The opening day of the Vuelta was a relaxed affair with GC being neutralized for the stage and "only" the stagewin up for grabs. BMC took the day most seriously and took the victory on the day just hundreds of seconds ahead of Tinkoff and Orica. Peter Velits was the lucky BMCer to cross the line first and he gets to wear the first red leader's jersey of the race. The team timetrials are starting to become a BMC specialty at this point and they look set to give it a good try to defend their World Champs title in Richmond and continue to threaten Orica and Etixx in the big team timetrials.
Some teams chose to ride with all they have for the stage win while some simply rolled through the course to stay safe and show themselves off to the crowds that were lining the course on the beach in Marbella. The course was subject to much ridicule and most teams were thoroughly disgusted at the idea of having to go full gas along the narrow, sandy beach-path but as events unfolded with the GC suspended everyone looked happy with their evening ride in the Spanish sunset.
FINAL RESULT STAGE 1