The mountains appear and the protagonists have set out their stalls. It was a good fight from the breakaway, but was not meant to be.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:04 The first major climbs of La Vuelta 2023
00:07 and heading north towards Andorra
00:09 for a finale at Altitude.
00:11 The weather hopefully would play nice on stage three.
00:14 For the defense of his title, Remco Evenpoel, well prepared.
00:18 I was in Andorra for Altitude camp,
00:19 and I knew there was a stage passing in Andorra.
00:22 So it was a good thing to just do a quick recon of it.
00:25 And I think it's not the most important stage of the Vuelta,
00:29 but it can be an important stage.
00:31 So we just have to be attentive and try to not lose any time.
00:35 At Jumbo Visma, a difficult start for Primoz Roglic.
00:38 He may have tumbled, but that won't
00:39 shake Sepp Kuss' confidence.
00:42 Firstly, it suits Primoz really well.
00:44 It could be pretty explosive.
00:45 We have to see what the rivals do.
00:47 And yeah, it could also go to the breakaway today.
00:50 It's still so early in the race for a summit finish,
00:53 so a lot can happen.
00:55 A chance to shine for the climbers targeting stages
00:58 rather than the GC, like Jay Vine.
01:01 Two stage wins last year, even beating Evenpoel
01:04 to stage six success.
01:05 The Australian knows this finish intimately.
01:08 I mean, I do this climb maybe two or three times a week,
01:11 so I know it pretty well.
01:13 Yeah, really looking forward to it.
01:15 Would have been nice if it was 30 degrees like it was last week,
01:19 but it's still glad the sun's out here, isn't it?
01:24 Lennart Kamna returns after his first and only Vuelta
01:27 appearance six years on.
01:28 The German has won on the Giro and the Tour.
01:31 Time to add a Vuelta to his palmarès.
01:34 I'm here.
01:35 Yeah, I try to go for breaks, go for a stage hunt,
01:37 but I also try to support Alex and Kian as good as possible.
01:42 So it's kind of a mixed approach this year.
01:47 A departure from Catalunya on 158.5 kilometer ride
01:51 into Andorra.
01:52 To category one peaks, the climax at Arensal Ski Resort,
01:56 the first of nine summit finishes this edition.
01:59 The perfect setting for the favorites
02:00 to make an early statement.
02:02 And for the first time, ideal weather conditions.
02:09 60 kilometers in and the first move, a group of 11 escaping,
02:13 building up a healthy five minute gap,
02:16 with the peloton little by little taking control.
02:19 The man keeping the chasing pack alert, Damiano Caruso.
02:23 The Italian twice inside the top four of his home Grand Tour,
02:26 the Bahrain victorious rider, the provisional Vuelta leader.
02:31 Leonard Kamna, as good as his pre-race word,
02:33 the Bora-Hansgrove man among the talented climbers.
02:36 Of them, only Caruso two years ago and Pierre Latour in 2016
02:40 had toasted stage honors at La Vuelta a España.
02:43 Andrea Vendram in a green state of mind.
02:47 The Italian focused on intermediate sprint,
02:50 42 kilometers from the finish in the fight for the Maio Verde.
02:56 The peloton hitting an average of 43 kilometers per hour,
03:00 heading towards the climb of the Col d'Ordino.
03:04 Jostling for position, Soudal Quick-Steps, Remco Evenpoel,
03:07 Jumbo-Visma's duo Roglic and Winnegaard,
03:10 and Gert Thomas of Ineos.
03:13 Inside 80 kilometers to go, the gap, four minutes, 30.
03:17 (CROWD CHEERING)
03:19 His reign in red likely to be abdicated,
03:29 but Andrea Piccolo, a proud Maio Rojo,
03:32 EF Education Easy post showing little interest in the break.
03:36 The 22-year-old wasn't giving it up without a fight.
03:39 It's an amazing feeling. It's unbelievable.
03:44 It's an honour for us. It's at the T and at the jersey.
03:49 And we defend it today.
03:51 107 kilometers mark, and finally the peloton crossing into Andorra,
03:57 the biggest micro-state in Europe.
03:59 The principality a regular guest on La Vuelta,
04:02 a destination in five of the last ten editions.
04:06 And first up, the intermediate sprint.
04:09 Vendram first over the line for 20 points.
04:12 The Italian grabbing the green jersey to achieve the clear objective
04:15 set by his AG2R Citroën team.
04:18 No surprise then that Vendram,
04:22 the first to fall away at the foot of the first ascent of the day.
04:26 Pierre Latour next to suffer as the gradient began to burn the lengths.
04:32 The gap tumbled to inside two minutes as the escapades reached
04:35 the first major climb, the Col d'Ordino.
04:41 Down to a leading trio, Eduardo Sepobeda,
04:44 joined by Caruso and Kamna.
04:46 Down the road, opening day winners DSM regained control of the peloton
04:50 and their French star tried to break free.
04:53 Here goes another move from Team DSM Fermanich.
04:58 And Team DSM Fermanich, they're wanting to try and take today's stage.
05:02 One minute and 39 seconds to the three riders in the breakaway.
05:06 Bardet is stretching and striking for the stage victory here.
05:11 Two bites at the cherry, but without support, weighed down like a stone
05:15 as the peloton refused Bardet's advance.
05:18 But action at the head of the race too.
05:20 You can see now, attack from Caruso at the front.
05:26 Obviously feels like he had the strongest legs in that breakaway.
05:31 He's going for the king of the mountain points and those bonus seconds.
05:36 Sepobeda catches Caruso and he goes over the top of the Col d'Ordino.
05:41 He takes the maximum points on that first categorized climb.
05:44 Sepobeda, provisionally the king of the mountain,
05:48 and is left behind on the descent by Caruso, followed by Kamna.
05:52 That saw the gap stretch.
05:54 The 32 year old polka dot wannabe left stuck in the middle.
05:57 Caruso and Kamna heading for the final climb together,
06:01 yet failing to work as a pair.
06:04 At the same time, the peloton ready to reel them in,
06:07 as well as test each other's early welter legs.
06:11 That, coupled with a break led by Jay Vine, meant the leading duo's gap
06:15 wasn't going to hold up.
06:17 The Aussie taking the reins for UAE.
06:20 And that brought Jumbo Visma to life through super domestique Sepp Kuss.
06:26 The breakaway officially over.
06:29 The fight between Evenpol Ayuso, Vinograd and Roglic.
06:33 Spanish hopes resting with Enric Mas in March Soler,
06:36 but who would have the knockout blow to win on this first mountain stage?
06:40 Remco Evenepol, who spent time in Andorra here at altitude
06:45 in preparation for his defense of the Vuelta.
06:48 And here goes the Belgian champion and the former world champion.
06:51 He goes in defense of this title here in the Vuelta a España,
06:55 and he wants to go early.
06:57 He starts to open up.
06:58 He wants the prime position going into the final 150 meters,
07:02 and he's being tracked by Jonas Vingegaard, the two time winner of the Tour de France.
07:06 Remco Evenepol, he's going for first blood.
07:09 He wants to try and take the first mountain stage here at the Vuelta a España
07:13 with number one on his back.
07:15 His arms are locked.
07:16 The Belgian champion crosses the line here at the Arenal.
07:19 Remco Evenepol showing the patience and power to blow the competition
07:25 out the water.
07:26 An abrupt crash after the finish, leaving a bloodied Belgian champion,
07:29 but not ruining his day back in red.
07:32 It's a very beautiful victory here in Andorra on high altitude,
07:44 so it shows that my preparation was good
07:47 and that I'm ready for the next three weeks.
07:50 Remco has been Mr.
07:53 Angry, but the Belgian Hulk used it to create a brilliant summit finish.
07:57 Jonas Vingegaard on his tail, but couldn't hang on.
07:59 And that sees the defending champion jump 18 places back into Rojo.
08:08 The Belgian with 31 seconds on the Great Dane, Roglic, Almeida,
08:12 and J. Vine within a minute.
08:14 Ben Dram did his work early to enjoy his moment in green.
08:23 12 point cushion for the 29 year old ahead of stage two winner, Andreas Kroon.
08:28 Victory rubber stamped Evenepol's dominance of the jersey presentations.
08:37 Level with Argentine Superbeta with a quartet four points back.
08:43 And as if to underline the already realized potential,
08:50 Remco just 23 years old and therefore in white.
08:54 An explosive finale, another expected tomorrow
08:59 with the ride to Tarragona tomorrow.
09:01 [MUSIC PLAYING]