Alejandro Valverde, Mikel Landa and Wilco Kelderman have all criticised the start to the 2022 Vuelta a Espana, suggesting that the route was too narrow and technical to accommodate such a large peloton.
Three weeks of racing at the final Grand Tour of the year commenced with three days in the Netherlands, incorporating a team time-trial and two pan-flat sprinting days which provided few stern tests as Sam Bennett took back-to-back wins.
Ad Despite this, some of the riders felt unable to relax, with a twisting route through a number of villages providing plenty of trouble in the form of road furniture and tight bends causing nervous racing.
Vuelta a EspañaDutch delight in Utrecht as Jumbo-Visma win opening TTT and Gesink takes red19/08/2022 AT 18:36 Though the peloton avoided major incident, both Lotto-Soudal's Steff Cras and Michael Woods of Israel-Premier Tech were forced to abandon after crashes.