The high-stakes Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a stage 1 time trial around Monaco proved as divisive as the Formula 1 track it was modeled upon.<\/p>\n
Speaking after the Vuelta\u2019s opening stage Saturday night, Wout van Aert and Visma-Lease a Bike hit out at a parcours convoluted by tight corners, narrow lanes, dark tunnels, and fast, technical descents.<\/p>\n
If viewed out of context, the Vuelta\u2019s gonzo take on a TT could have been a CX or MTB course.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t think it was worthy of a grand tour,\u201d Visma-Lease a Bike head of performance Mathieu Heijboer told Het Laatste Nieuws<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it rained or someone had bad luck, it would be a disaster. We should just be glad that it went well,\u201d Heijboer said Saturday.<\/p>\n Van Aert had circled Saturday\u2019s 9.4km opener as a chance to take the leader\u2019s jersey in his first grand tour for more than a year. Heijboer said the Belgian baller even set up a course to train on that mirrored its hyper-technicality.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t pay off.<\/p>\n Van Aert finished the stage in eighth, nine seconds slower than stage-winner Tadej Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n Van Aert said after the stage he wasn\u2019t willing to take the risks required on a course where a lot could go wrong.<\/p>\n He acknowledged it was his choice to race tentatively but, like his director Heijboer, he questioned whether the course was fit for purpose.<\/p>\n \u201cThe surroundings were really unique, and it was special to be able to race here on closed roads and on the F1 circuit,\u201d Van Aert told Sporza<\/em>. \u201cI enjoyed that.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at certain points it was too technical and on the limit, especially through the park and around the marina.<\/p>\n \u201cI did a reconnaissance, and it is ultimately my own choice to take fewer risks. So that\u2019s certainly not an excuse. It\u2019s just my opinion,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s 9.4km TT through \u201cthe wealthiest state in the world\u201d was, speaking subjectively, an eyesore. As a viewer, it was a terrible watch.<\/p>\n And it looked like a minefield for riders.<\/p>\n The course was lined with barriers with dangerous protruding feet.<\/p>\n White road traffic markings painted all over the tarmac made it hard to compute racing lines.<\/p>\n An out-and-back section separated by only some token traffic cones seemed like a disaster waiting to happen.<\/p>\n The historic Monaco F1 circuit is often slated for being dangerous and too tight for open racing.<\/p>\n Movistar racer Cian Uijtdebroeks told HLN<\/em> the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a\u2019s twist on the motorsport circuit was \u201cmadness.\u201d<\/p>\n But for race organizers, Saturday was likely a lucrative money spinner \u2013 the mega-bucks Monaco state will have paid plenty to host the gran salida<\/em> \u2013 and a chance to tempt Poga\u010dar to come play in his home town.<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar certainly wasn\u2019t complaining about a course that almost ran past his front door.<\/p>\n His split-second victory over Ethan Hayter won him a career-first red jersey. It might even have won him the entire grand tour.<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar\u2019s rivals are way off the back, already.<\/p>\n Pogi\u2019s UAE Emirates-XRG teammate, Joao Almeida, was best-placed of the GC candidates at 18 seconds back. Grand tour veterans Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d and Richard Carapaz were next best at 22 and 33 seconds.<\/p>\n And Felix Gall, the rider tipped for second place on the podium? He lost 46 seconds already.<\/p>\n Judging by Poga\u010dar\u2019s demolition of the Tour de France, King Pog killed the Vuelta on day 1.<\/p>\n Speaking after the stage Saturday night, Poga\u010dar said he could leverage his home-court advantage without taking on undue risk.<\/p>\n \u201cI was motivated because I live here. The course passed where I go every day on a bike or walking,\u201d Poga\u010dar said in his post-stage conference.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a big confidence boost because I knew every corner really well, so I didn\u2019t need to take any risks. I was comfortable through the technical parts.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was no real pacing strategy. It was just like going all out on this 10-minute effort with a lot of corners,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar might have won the Vuelta with that 10-minute effort around his back yard.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a strong chance he could hold the red jersey he won on home roads all the way through to the final stage in Granada.<\/p>\n Monaco might next be seeing the maillot<\/em>rojo<\/em> when Poga\u010dar unpacks his suitcase three weeks from now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/vuelta-a-espana\/van-aert-and-visma-condemn-controversial-vuelta-tt-as-pogacar-kills-gc-battle-on-day-1\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2291307034.jpg”] Jim Cotton Updated August 23, 2026 02:38AM The high-stakes Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a stage 1 time trial around Monaco proved as divisive as the Formula 1 track it was modeled upon. Speaking after the Vuelta\u2019s opening stage Saturday night, Wout van Aert and Visma-Lease a Bike hit out at a parcours convoluted by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2107460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2107460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2107460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2107460\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2107460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2107460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2107460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Monaco TT: \u2018On the edge\u2019?<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Vuelta-Espana-2026-Stage-1-0305-1200x1076.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
Did Poga\u010dar win La Vuelta on day 1?<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Vuelta-Espana-2026-Stage-1-6159-1200x801.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")