Stage 1: Barcelona to Barcelona
Distance: 14.8km
Stage type: Team time trial
For the second year in a row and the third time in five years, the Vuelta a España will kick off with a team time trial. Following tests in Torrevieja in 2019 and Utrecht last year, the 2023 race will begin with a TTT in Barcelona.
The 14.8km stage isn't purely flat, featuring minimal elevation as the 22 teams race along the city streets, starting at the beachfront and taking on a succession of largely right-angle bends on a technical course before finishing in front of the famous fountain at Montjuïc Park.
With the stage length measuring in at 9km shorter than the 23km TTT from stage 1 last year, time gaps should be smaller than the two minutes which separated the squads in Utrecht. At the top of the standings, expect the top teams to be separated by mere seconds as the first red jersey of the race is awarded.
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Vuelta a España stage 2 LIVE: GC action expected on the first summit finish of the race
The peloton heads into the Alps on the second stage of the race for a summit finish at Limone Piemonte -
'GC a key step but winning would be the biggest success' - Tom Pidcock makes stage victories in Vuelta a España main priority
Briton takes ninth in opening sprint, aiming for summit finish on Sunday -
'I'll give it a shot' - Trailblazing Monegasque rider Victor Langellotti ready to challenge for Vuelta a España first summit finish on stage 2
The Ineos Grenadiers rider was a recent surprise winner on a similar finale in the Tour de Pologne -
'I've got a set of boxers, a set of socks, so it's no stress' - Finlay Pickering unfazed by last-minute plunge into Grand Tour debut at Vuelta a España
22-year-old Briton super-late substitute for injured Bahrain Victorious teammate Damiano Caruso
