Stage 1

The road

At the start

Thirteen kilometres in the dark

The 65th Vuelta a España opens after sunset in Seville: thirteen kilometres of city centre lit artificially against the night, twenty-two teams, nine riders apiece. Nobody has ridden a metre of this race yet, and the first red jersey goes to whichever squad is willing to take unlit corners at better than fifty an hour on trust.

How it was won

1. 17 km to go

   Into the dark corners

   Thirteen kilometres of Seville lit artificially against the night, and the teams take the bends at better than fifty an hour on faith. Some shed riders early for speed, some keep all nine together; nobody can see much.

2. 2At the line

   HTC take the first nine places

   HTC-Columbia's lead-out craft turns out to translate perfectly to a floodlit team time trial. They win it, and their nine riders fill the first nine places overall — which puts Mark Cavendish, of all people, in the red jersey of the Vuelta.

The result