'No eggs, no bread, just lots of wins' - Vuelta a España peloton pedals through hypermarket for race's latest wacky start

JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA SPAIN AUGUST 22 LR Sylvain Moniquet of Belgium and Team Lotto Dstny Polka dot Mountain Jersey Primoz Roglic of Slovenia and Team Red Bull Bora hansgrohe Red Leader Jersey Antonio Tiberi of Italy and Team Bahrain Victorious White Best Young Rider Jersey Wout van Aert of Belgium and Team Visma Lease a Bike Green Points Jersey prior to the La Vuelta 79th Tour of Spain 2024 Stage 6 a 1855km stage from Jerez de la Frontera to Yunquera UCIWT on August 22 2024 in Jerez de la Frontera Spain Photo by Dario BelingheriGetty Images
Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe in the Red Leader's jersey leads the peloton at the unique start of stage 6 in side Carrafour at Jerez de la Frontera (Image credit: Getty Images)

The Vuelta a España has done it again. In the latest instalment of its long history of offbeat or downright unlikely starts, stage 6 of the race officially got underway inside the giant Carrefour hypermarket in the southerly city of Jerez de la Frontera on Thursday.

The Vuelta has already had starts as unlikely as the inside of an aircraft carrier in nearby Cadiz and off gigantic oyster-growing rafts called bateas on the far side of the country in remote northwesterly Galicia.

Alasdair Fotheringham

Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The IndependentThe GuardianProCycling, The Express and Reuters.