Stage 1: Utrecht
Date: Friday, August 19, 2022
Distance: 23.3km
Stage timing: 18:30 – 20:22 CEST
Stage type: Team Time Trial
Utrecht completes their Grand Tour hosting triple, bringing the Vuelta a España to the Netherlands for the start of the 2022 edition after hosting stage 2 of the Giro d’Italia in 2010 and the first two Tour de France stages in 2015.
Whereas the previous Grand Departs in the Netherlands featured individual time trials, the Vuelta a España opening stage will be a highly technical 23.3-kilometre team time trial.
The route is pan flat but the twists and turns and narrow roads will add a level of difficulty to keeping eight riders together and coordinated while pushing flat.
The stage gets underway at the Jaarbeurs event centre just steps from the world’s largest bicycle parking structure, the Fietsenstalling Stationsplein near Utrecht’s central station. The bike-friendly features of the city will be on full display as most of the route is paralleled by the country’s famous cycle paths.
The TTT winds its way counter-clockwise around the city centre, tackling sharp turns, roundabouts, and a 180-degree shift at a large traffic circle in the Overvecht neighborhood before doubling back toward the southwest, over the Hogeweidebrug and into Parkwijk. The course loops under itself, taking a bus route back toward the city centre for a finish next to the central station where the first leader of the race will be lauded.
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