This year's Vuelta a España will be shaped across Monaco, France and Andorra in the opening days and position the GC for the final two weeks of climbing and hot weather in southern Spain. There is instant intrigue for the first leader's red jersey, which will be decided in an individual time trial across 9.4km of twisting turns, tunnels and legendary landmarks in Monaco.
This is the first of two ITTs in the three-week race, the second a 32km test on stage 18. This opener is expected to take around 10 minutes to complete, filled with an abundance of corners, and most of the elevation gain of 83 metres coming in the second half.
