Stage 1 (TTT): Barcelona - Barcelona, 14.9 kilometers
It is a day that will be showing the best out of the city and will be a slightly technical day. There will be 18 corners of 90 degrees or around that, it makes for an unusually technical and explosive team time-trial, not the typical powerhouse-suited but one where riding in the wheels will be harder than usual.
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create your own Fantasy Vuelta a España team. This will make for a difficult run for whoever sets foot on the start line. The opening minutes specially will be technical, riders will need to be wary not to crash, as then in the second half there will be longer straights where the specialists will be able to put their power down better.
The Weather
Map Vuelta a Espana 2023 stage 1
Hot temperatures and wind from the southeast. This should not be meaningful in the urban center in such an effort, there are also won't be a direction where it'll hit the most. However the small chances of rain in the late afternoon may be cause for some tension - although looking at it, I wouldn't say it favours anyone in specific.
The Favourites
Jumbo-Visma - Jumbo have talked about how they were not the team to beat for this day but let's face it, it's a bluff. Jumbo are the strongest team, yes they lack a few of their specialists, but a lineup with Roglic, Kelderman, Vingegaard, Tratnik and van Baarle is tremendously powerful. The team has easily won this effort at the Vuelta a Burgos recently and they are specialists. With two riders aiming for the red jersey they will pull out all the stops to start the race off on the right foot.
INEOS Grenadiers - If they are to be rivalled however, it'll be by INEOS no doubt. They have a team to match Jumbo, or come very close at least. Filippo Ganna is here and capable of putting in some monster pulls this will do the team very good. The presence of Geraint Thomas, Thymen Arensman and Jonathan Castroviejo mean they have riders to keep a very high speed all the way into the finish.
UAE Team Emirates - The team have a couple of weak pawns. From this team onwards the fight is not for victory, but about limiting losses as much as possible. Ayuso and Almeida pack good speed but it's a pan-flat effort. Soler and Vine will be able to help, but both Rui Oliveira and Finn Fisher-Black can also keep a high speed when they pass through the front.
Soudal - Quick-Step - Mattia Cattaneo and Remco Evenepoel are the two big engines. This TTT is a good analogy for Quick-Step in this Vuelta, they have a very strong leader but the collective is much inferior to their rivals. Evenepoel will certainly help the team limit the losses quite a lot I believe, but it's not an individual time-trial and the team lacks specialists or even rouleurs to be able to match the top two.
Some teams won't have GC interest but as it's a short effort and the opening day they'll try to put in good times - with the hot seat also available.
Prediction Vuelta a Espana 2023 stage 1:
*** Jumbo-Visma, INEOS Grenadiers
** UAE Team Emirates, Soudal - Quick-Step
* BORA - hansgrohe, Movistar Team, Team Jayco AlUla, EF Education-EasyPost
Pick: Jumbo-Visma
