La Vuelta 2022: Primoz Roglic's fight for four gets going in Stage 1 team time trial in Utrecht - LIVE

“I still can’t believe it,” a beaming Gesink said after securing the first Grand Tour leader's jersey of his career. “I’m really grateful for the boys who were crazy strong. I’m really grateful to be in the red jersey – it’s certainly one of the highlights of my career. I knew this team had the possibility of winning for sure because they’re so strong. Usually my job is to help the team and to help Primoz. I think this is a really, really nice way of them to say thank you for all those years of helping. Wearing the red jersey tomorrow on home roads will be a dream come true.”

1. Jumbo-Visma 24'40"
2. Ineos Grenadiers +13
3. Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl +14
4. BikeExchange-Jayco +31
5. UAE Team Emirates +33

A perfect start for Primoz Roglic in his bid to win a historic fourth Vuelta crown as his team boss the 23.3km TTT to come home 13 seconds to the better of Ineos Grenadiers. Robert Gesink led them across the line and so it will be the rangy Dutch veteran in the red jersey tonight. All eight Jumbo-Visma riders came home as one there - a sign of their strength in depth. Roglic was right behind Gesink and that's a near flawless opening day for the Dutch team.

The Spanish team cross the line 30 seconds down on Ineos Grenadiers, which is ninth place for now, but will be 10th once Jumbo come home. It wasn't Ethan Hayter who led Ineos home but Dylan van Baarle, who will be in red on home soil if his next team, Jumbo-Visma, don't pip them at the post.

The Belgian team can't topple Ineos off their plinth so it's down to Movistar and Jumbo-Visma now. The Spanish team are down to just five as they approach the finish, while the Dutch outfit still have their full compliment of eight riders.

Seven of the British team come home together and I think it's Ethan Hayter who leads them across the line 18 seconds quicker than the previous leaders, BikeExchange-Jayco. It remains to be seen if they were riding a negative split so let's wait and see what Quick-Step, Movistar and Jumbo can do in return...

Primoz Roglic's team-mates are putting in a pulsating ride here - they've gone through the 11km check a whopping 14 seconds to the better of Quick-Step. It will be interesting to see who they let them bring the team home at the finish - my bet is Rohan Dennis will be in red tonight. Or maybe one of the team's Dutch riders, given we're in Utrecht: Mike Teunissen, Robert Gesink or Sam Oomen. I guess it depends on who's still there...

Just seven seconds down for the Spanish team, who are down to six riders after those early issues. Ineos, meanwhile, are now 3km from the finish and they still have all eight riders still together, which is impressive.

No sooner had Ineos Grenadiers set the best time at the intermediate check than Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl came along to move into the lead at the 11km mark. They're three seconds faster than Ineos, with Bora eight seconds back and both Trek and BikeExchange at 10 seconds. What can Jumbo-Visma do?

Jai Hindley's team faded a little over the second half and came home 10 seconds down on BikeExchange-Jayco at the finish. Then, minutes later, UAE crossed the line just two seconds down. Joao Almeida and friends will be pleased with that one. A bit later, Astana-Qazakstan come home just 15 seconds down - not bad from the team who, oddly enough, won the last TTT on the Vuelta back in 2019.

The Spanish team - like Astana - have a slick new white jersey for the Vuelta. Still, that doesn't disguise the fact that they are not very good at TTTs. They had already lost two riders when Gregor Muhlberger, who is meant to be one of their specialists, lets the elastic snap and drops back. What to do now - wait for the Austrian or forget him and hope for the best?

Team DSM have just finished 22 seconds slower than Simon Yates's team for provisional fourth place, while Spanish minnows Equipo Kern Pharma have put in a solid ride for sixth at 26 seconds. But BikeExchange may face some stiffer opposition soon: Bora-Hansgrohe - who have the Giro winner Jai Hindley within their ranks - are currently the fastest at the intermediate check: two seconds quicker than both BikeExchange and Trek-Segafredo.

The team of returning world champion Julian Alaphilippe and the Belgian tyro Remco Evenepoel get their TTT under way. It's going to be fascinating to see how Evenepoel fares in this race. He struggled in his debut Grand Tour at the Giro last year, but enters this Vuelta in very good form. He's a solid climber and an excellent time triallist. And this is a route that suits him - with fewer really steep climbs than we usually see in the Vuelta. Movistar and Jumbo-Visma the last two teams to start this TTT.

The British team are very strong - as you expect - but they nevertheless have four Grand Tour debutants in Luke Plapp, Ethan Hayter, Ben Turner and Carlos Rodriguez, which is the most they have ever fielded for a Grand Tour. It's worth adding that it was confirmed today that Richard Carapaz will join EF Education-EasyPost next season and Dylan van Baarle, the Paris-Roubaix winner, will join Jumbo-Visma, who also announced the impending arrival of Wilco Kelderman from Bora-Hansgrohe. Musical chairs...

This should be interesting - primarily because the team's GC man, Juan Pedro Lopez, is around two feet shorter than two of Trek's domestique powerhouses... Check out this incredible picture...

"We did the best we could - we'll see where that takes us. It was a tricky start. The road was still half-wet and you'd come into a corner with just blind faith - you don't know whether it's going to be wet or dry. We almost had a couple of mishaps but luckily we all survived. I think that's the main thing - we got through it and we now look forward to the rest of the race. It's the fastest time so far so we've got to be happy - let's see what the others can do."

Prior to the 'gran salida' Adam Blythe discussed the prospects of the two big teams at this race - he says that the current Jumbo-Visma team reminds him of the Team Sky of old.

Ben O'Connor and Bob Jungels will be happy with that: Ag2R-Citroen have only conceded 24 seconds at the finish to the current leaders BikeExchange-Jayco. Australia's O'Connor had a rotten Tour hampered by a crash, misfortune and Covid, so he will be hoping to turn his season around with a solid ride for red in the Vuelta.

Luke Durbridge leads the team home with Simon Yates tucked alongside for a time of 25'11" which takes off seven seconds from Groupama-FDJ's effort. Moments earlier, EF Education-EastPost - who used to be specialists in this discipline in their Garmin days - came home 41 seconds down on Groupama, which is now 48 seconds behind the new leaders. It's good for the Australian team, but will it be enough? The likes of Ineos and Jumbo-Visma will be the big favourites and they start later on - plus the roads seem to be drying out...

BikeExchange-Jayco have come through the intermediate check at 11km with the fastest time of 12'21" - that's four seconds quicker than Bahrain Victorious and five seconds than the previous leaders, Groupama-FDJ. While this will be music to Simon Yates's ears, the Briton has to dig deep after momentarily being distanced by six of his team-mates...