Israeli start-up Nation leader Dan Martin started his second Grand Tour of the season with a third-place finish on the opening stage, Alto de Alate.

The Irishman was just behind Ineos Grenadier's Richard Kalapas and one second behind stage winner Primoš Roglic of Jumbo Visma. His third place is a sign of his ascendancy following his fifth place in La Flèche Wallonne, and he will face a number of similarly steep uphill finishes commensurate with his ability over the next three weeks.

The Spaniard has won five of his 20 career victories in Spain, including the 2011 Vuelta La Covatilla, the 2013 Volta a Catalunya overall, three podiums and two stage wins.

He returns this year with the overall win in mind, rather than a stage win as he did in the Tour de France, which was interrupted this year to recover from a sacral fracture suffered in the Criterium du Dauphiné.

"That was always the plan," he said. But you have to take it one day at a time. No pressure, just enjoy the race."

"We're a very young team and it's a great experience for them to run in the [overall] class. It's still early in the race, but we've got a good start."

When Roglic's teammate Sepp Kuss attacked 4.6km from the finish, Martin switched to the Slovenian and attacked 500m later.

He was followed by the other leaders (three Jumbo-Visma riders and Carapaz, plus Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling), Esteban Chavez (Mitchelton-Scott), and Enric Mas (Movistar)) and in the first big challenge of the Vuelta, the front He appeared to be comfortable in the group. Afterwards, Martín commented on how hard the race was, noting that the headwind on the climbs added to the difficulty.

"It was a very hard day to start a Grand Tour, and you can see by the difference in the finish. The last climb was a pretty strong headwind and it was a cat and mouse game."

"When Primoz attacked it was too strong, but I'm glad to be part of the fight.

The race marks the Israeli startup nation's first participation in the Vuelta a España, and as a veteran of more Grand Tour appearances than the other seven combined, Martín will serve as both road and GC leader.

The team includes climbers James Piccoli, Mikkel Reim, Omer Goldstein, Alexis Renard, and Matteo Badilatti, all making their Grand Tour debuts, while Reto Horenstein and Rory Sutherland have three Vueltas and 13 Grand Tours. Martin congratulated them on a very tough first day.

"The team protected me all day and I had really good legs. It was my first time riding with so many riders and they did a great job."