Rohan Dennis in Red after opening time trial win at La Vuelta

2018 Vuelta a Espana

Stage 1

Australia’s Rohan Dennis won an opening eight-kilometre time trial in Malaga to take the first red jersey of the 73rd edition of La Vuelta.

The fourth-last rider to roll down the start ramp, Dennis (BMC) completed an almost pan-flat course in the Andalusian port city in a time of nine minutes and 39 seconds to dethrone Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) by six seconds.

It marked the second successive year that Dennis has worn the red jersey after the opening stage of the Vuelta following BMC’s opening team time trial win 12 months earlier – a feat not achieved in 43 years.

Belgium’s Victory Campaenaerts (Lotto Soudal), the European time trial champion, took third place one second back as Portugal’s Nelson Oliviera (Movistar) and Dutchman Dylan van Baarle (Team Sky) completed the top five.

The top five were the only riders to break the 10-minute barrier on a flat course that posed few difficulties but still took some big-name hostages as the sun set on the Costa del Sol.

Richie Porte (BMC), Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida), Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) and Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First-Drapac) were all among the general classification riders who conceded valuable time in the first of 21 stages in the final Grand Tour of the season.

Australian Porte came home a massive 51 seconds down on his BMC team-mate while Italians Nibali and Aru were 40 and 39 seconds down respectively, with Colombian Uran 45 seconds slower than the winning effort.

Colombia’s Nairo Quintana, the 2016 Vuelta champion, was 30 seconds down in 34th place while his Movistar team-mate Alejandro Valverde, the veteran Spaniard, was six seconds quicker in sixteenth place.

Britain’s Simon Yates, the Mitchelton-Scott rider who came so close to winning the Giro d’Italia in May, was 29 seconds down. Both Ion Izagirre (Bahrain Merida) and Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) rode the course – which included a small but gradual climb in the second half – strongly to finish in the top ten.

Victory for Dennis – who joins Bahrain Merida at the end of the season – was his first individual scalp in La Vuelta and saw the 28-year-old complete his set of stage wins in all three Grand Tours.

“Kwiatkowski put me under a lot of pressure. I was hoping that his time would be slower so that there would be less stress going into it. But I just put everything out there and hoped for the win. I knew that the race basically finished at the top of the hill and so I went full out before then and then held on.”

“I was hoping to get a stage win here at the Vuelta to top off the three wins in all Grand Tours so I’ve ticked that off early,” said Dennis, who had already worn the leader’s jersey in all three major Tours before taking the red jersey on Saturday.

Kwiatkowski, who co-leads Sky with David de la Cruz in the absence of defending champion Chris Froome and Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas, could not mask his disappointment – but vowed to bounce back from missing out on a maiden Grand Tour stage win.

“That was a good ride from me but at the end of the day it was not enough for the win,” said Kwiatkowski – one of three Sky riders in the top ten, alongside Van Baarle and Spaniard Jonathan Castroviejo.

“Congratulations to Dennis who was the best out there today. We’re racing to win so when you’re there in the hot seat you have to feel a bit of disappointment. But the Vuelta is three weeks long so I’m looking forward to other days.”

The Polish national champion, who recently won his home Tour de Pologne, will have the chance to set things straight – and perhaps even move into the race lead – on Sunday’s second stage.