Vuelta a España, Stage 1 live – Race begins with short time trial in Lisbon

First finisher

Maté reaches the finish line and stops the clock at 14:04.

Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-DSTNY) starts as a potential early benchmark. He put his time trial career on hold for a while, but then picked it up again and finished fifth in the first time trial of the Tour de France.

Enric Mas (Movistar) starts his Vuelta as one of the first overall starters. He has finished second here three times. He has not had a good Tour, but he has experience with double victories and on a good day he can be at the front for three weeks.

After 200 metres there is a 90 degree right turn, but from there it is straight along the coast, with some gentle bends but no real cornering. It is not a long test that really suits the specialists, but it is a course for power riders.

This is a good launch pad – unusually long and gentle. There is no backdrop or awning in the launch area, just an open stage. It's a little subdued to be honest, but we do get a few fireworks every time a rider sets off – I'm not sure what the technical term is, but you might find them hanging from a bottle of overpriced vodka in the “VIP” section of a terrible nightclub.

The Vuelta is underway

Luís Ángel Maté is the first rider to roll down the starting ramp to tackle this 12 km individual time trial. Here we go.

Just over 10 minutes left until the official start of the Vuelta 2024

The overall complexion becomes clearer over time, but what is it like today?

It is a short 12km individual time trial, a flat and non-technical ride along the coast. The wind is strong but is coming from inland so will not be a major factor.

As Alasdair notes, the absence of Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel makes this an open question, especially considering that the next best overall rider in the world, Roglič, is racing with a back injury. On the other hand, the Slovenian knows how to win a Vuelta, especially after a setback.

He is arguably the favourite, but it will be interesting to see how Sepp Kuss confirms his victory from last year now that he is competing in a leadership role, while UAE Team Emirates has a strong line-up in Adam Yates and João Almeida. Enric Mas (Movistar), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers), Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R) and Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep) are among the other contenders for the podium.

You can't start a Vuelta without reading something by Alasdair Fotheringham. He has now completed many rounds in Spain and is back in Lisbon for us this time. Here is his scene.

Power vacuum makes Vuelta a España the most unpredictable Grand Tour of the season

Anyway, here is the link you need for the complete schedule.

Start times for the time trial of the Vuelta a España, stage 1

This Vuelta will begin at 16:23 local time, when veteran Luís Ángel Maté of Euskaltel-Euskadi rolls down the start ramp. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) will be the last rider to descend that ramp at 19:18.

In between we have stage favorites like Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) at 18:32, Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) at 19:08 and of course all the riders in the overall ranking like defending champion Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), three-time champion Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and many, many more.

Hello and welcome to the Vuelta a España! The third and final Grand Tour of the men's season is upon us and I hope you still have some energy left after the exciting summer of Tour de France and Olympic action. There are 21 stages ahead and we'll be streaming them all live here, starting with this first 12km time trial in Lisbon.