The Vuelta a España starts in Nîmes, France today with a 13.7-kilometre team time-trial.
It’s a technical course with numerous corners in the old part of the city and the riders will pass many of the city’s historical buildings.
The teams will leave from Maison Carrée de Nîmes and finish at the Nîmes musée archéologique.
Manzana Postobon are the first team off at 17:30 local time and the teams will go off at four minute intervals. Amongst the teams who can expect to challenge for the win are BMC Racing (18:34), Quick Step Floors (18:22) and Team Sky (18:50).
Team Sky won last year’s opening stage 27.8-kilometre team time-trial in Laias, Galicia which resulted in Peter Kennaugh taking the first leader’s red jersey. Team Sky just edged out Movistar Team but the Spanish squad are lacking much of their firepower this year.
The Irish team Aqua Blue Sport who are making their Grand Tour debut are fifth team off and start at 17:46. The teams have been checking out the course this morning and fine-tuning their plans in advance of the race.
The final team to start are Alberto Contador’s Trek-Segafredo who start at 18:54 local time.
2017 Vuelta a Espana stage 1 team time trial start times
| # | Team | Start time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manzana Postobon | 17:30:00 | |
| 2 | Lotto-Soudal | 17:34:00 | |
| 3 | Dimension Data | 17:38:00 | |
| 4 | Cannondale-Drapac | 17:42:00 | |
| 5 | Aqua Blue Sport | 17:46:00 | |
| 6 | FDJ | 17:50:00 | |
| 7 | Bora-Hansgrohe | 17:54:00 | |
| 8 | Cofidis | 17:58:00 | |
| 9 | UAE Team Emirates | 18:02:00 | |
| 10 | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | 18:06:00 | |
| 11 | Team Sunweb | 18:10:00 | |
| 12 | Katusha-Alpecin | 18:14:00 | |
| 13 | Astana | 18:18:00 | |
| 14 | Quick Step-Floors | 18:22:00 | |
| 15 | Bahrain-Merida | 18:26:00 | |
| 16 | LottoNL-Jumbo | 18:30:00 | |
| 17 | BMC | 18:34:00 | |
| 18 | AG2R La Mondiale | 18:38:00 | |
| 19 | Orica-Scott | 18:42:00 | |
| 20 | Movistar | 18:46:00 | |
| 21 | Team Sky | 18:50:00 | |
| 22 | Trek-Segafredo | 18:54:00 |
