The Vuelta will kick off this Saturday with the now-controversial team time trial. After riders voiced their complaints about the 7.4-kilometre course, the organisers have decided to neutralise the stage.
While the stage won’t impact on the general classification there is still a stage win up for grabs. MTN-Qhubeka will kick off the stage at 18:48 local time, in their second participation at the race. There will be a five-minute interval between the teams. Favourites Orica-GreenEdge and Trek Factory Racing go off at the halfway point at 19:38 and 19:48 respectively.
BMC, Astana, Movistar, Sky are also threats for the victory and will go off one after the other, beginning with the American team at 20:13. Katusha, who are unlikely to threaten the win, will be the final team off the ramp at 20:33.
Follow live coverage of the opening stage of the Vuelta a España on Cyclingnews from 18:15 CET or 17:15 BST.
The coverage follows with stage 6 of the USA Pro Challenge, with an action-packed 164.5km stage from Loveland to Fort Collins, where contenders will have their last chance to try and unseat the BMC duo Rohan Dennis and Brent Bookwalter before the short final stage from Golden to Denver on Sunday.
The live coverage of the USA Pro Challenge will begin after the Vuelta on Saturday. On Sunday, coverage will begin at 13:10 MDT/15:10 EDT/20:10 BST/21:10 CET.
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