Foldable Bikes Party: Vuelta a Espana 2018: Rest Day 1 Recap

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He perhaps wouldn't have wanted to take it quite this early in the race, given what happened at the Giro d'Italia, but Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) holds the red leader's jersey at the 2018 Vuelta a España as the riders enjoy the first rest day of the three-week race in Salamanca.

The nine days of racing have been keenly-fought so far, with Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Ben King (Dimension Data) each taking two stage wins apiece as riders fight for a moments of glory or precious seconds for the overall classification.

Early race leader Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) has faded to 15th overall, 2:10 down on new race leader Yates. The Polish rider was never really expecting to battle for the overall title come Madrid, although he was keen to see how he would hold up after riding the Tour de France in the service of Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome. Like many on the Vuelta, Kwiatkowski also has one eye on the demanding World Championships road race in Innsbruck, Austria, at the end of this month.

The early indications are that BMC Racing's Rohan Dennis is on course for a very real crack at the time trial title at the Worlds on September 23. The Australian won the opening 8km time trial back in Málaga ahead of Kwiatkowski and Lotto Soudal's Victor Campanaerts, and it was Kwiatkowski who took over the race lead the next day on stage 2 from Marbella to Caminito del Rey.

What was billed as a flat stage by the race organisers proved to be anything but as the uphill finish saw Valverde get the better of Kwiatkowski, who nevertheless did enough to take the red jersey from Dennis.

Dennis, meanwhile, finished way off the pace – 13:31, to be exact, in the same group as his BMC leader Richie Porte, who claimed at the finish he was never going to have the form to be in the mix for the overall having crashed out of the Tour de France the previous month. Another Tour de France crash victim, Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merid) also lost time, to the tune of four minutes, and ruled himself out of a top finish as a result.

Foldable Bikes Party

Monday 3 September 2018

Vuelta a Espana 2018: Rest Day 1 Recap

Stage 1: Málaga - Málaga, 8km (ITT)

Stage 2: Marbella - Caminito del Rey, 163.5km

Stage 3: Mijas - Alhaurín de la Torre, 178.2km

Stage 4: Vélez-Málaga - Alfacar. Sierra de la Alfaguara, 162km

Stage 5: Granada - Roquetas de Mar, 188km

Stage 6: Huércal-Overa - San Javier. Mar Menor, 153km

Stage 7: Puerto Lumbreras - Pozo Alcón, 182km

Stage 8: Linares - Almadén, 195.5km

Stage 9: Talavera de la Reina - La Covatilla, 195km

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