Cycling: Miguel Angel Lopez is the first wearer of the red jersey at the Vuelta a Espana 2019. The Colombian won today's team time trial with his team Astana. Deceuninck – Quick-Step drove in second place ahead of Sunweb.
Jumbo – Visma crashes
The 74th Tour of Spain started today in the seaside resort of Torrevieja. While the numerous tourists are lying on the beach in good weather, the professionals had to complete a 13,4-kilometer team time trial in the evening. Due to the flat course and the small number of kilometers, there should not be large time gaps, as expected. At around 20:30 p.m. it was clear: the Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez would be the first to wear the red jersey. With his team Astana he was two seconds faster than Deceuninck - Quick-Step. The team was unlucky Jumbo-Visma. Since the two favorites Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk fell, the Dutch team lost a whopping 40 seconds.
Tomorrow: too hard for the sprinters?
Tomorrow the pros at the Vuelta a Espana have a 199,6 km long section from Benidorm to Calpe to put back. There are three mountain classifications to be completed, but these are too harmless to provoke a fight between the classification drivers. Instead, it is important for the sprinters not to lose touch if possible. Thanks to his impressive form, the Irish champion should be a favorite to win the day Sam Bennett (Bora – hansgrohe). But with 24,8 kilometers to go, he has to Alto de Puig Llorenca be mastered. With a length of 3,0 kilometers and an average gradient of 9,5 percent, it might be too hard for most fast men - maybe even for Sam Bennett. Then there should be a sprint of a severely decimated field in the destination of Calpe. Maybe oldie beats there Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) too.