Mass crash? No problem! Vingegaard crashes but still wins Vuelta's first mountain stage

A flat first stage is something you rarely see in the Vuelta a España. A difficult finish or (team) time trial is relatively common, but on Saturday, the fast men got their chance. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took advantage of that gift and grabbed the red jersey. However, the second stage would prove very difficult for him: the first mountain finish was already scheduled.

The ride to Limone Piemonte was not very difficult, but the finish looked like a typical Vuelta finish. The rest of the stage was fairly straightforward, so the breakaway riders were not very enthusiastic. Four men rode away from the start: Nico Denz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Gal Glivar (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Jakub Otruba (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA), and Liam Slock (Lotto) met little resistance from the peloton. However, Denz dropped back: he wasn't feeling it.

The German would have preferred a larger group, but not many riders were interested. Only Sinuhé Fernández (Burgos Burpellet BH) wanted to go for it. He succeeded, and so, after Denz dropped out, we had four riders at the front again. They didn't get much leeway: their maximum lead was about two minutes, while Tom Pidcock's Q36.5 kept control.

On the first sloping section, about 45 kilometers from the finish, Otruba accelerated. Glivar followed, and later, Slock also managed to return. This happened in pouring rain: while the day had started dry, it was literally pouring with rain in the last hour of the race. Well, when you start the Vuelta in Italy, you know the risks.

Guillaume Martin also faced the risks. The Frenchman from Groupama-FDJ crashed on the wet roads and was unable to continue, making him the first rider to abandon the Vuelta. Fernández was caught by the peloton at that point, but things went wrong again not much later.

At a roundabout, many riders hit the ground, with almost the entire Visma | Lease a Bike team hitting the asphalt. Jonas Vingegaard also crashed, while Pidcock fell alongside many of the Killer Bees. The Danish leader quickly made it clear with a thumbs up and a kiss to the camera that he was not seriously injured. Axel Zingle appeared to have dislocated his arm, but after it was put back in place, the Frenchman was able to continue.

Once the main contenders were back in the peloton, the pace picked up again. When the breakaway riders entered the final climb, the gap was only 30 seconds: Visma | Lease a Bike, INEOS Grenadiers, and Bahrain Victorious kept their leaders well at the front. Red jersey wearer Jasper Philipsen had already been dropped: we had a new leader!

Slock was the last of the breakaway riders left, but he was caught just under 6 kilometers from the finish. The final climb only became a little steep later on, so the pack remained large for a long time. It only became difficult in the last 3 kilometers. Wilco Kelderman took the lead and pulled the peloton into a line, making a breakaway seem unlikely. Ben Tulett then did the same: great work by the Killer Bees!

When it got steep, Lidl-Trek stepped in. They brought Giulio Ciccone to the front, but Vingegaard, Pidcock, João Almeida, and Juan Ayuso all showed up at the front. An attack failed to materialize: who would be the best sprinter? Giulio Pellizzari set a very high pace, but Marc Soler was the first to make his move at 600 meters. He was caught, and it was Vingegaard who just managed to win, ahead of Ciccone.