La Vuelta a España finally went to Spanish soil on Stage 5, the first team time trial, a 24.1km around Figueres, home city of famed surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, with the start of the race right in front of his famous museum. And with it came big changes in the general classification: Jonas Vingegaard returned to the top of the race, as Visma finished second in time trial, with David Gaudu dropping to sixth place.
And, thanks to the collective effort of UAE Emirates XRG, winner team of the time trial, Juan Ayuso, Joao Almeida and Marc Soler jumped to second-fourth place in the race. Only eight seconds separate Vingegaard from the Emirates cyclist, as well as Ciccone from Lidl Trek, whose team finished third in today’s time trial.
Usually, these time trials with the whole team running at the same time happen in the first stage of the Grand Tour, so that the full lineup of cyclists are available. But after four stages, five racers had already withdraw from La Vuelta, so the rules changed so that the time is counted after the fourth rider reaches the finish line, instead of the fifth.
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