The Vuelta a España team time trial course looks a little treacherous

The Vuelta a España team time trial on stage one features sand, a new boardwalk and a finish on the beach
Stuart Clarke

Looking at the profile of the opening team time trial at the Vuelta a España you’d think it would be a walk in the park for a professional rider – pan flat and only 7.4km in length.

But on closer inspection it looks a little more challenging – and a number of riders aren’t too happy about it.

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Skirting along the coast from Puerto Bañus to Marbella the route ends on the beach at the resort, with organisers having plonked down a few plastic boards to cover up the sand.

But they couldn’t cover all of it, with a short section of dirt road alongside the beach just before the finish.

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Unsurprisingly a few questions were raised on Twitter by the riders taking part in the race, including Movistar’s Rory Sutherland, who joked that he’d be ditching his time trial bike for his fat-wheeled dirt bike.

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The short section of dirt road precedes the traversing of a new promenade in Marbella, which was a building site just a few days ago…

And judging by this picture by Spanish journalist Jesus Balseiro, the riders will cross the finish line and plough straight into a group of boozed-up British teenagers on the beach in Marbs, which should be fun.