Ellen van Dijk takes first leader's jersey and wins with her team Lidl-Trek the opening time trial at La Vuelta Femenina

The Vuelta for women traditionally kicked off with a team time trial. The organizers had set out a relatively flat course of just over eight kilometers in Barcelona—a course for the real time trial specialists. However, the dynamics in a team time trial are slightly different.

At 12:51 local time, the first team rolled off the starting podium. The honor of being first went to Lotto Ladies, who, after 10 minutes and 7 seconds, logically recorded the first time at the finish. The ladies of Cofidis were the first to cross the line. The French team, which started fifth, recorded a time of 9 minutes and 58 seconds.

Picnic PostNL was the first team to maintain an average speed of over 50 kilometers per hour over the 8.1-kilometer course. The Dutch team finished well under Cofidis' time, with a spectacular 9 minutes and 39 seconds. Not much later, Human Powered Health took over the virtual second place, eleven seconds slower than Picnic PostNL.

Movistar, which had lined up Marlen Reusser, also failed to match the time set by the Dutch team. The home team took over virtual second place from Human Powered Health but fell short of the hot seat. Meanwhile, several teams had already failed to make a flawless start. Visma | Lease a Bike saw Britain's Imogen Wolff start later than her teammates, while the start of Uno-X Mobility also looked chaotic.

It was Liv-AlUla-Jayco who knocked Picnic PostNL off the hot seat. The Australian team, including Jeanne Korevaar, improved the time by six seconds. Not much later, Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto fell five seconds short, with the German team taking the virtual second place with a good time.

The next team to take the hot seat was Lidl-Trek, featuring Ellen van Dijk. The German-American team completed the 8.1-kilometer time trial three seconds faster than Liv-AlUla-Jayco, putting them in contention for the victory. With SD Worx-Protime and FDJ-Suez still on the road, it was anyone's guess whether they would take the win.

In one of the few bends, we saw a rider from FDJ-Suez crash. Demi Vollering's team saw Vittoria Guazzini hit the ground, but the Italian could continue. SD Worx-Protime crossed the finish line as a virtual second not much later while everyone waited for Demi Vollering and FDJ-Suez's times. In the end, it would be fourth place, six seconds behind the winning time of Lidl-Trek.