The Vuelta a España exploded into action on the first day of racing, as the general classification contenders battled it out on the hills of the Basque Country.
We’ve already seen some upsets in the fight for the red jersey, as Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and Chris Froome (Ineos Grenadiers) both lost chunks of time on stage one.
To get an insight into the performances on the stage from Irún to Arrate,Cycling Weeklyhas jumped into the Strava stats to check out the power on display.
Stage winner Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) hasn’t shared his data on Strava but his team-mate Sepp Kuss, who put in another remarkable ride for his leader, has published his power data.
Kuss, who finished eighth on the stage, turned on the power on the penultimate climb of the day, Elgeta (2.9km at 8.8 per cent average gradient), and the American pushed 371 watts for eight minutes and 57 seconds to get over that climb in the front group.
At an estimated 61kg, that power equates to six watts per kilogram for Kuss, a tough pace to match before the final climb had even started.
Ineos Grenadiers leader Richard Carapaz, who finished second on the stage, set exactly the same power on the penultimate climb (371w or 5.9w/kg) as his team-mates set a fierce pace in the front group.
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Elgeta was also the moment Chris Froome lost contact with the front of the race and began to ship a lot of time.
But despite losing contact with the leaders, Froome still put out some serious watts to get over pushing 439w for eight minutes and 50 seconds, that’s an estimated 6.6w/kg.
Onto the final climb of the day, the 5km-long, 8.5 per cent average Alto de Arrate.
Kuss put in the standout performance on the climb, pushing 394w (6.4w/kg) for 16 minutes.
Carapaz put in a smart ride, holding back on the power with 388w for 16 minutes on the final climb to land on the podium.
Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers. Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.
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