Robert Gesink is the surprise first leader of La Vuelta 2022 after the Dutch rider was allowed by Jumbo Visma to bring them home in the TTT in front of home crowds in Utrecht this evening.
Over the 23.3km course, the Dutch team clocked a time of 24:40 (56.676km per hour) and was far superior than even the next best of their opposition. Jumbo Visma put 13 seconds into runners-up Ineos Grenadiers and 14 seconds into 3rd place Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team.
Gesink, now aged 36 years, is a former team leader who counts the general classification in the Tour of California and Tour of Oman among his wins, not to mention a stage victory at La Vuelta way back in 2016 on the Aubisque-Gourette summit finish.
However, he has not won a race for six years and claiming the leader's jersey today - because he was the first rider from the winning team to cross the finish line - represents a great reward for the years of service he has given the squad.
Advertisement
The two Irish riders in the race, Bora-hansgrohe's Sam Bennett and Ryan Mullen, have gotten through the opening stage in one piece and will already be looking ahead to the front sprint stage opportunity tomorrow.
Related News
Their team finished in 7th place, losing 41 seconds. That time loss is meaningless to Bennett and Mullen, though for their general classification riders - Giro winner Jai Hindley and Sergio Higuita - giving away so much time to defending champion Primož Roglič is far from ideal.
