Today’s stage should put the grand in the grand départ as a tour of Barcelona’s attractions and history with the yellow jersey up for grabs.
The Route: a 19.6km team time trial, the first time the Tour has opened with a collective effort since the 1971 prologue.
The profile and map above say plenty, it’s all big boulevards with 90° corners on a persistent but very gentle rise. As the roads are wide, so are the bends.
The final 5km sees the course head to the Montjuic hill. Here it’s still on wide roads, but with two marked climbs, the second is notably steeper. In past versions of these team time trials we’ve seen team leaders hit out alone to go for the win but this time the slope is more gentle and any solo flourish ought to come right at the end, a strong squad should be able to lead out their boss well into the final climb.
The Rules: “Paris-Nice rules”, the format that has been used since the Dampierre stage of Paris-Nice in 2023. The time for each team is taken on their first rider to cross the line, and each rider gets credited with the time it takes them to complete the course. This means two things:
- a team is no longer as fast as its fourth or fifth rider, it doesn’t have to finish as a group. If one rider sprints solo to the line and sets the fastest time, their team wins the stage
- a team with a specialist rouleur can let them go off the front to get the stage win but if they have a GC rider as well, then they get the time they cross the line with. Therefore teams with ambitions for the overall have to guide their leaders to the best time possible
The Contenders: this stage feels like a selection trap. It has lured several teams into picking squads perfect for today in the hope of immediate glory and avoiding potential losses to rivals but it’s only 20km long.
Netcompany-Ineos are a case in point, stacking the team with time trial riders including Josh Tarling who broke his collarbone three weeks ago. If you also have them as your prime pick, then which rider is left to sprint up the the final ramp in Montjuic? On paper Kévin Vauquelin goes for glory as it’s just the kind of intense effort to suit an ex-pursuit rider, and Frenchman in yellow would be a publicity bonanza but he was touch-and-go for selection after recent illness. But it could equally be a rampant Ganna.
Visma-LAB also bring Edoardo Affini after injury last weekend to boost an already strong squad. They won the Aura Tour stage. The course was very different but look at the riders they’ve swapped out and they only look stronger for today.
Lidl-Trek have a very good squad and Juan Ayuso, born in Barcelona, would make a fitting yellow jersey. Mathias Vacek was ominous in the Tour de Suisse but they don’t have the Ganna-like rider to pull them 1-2km/h faster but will rely on cohesion late into the stage.
UAE have a poor record in team time trials, often because they’ve ridden without Pogačar who is both an engine and a talisman. Pogačar could theoretically take yellow and aim to keep it Paris for then challenge but that’s a tall order, the team is obviously strong – four riders here were in the top-10 in the Suisse TT stage – but can be out-muscled on a short, flat course, plus they’re likely to be a little short on technique. As an anecdote to illustrate, several teams booked the Catalunya motorsport circuit for practice, reserving exclusive 90 minute sessions. But RMC Radio said Lampre UAE showed up without a booking and tried to barter with TotalEnergies to use their slot but the French team said non.
Redbull-Bora-Hansgrohe look solid but how much does Remco Evenepoel pull during the stage versus how much does he back off in order to better launch up the final climb?
Any surprises? This blog will give you a refund if none of the five teams cited above win. It’s notable Mathieu van der Poel went all out in the Tour de Suisse time trial and Alpecin-PremierTech want to do well so he can get in yellow if he can win on Sunday with the time bonus if they won’t win here, keeping him in time bonus range is a tall order. Jayco have the TTT in their DNA; EF look cohesive; Movistar are not chaos engine of the past.
Because today is under 20km the time gaps will be small anyway and while plenty of focus will go on extrapolating the time gaps, a reminder that UAE gave up a minute in the Aura Tour TTT but Isaac del Toro won well ahead of the rest.
While some teams today know they won’t win, all have an interest in going flat out. Riders might find themselves in a breakaway in the coming days and being the first on GC in the group could give them the yellow jersey.
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Netcompany-Ineos |
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Visma-LAB, Lidl-Trek, UAE, Red Bull |
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Weather: sunny and warm, 33°C. A light SE breeze at 12-15km/h means a headwind for much of the course and this could gust to 35km/h at times. It’ll drop during the race, a slight advantage for later starters.
TV: the first team is Caja Rural starting at 5.05pm and UAE start last at 6.55pm CEST. If you tune in for the final hour you’ll catch most of the action.
