26 August 2023 – Barcelona to Barcelona, 14.8 km (9.2 mi) (TTT)[1]
The first stage of the Vuelta was a largely flat time trial in Barcelona, beginning on La Playa de la Barceloneta and finishing on Avinguda de la Reina Maria, near The Four Columns. The flat course was technical, with 18 turns throughout. The race began at 18:55 with Caja Rural-Seguros RGA and concluded with defending champion's Soudal–Quick-Step, who started at 20:19 and arrived at 20:36.
There was substantial controversy following the race, due to darkness (the sunset occurred before the race ended, at 20:33[2]) and aggravating rain, which meant that most race favorites had to ride in both slippery and low visibility condition, as opposed to teams with an early start. Team dsm–firmenich, starting on second position, achieved the quickest time of the race, while several crashes occurred later in the race (including Laurens De Plus, who had to retire from the race as a result).
Multiple riders questioned the decision to hold the race in the late evening,[3] with defending champion Remco Evenepoel saying that "[they] couldn't see anything" in the dark and that the conditions were "ridiculous".[4] Race director Javier Guillén responded, saying that the time trial was confounded by events beyond the control of the race. “Conditions yesterday surprised everyone. The darkness that came was the result of a storm that forecasts didn’t indicate would be of that magnitude...and concerning what Evenepoel said, we remind everyone that the safety of the riders is paramount. We couldn’t do anything about the dark conditions, it was something that ensued, and could not have been expected”.[3]
27 August 2023 – Mataró to Barcelona, 182 km (113 mi)[7]
Due to poor weather conditions, the general classification timing for the stage was taken 9 kilometres from the finish,[8] prior to the technical Alto del Castillo de Monjuic.
The group then narrowed to only Kämna and Caruso at the base of the final Arinsal climb (8.3 kilometres at 7.7%). Kämna made several attempts to distance himself from Caruso during the ascent. In the last 3 kilometres, he successfully distanced Caruso, but was nevertheless soon caught by the peloton, which was paced viciously by Jay Vine. The rest of the stage featured a series of attacks from the lead group, which had thinned substantially during the Arinsal climb. Juan Ayuso attacked first, but was quickly countered by Sepp Kuss. Marc Soler then surged ahead and took the lead, as Geraint Thomas, a favourite for the podium, fell behind the lead group. Remco Evenepoel launched his sprint in the final 300 meters. Jonas Vingegaard was unable to keep pace, and the defending champion secured victory by a second ahead of his rivals.[15] Evenepoel’s celebrations were short-lived, though, as he crashed after crossing the finish line, leaving him bleeding from a cut on his eyebrow.[16] Caruso was awarded the most combative prize for the stage.
There was a significant shake-up in the overall standings, with Andrea Piccolo relinquishing his advantage having been distanced by the peloton during the stage. Evenepoel, Enric Mas and Lenny Martinez became the top three riders in the rankings for the red leader’s jersey, with Vingegaard in fourth.[17]
Stage 4 of the 2023 Vuelta a España was a flat to rolling stage of 185 km from Andorra la Vella to Tarragona, with two minor climbs in the second half of the stage. It was expected to be a day for the sprinters after the mountainous stage 3.
The stage started at 13:20 CEST, with a breakaway forming early on. The peloton, led by Soudal-QuickStep, Movistar, and Alpecin-Deceuninck, nonetheless gradually increased the pace and reduced the gap. The breakaway riders started to attack each other on the first climb of the day, the Alto de Belltall (9.3 kilometres at 3.7%), which was crested by Eduardo Sepúlveda, who opened a lead in the mountains classification over Remco Evenepoel. Sepúlveda took more points for the polka dot jersey on the second climb of the day, the Coll de Lilla (5.2 kilometres at 4.9%).
The final 30 kilometres of the stage were slightly downhill, with some technical sections and roundabouts. The breakaway tried to resist, but they were caught shortly after the final intermediate sprint. The sprint teams then started to position their fast men for the finale, with Alpecin-Deceuninck, Lotto Soudal, and EF Education–EasyPost among the most prominent. The last 5 kilometres into Tarragona were chaotic, with several crashes and splits in the peloton. The final kilometre was a technical run to the line, with a slight uphill gradient. Alpecin-Deceuninck led out the sprint for their Australian rider Kaden Groves, who powered past Sebastian Molano in the last meters to win the stage.
Remco Evenepoel finished safely in the main group and retained his red jersey as the leader of the general classification. He also kept his white jersey as the leader of the young riders classification.[21]
Stage 5 was similar to stage 4 with a long, undulating stage profile (albeit with only one classified climb instead of two) and a technical sprint finish. Sepúlveda reached the summit of the classified climb first, extending his margin in the mountains classification ahead of the mountainous stage 6.
Some riders fell in the final 5 kilometres as the peloton picked up speed, with Romain Bardet falling victim to crash-related time loss. Kaden Groves won the final sprint to extend his lead in the points classification, beating Filippo Ganna by a tire width. Dries Van Gestel was third.
The general classification contenders took a back seat to the sprinters, mostly saving their legs for stage 6. Race leader Remco Evenepoel provided the only action in the GC standings, taking the intermediate bonus sprint to extend his overall advantage by six seconds.[25]
Stage 6 was a gruelling test for the riders with the second summit finish of the race in The Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre (12 kilometres at 7.6% with sections up to 15%). An initial breakaway of around 40 riders was finally established after a series of attacks in the first hour of the race, building a lead of over six minutes on the peloton. Among them were Sepp Kuss, Lenny Martinez, and Romain Bardet. The breakaway held, and they reached the foot of the final climb with a lead of almost 4 minutes on the peloton.
The gap remained stable in the first half of the climb, but attacks soon began, with Einer Rubio attacking the lead group with 4.1 kilometres left of the climb. Bardet, Martinez and Kuss followed. Primož Roglič struck at a similar point from the GC group. Remco Evenepoel was distanced in the red jersey, with Enric Mas, Juan Ayuso and Cian Uijtdebroeks trying to limit their losses with Jonas Vingegaard following Roglič up the road.
Kuss then took the lead while Attila Valter dropped back for Roglič and Vingegaard, with Mas close behind. The duo then dropped Mas as Kuss put more distance into Martinez, who nonetheless was able to take the red jersey. Evenepoel limited his time loss, finishing around 30 seconds behind the Jumbo–Visma duo. Kuss won the stage and catapulted himself into second place in the general classification, ending the stage with an overall time that was nearly three minutes ahead of his leaders.[29]
