22/08 - Stage 1 (TTT) - Puerto Banús to Marbella - 7.4 km

If you only look at the map above, you may not think this team time trial course is anything special. However, it is. It takes place alongside the beach around Marbella and sometimes even on the beach. Bad concrete, plastic surface, wooden surface and kilometers on albero (the sand you find in bullfighting arenas) are what await the riders. Furthermore, the road is narrow and twists and bends. It’s no wonder that the riders weren’t exactly thrilled to take on this course.

After numerous protests, the Vuelta a España organizers finally decided that the time of the teams won’t count in the general classification. Therefore, it’s a complete lottery to predict a winner today. Since there is still a red leader’s jersey up for grabs, some teams will probably go hard on the course, taking chances, while others - the teams of the top favorites for the overall win - will take it easy not risking anything.

I did a recon of route the other day, taking a few photos of the road. You’ll find them below. The guys over at GCN also did a video of the course, which you can see by clicking here.

You can see much more photos of this 'special' team time trial course by clicking here. For live coverage of the stage, go to steephill.tv. To see the complete starting order, click here.