Teams are getting ready for the opening team time trial in Torrevieja on Saturday. Team Dimension Data will be the first on the road (from 6:56 PM) and Movistar Team will close the TTT. 176 riders from 30 different nations line up in the official start-list of La Vuelta 19, including three former winners: Alejandro Valverde, Nairo Quintana and Fabio Aru. Valverde is also the most experienced rider at La Vuelta 19 while the Slovenian prodigy Tadej Pogacar is the youngest.
A TTT and Team Dimension Data to kick-off La Vuelta 19
Teams are gearing up for Saturday’s opening time-trial: 13.4km from Salinas de Torrevieja to Torrevieja. Dimension Data will be the first on the road, at 6:56 PM CEST, and teams will start every 4 minutes until Movistar get on the road at 8:20 PM with the World champion Alejandro Valverde sporting the bib number 1. La Vuelta begins with a team time trial for the 14th time since 2002 and Movistar won on two occasions (2012, 2014), as many as CCC Team (in 2015 and 2017, as BMC Racing Team) and ONCE (2002, 2003). One rider participating in this 74th edition of the Spanish Grand Tour has already claimed la Roja (the leader’s red jersey) in the opening TTT of La Vuelta: Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), when he was riding with Leopard-Trek (2011).
30 nations on the start-line
The 176 riders participating in La Vuelta 19 will represent 22 teams, 30 nations and 5 continents. There are 36 Spaniards (1 less than in 2018, when the number of riders per team went down from 9 to 8). That’s the highest number of participants for a tea, ahead of France (17), Italy (13), Colombia and Belgium (11), the USA and the Netherlands (9), Australia (7) and Germany (6). Among the nations with 5 riders, Slovenian performances will be closely monitored with Jumbo-Visma’s Primoz Roglic being one of the main contenders, and Tadej Pogacar participating in his first Grand Tour. At 20 years and 338 days, the UAE Team Emirates’ prodigy will be the youngest rider in La Vuelta 19, ahead of the Polish Szymon Sajnok (21 years old) and Sergio Higuita (22). Alejandro Valverde is the oldest (39), followed by Vasil Kiryienka (38), Fran Ventoso and Philippe Gilbert (37). Valverde also has the most participations (12, including his overall victory in 2009), ahead of Imanol Erviti (11) and Luis Leon Sanchez (10). The youngest team is Euskadi-Murias (26 years and 1 month on average) and the oldest Astana (31 years and 280 days). 52 riders (almost a third of the peloton) ride La Vuelta for the first time in their career. It’s the first Grand Tour for 33 of them. In addition to Valverde, there are two more former winners on the start-line: Fabio Aru (2015) and Nairo Quintana (2016).
How to follow La Vuelta, even in the sky
La Vuelta conquers new territories with an increased TV broadcast in 2019. Images from the race will be available in 190 countries, with live coverage or daily highlights… And also in the sky, with a new agreement for the Spanish Grand Tour to be followed live in airplanes! The images will be produced with the Spanish national TV RTVE: 3 hours on a daily basis, and six stages broadcasted in their entirety (5 in 2018): the 1st, 9th, 15th, 16th, 18th and 21st stages. The Chinese OTT platform Zhibo TV is a new official broadcaster for this 74th edition, with a TV crew on site to enhance their programs.
The race can also be followed on the official channels of La Vuelta: the website, with live information also available on the official mobile app La Vuelta 19, presented by ŠKODA, and on social media. The official hashtag on Twitter (@lavuelta and @radiotour_en), Facebook and Instagram is #LaVuelta19. La Vuelta is also covered by the main international news agencies, traditional media and outlets dedicated to cycling.
The Spanish National Police Corps to take care of La Vuelta
The Spanish National Police Corps detailed on Friday their operations at La Vuelta 19 with 80 officers ensuring the safety of the race in every stage. A specialised unit will establish a security perimeter in the first hundred meters and the last kilometre of racing. The National Police Corps (CNP) will also be responsible of the different areas necessary to the race operations on the start and finish areas (accreditation area, podium, doping control…) and more units will intervene in specific cities under the CNP’s jurisdiction. The public will also be able to meet with the National Police Corps in the Parque Vuelta (the fan zone held in the finish area) with a stand dedicated to their activities.
