LIVE stage 1 Vuelta a España 2025 | Three weeks of climbing, but first… a sprint

The sprinters will see their first real opportunity right out of the gate in this year’s race. From Turin, the peloton will cover 186.1 kilometers toward Novaro. Along the way, there’s only one categorized climb: 6.5 kilometers in length, with an average gradient of 5.3%. It’s relatively tough, but the summit comes after just 69.8 kilometers, leaving nearly 110 kilometers of racing after that.

So, we’re not necessarily expecting an explosion on La Serra, but the pace might already ramp up a bit there, especially to put the more pure sprinters under pressure and soften up the competition before the finish. That could be a smart move, particularly because the final 100+ kilometers take place on "flat" terrain. Spanish flat, that is. The middle section of the stage, featuring the Vuelta’s first intermediate sprint and valuable bonus seconds, still includes a good number of elevation gains.

No real surprises expected on the way to Novara, the sprinters’ teams are unlikely to let anything slip away. The final sharp corner comes with 4 kilometers to go. From there, it's full gas straight ahead, with two roundabouts leading onto Viale Kennedy, where riders will flex their sprinting muscles. Just past the stadium of the local football club, the road bends slightly, and the inside line is expected to be the shortest route to success. Check the video below the Google photo to see the same finish from the 2021 Giro, where Tim Merlier cleverly used that inside line to take the win.

Climbs
70.5 km: La Serra (6.5 km at 5.3 percent)

Times
Start: 1:22 PM (local time) | 7:22 AM (ET)
Finish: around 5:30 PM (local time) | 11:30 AM (ET)

After some rough weather in the days leading up to the Vuelta, conditions at the start on Saturday look promising in Turin. At flag-off, temperatures will already be nearing 26°C (79°F), with barely any wind. As the peloton leaves the city, there might be a brief light shower, but overall it’s expected to remain calm and nearly windless throughout the day.

The sprint field in this year’s Vuelta has one standout favorite: Jasper Philipsen. The Belgian rider from Alpecin-Deceuninck already won the opening stage of the Tour de France this year, taking the yellow jersey in the process, but was forced to abandon the race just two days later due to a crash. He’ll be out for revenge, and Stage 1 offers an immediate opportunity. But the question remains: does the Belgian have the legs to make it happen? Or is his Tour form not quite there?

His biggest challenger is expected to be the versatile Dane, Mads Pedersen. The Lidl-Trek leader won no fewer than four stages at the Giro d’Italia, including the opener in Tirana. In a pure sprint, Pedersen likely doesn’t match Philipsen’s top speed, but the Dane is full of surprises. Lidl-Trek may even try to make things harder early on, perhaps on the stage’s only climb. Still, there’s a long way to go after that...

As mentioned earlier, there aren’t many pure sprinters at this year’s Vuelta, but there is one more worth highlighting. Picnic–PostNL is counting on Casper van Uden, and the Dutchman already proved with a stage win in the Giro that he can take on the world’s best on a good day. Behind Philipsen, Van Uden, and Pedersen, the number of true top-tier sprinters drops off quickly. The rest of the fast men on the start list are generally riders who prefer a tougher finish to level the playing field.

Ethan Vernon is one of those candidates at Israel-Premier Tech, although Jake Stewart could also be an option. Cofidis has two fast men: Frenchman Bryan Coquard and Poland's Stanisław Aniołkowski. Groupama-FDJ is hoping on the whims of Thibaud Gruel, while Jayco-AlUla will line up with Anders Foldager and Madis Mihkels will be allowed to sprint for EF Education-EasyPost and good-old Elia Viviani is there for Lotto.

Add in outsiders such as Tim van Dijke (RedBull-BORA-hansgrohe), Jenthe Biermans (Akréa-B&B Hotels), Orluis Aular (Movistar) and Axel Zingle (Visma | Lease a Bike) and we're as good as done.

Top favorite: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Outsiders: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL) and Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech)
Long shots: Bryan Coquard, Stanisław Aniołkowski (Cofidis) Madis Mihkels (EF Education-EasyPost), Jenthe Biermans (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Thibaud Gruel (Groupama-FDJ), Anders Foldager (Jayco-AlUla), Tim van Dijke (RedBull-BORA-hansgrohe), Axel Zingle (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Orluis Aular (Movistar)

Bram van der Ploeg ( Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email : [email protected])