Tadej Pogačar opened his first serious bid to win the Vuelta a Espana by taking the narrowest of victories in Saturday's opening time trial through the streets of Monaco, beating Ethan Hayter by just nine hundredths of a second. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider and five-time Tour de France winner covered the 9.4 kilometre course in 10 minutes and 57 seconds, matching Hayter's time to the second but edging him out once the fractions were counted, with Joshua Tarling of Ineos rounding out the podium four seconds back.
The route looped through central Monaco with 13 corners, three tunnels and a string of tight roundabouts and short climbs that made pacing difficult even for the specialists who started before the overall contenders. Pogačar said his winning margin came in the technical section that runs past his own apartment building, a stretch of road he rides and walks nearly every day, even as he stopped short of calling that familiarity decisive.
"It's a weird feeling to win the time trial on the first stage and by such a small margin. I was not expecting it. I'm really happy," Pogačar said afterward, adding that he found the colour of the leader's jersey, worn for the first time in his career at this race, really nice. Primož Roglič, the four time Vuelta champion, finished last among the main contenders, 22 seconds slower than Pogačar, while Wout van Aert crossed nine seconds behind Hayter.
Pogačar will carry the red jersey into Sunday's second stage, a 214.3 kilometre run from Monaco to Manosque, though he was careful not to sound too settled in the role. "Tomorrow, I think, there are some guys who are close in time and can do a breakaway or sprint for bonus seconds, so it's going to be a fight for the red jersey," he said, adding that he expects the overall standings to shuffle before the race leaves France behind. The win was the fourth Vuelta stage victory of his career and his first time leading the race outright.