessen, Skjelmose and, of course, Onley, among others. Enric Mas’ performance also deserves to be highlighted. Worse numbers were expected from him, but he “only” lost half a minute: he will remain among the favourites.

Tomorrow, the Spanish race will tackle its longest stage with Tadej Pogacar wearing the prestigious red jersey: will anyone be able to take it away from him?

Rúben Silva of CyclingUpToDate predicted that Pogacar would win the time trial, but after so many riders had occupied the hot seat, he had a broader view of proceedings by the end of the day.

One could argue that a Tadej Pogacar victory in the prologue was exciting, or at least something different. In my opinion, however, it was rather unnecessary for the spectacle of the race.

Pogacar was inevitably going to ride himself into the red jersey within a few days. I had personally hoped to see Joshua Tarling win and dedicate the victory to his brother, but that was not to be. Ethan Hayter is an excellent time triallist, but he struggles immensely with positioning, so I never expected him to be the rider who came closest to victory.

The British contingent will not have a pleasant night, while the negative feelings towards Pogacar will only grow. The difference between him and Hayter was so small that it could not even have been measured without ultra-modern timing equipment. Ultimately, this was the first of what will likely be many victories. The question is whether Pogacar will now carry the red jersey all the way to Granada or give it away in the coming days.

As for the general classification battle, the gaps of ten to twenty seconds between most of the contenders will not matter much. None of them will wear red, and the mountain stages will quickly render those differences irrelevant.

Then there was the design of the prologue. Monaco paid handsomely to host the start, but between repeatedly riding through freshly excavated tunnels and sending the course through buildings, I have never seen a greater effort to push a route beyond the eight-kilometre mark that supposedly prevents it from being classified as a prologue.

Pogacar’s victory may have been predictable, but the way it unfolded was anything but. Hayter came within nine hundredths of a second of denying him, Tarling produced an emotional and courageous ride, and Britain’s time-trial talent dominated the upper reaches of the standings. Decathlon also delivered an impressive collective performance, repeatedly placing riders in the hot seat.

The opening stage did not settle the battle for the general classification, but it immediately established the familiar hierarchy. Pogacar is already in red, his rivals are already chasing, and the biggest question is whether he will allow another rider to wear the leader’s jersey before the race reaches Granada.