When Jumbo Visma outnumbers, wills, and wattage, there is only one thing a rival can do. And that is exactly what the Dutch team did on the opening stage of the Vuelta a España with a summit finish in Alate, killing almost all of its rivals.

When dust settles, so do mountains, and there was a considerable gap between Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Chris Froome (Ineos Grenadiers), and Alexander Vlasov (Astana). Even Tom Dumoulin of Jumbo-Visma lost nearly a minute when he was knocked down by a friendly fire as his teammate Primos Roglic won the stage and jumped into the leader's jersey No. 1.

Roglic started the Vuelta the same way he did the Tour de France, with a stage win. Finishing a close second in the Tour de France were Richard Karapas (Ineos Grenadiers), Dan Martin (Israel Startup Nation), Esteban Chavez (Mitchelton-Scott), Felix Großschartner ( Beulah Hansgrohe), Enric Mas (Movistar), and Hugh Kersee (EF Pro Cycling) were the only ones.

Roglic had a brilliant run on the final climb to Sepp Kuss before attacking with 900m to go. While there were spirited runs by Martin, Mas, and Kersee, some of the pre-race favorites for the win were scattered.

Last year's runner-up and former winner, Valverde, was not the only one to struggle, as Cus made a huge attack on Alate with 4.6km to go. Dumoulin, who just yesterday told Cycling News that he was "looking for the podium," followed the Spaniard and broke away from the back of the lead group, followed by Davide Formolo and David de la Cruz (UAE Team Emirates).

Chaves, George Bennett, and surprise package Grosshartner were able to contact Couss' group after a brief slowdown, but there was no way back for Dumoulin and Valverde, and Mikel Nieve (Mitchelton Scott), de la Cruz, and Formolo together with Logrich, lost 51 seconds. Their GC hopes faded, but it is still early in the race and their form at this point can be deceptive.

Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) dropped slightly, 1:08 to be exact, but Marc Soler (Movistar) also lost time. Wout Poels (Bahrain McLaren) missed out on a top 10 finish with a time loss of 1:51, while the Groupama-FDJ duo of David Gaudoux and Thibaut Pinot lost even more time. Gaudoux, who entered the race as a protected racer, finished in 35th place and was 2:22 behind. Pinot, who came into the race looking for confidence and a stage win, finished 10 minutes behind, allowing him to focus on his pre-race goals.

In Astana, Alexander Vlasov finished 4:31 behind.

Froom, who came to this race to support Carapaz and prepare for next year, finished 71st, losing 11:12. He fell on the final climb of the Alto de Huergeta (a 6.2 km long third class 3 mountain), but eventually rejoined the lead group and finished the race intact.

While Carthy continued to carry the EF Pro Cycling banner, two leading riders were involved in crashes and lost their chance for a top overall finish. Daniel Martinez, who will move to Ineos Grenadiers next year, was 4:29 behind on this stage, while Michael Woods fell on the final climb and lost both stage and overall chances. The Canadian finished in 157th place, 18 minutes and 29 seconds behind Roglic.

The 2020 Vuelta a España has only been underway for one day, but already the GC standings are beginning to be determined.