Stage 1

The road

At the start

Twelve kilometres by the Tagus

The Vuelta begins in Portugal for only the second time in its history — Lisbon in 1997 was the first — with twelve flat kilometres from Belém along the bank of the Tagus to Oeiras, wide open to the wind off the estuary. Nobody wins a Grand Tour on a course this short. But the first red jersey is on offer, the specialists have circled it, and every contender will be reading the others' splits before a climb is ridden.

How it was won

1. 15 km to go

   Van Aert leads at the check

   On the windswept Lisbon waterfront Wout van Aert sets the fastest time at the intermediate split, the red jersey seemingly his for the taking.

2. 2At the line

   McNulty snatches the opener

   Brandon McNulty holds his effort perfectly to the line in Oeiras, beating Vacek by two seconds and pipping a fading Van Aert to the first red jersey of the Vuelta.

The result