Vuelta Femenina stage 1: Lidl-Trek triumph in opening team time trial despite late crash

Lidl-Trek won stage 1 and took control of the Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es with victory in the team time trial in Valencia, despite a crash on the final corner of the course that saw Elynor Bäckstedt and time trial specialist Ellen van Dijk come off their bikes.

The American team set the fastest time of the day, pipping Visma-Lease a Bike by just two hundredths of a second and gaining a single second on their main GC rivals, the third-placed SD Worx-Protime.

The margin of victory, and the general classification gains, might not have been so tight were it not for the crash inside the final kilometre, which saw Bäckstedt and Van Dijk slide out on a 90-degree right-hand bend.

The crash cut the group in half, leaving the remaining riders scrambling to gather themselves and drag GC leaders Gaia Realini and Elisa Longo Borghini to the line.

Realini, who spent much of the TTT on the back of the line given her diminutive frame, was duly ushered through and crossed the line first to pull on the red jersey as the first overall leader of this year's Vuelta.

"I’m really happy about the result for me and the team, but I’m not happy because in the last corner two of my teammates crashed," Realini said. "But we will focus for the next stage. For sure we will take this jersey and defend for the next stage."

On a day that featured strong rides for a number of teams, the final standings saw just 10 seconds separating the top seven teams, with Canyon-SRAM in fourth at eight seconds despite starting with just five riders - two short of the maximum seven - due to illnesses.

As such, it did not turn out to be a hugely signifcant day for the general classification, and while Lidl-Trek may regret the fact they could have put a few more seconds into the race favourite Demi Vollering (SD Worx) they'll be glad to have averted disaster by salvaging the stage victory.

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Gaia Realini pulls on the first red jersey of the 2024 Vuelta Femenina

How it played out

Spain’s third largest city Valencia played host to the first stage of the second edition of the revamped Vuleta Femenina, sponsored by Carrefour.es. Just as in 2023, and in line with tradition in the men's Vuelta, stage 1 featured a team time trial, showcasing some of the city’s most striking architectural features. Beginning in front of the L'Àgora building, the pan-flat profile took the teams out along the CV-500 coastal motorway before heading back to the finish line, in front of the unique Oceanogràfic aquarium.

With the running order predetermined by Vuelta organisers in order to maximise entertainment value, it was unsurprising to see the Continental-level teams heading off first, with the biggest WorldTour outfits following later on in the day.

Norway’s Team Coop-Repsol were the first team to take to the 16km long course and under cloudy skies they headed out along the coastal road and back again, as the teams behind rolled off the start ramp at three-minute intervals. Coop-Repsol set a solid time of 20:48.65 and held onto the lead for a short while, until Lotto Dstny Ladies and VolkerWessels Women’s Pro Cycling Team set new fastest times in quick succession.

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EF Cannondale set the first big benchmark time

None of the early teams could come close to the time set by EF Education Cannondale though; they cut over 50 seconds off the time of VolkerWessels and were the first to go under 20 minutes, setting the new fastest time at 19:29.39.

EF’s time held firm in the face of serious challenges from Liv-AlUla Jayco, who fell short by just one second, and FDJ-SUEZ who came even closer, missing out on taking the lead by just seven hundredths of a second.

It took last year’s team time trial victors Visma-Lease a Bike to break the American team’s hold on the lead, and they did so by nine seconds, as the final teams left the start ramp to take on the course.

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Visma would miss out by the finest of margins

Two of the final teams down the ramp were arguably the two favourites for the race, Lidl-Trek and Team SD Worx ProTime. In Ellen van Dijk and Marlen Reusser respectively, both of these teams contained former World Individual Time Trial champions and it was clear from the intermediate splits that both teams would push Visma-Lease A Bike’s time close.

Lidl-Trek were first to come to the line, but disaster struck as they rounded the final corner heading toward the finish line, with Backstedt and Van Dijk crashing, leaving the rest of the team in disarray as they raced for the line.

They were still able to take the lead by just 0.02 seconds, which was enough to seal the victory despite their misfortune, as Team SD Worx ProTime arrived one seconds behind the winning time of 19:20.

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SD Worx out on the TTT course

The final team down the ramp were the home side Movistar, team of last year’s champion – though Annemiek van Vleuten, having since retired, does not return to defend her title. They were unable to beat the time posted by Lidl-Trek though, posting the eighth fastest time overall.

The times set by the teams determine the order of the general classification going into the rest of the week, so those teams who lost time will have some work to do to make up the differences. All the major leaders maintained close order though, with just 10 seconds separating the top seven teams, meaning the gaps are far from insurmountable heading into the first road stage beginning in Buñol tomorrow – a day that looks likely to end in a bunch sprint.

For everything you need to know about the 2024 Vuelta Femenina, from the key information to this year's route and start list, be sure to check out our dedicated race hub.