It was quite an unusual opening day in Catalunya as a very modest breakaway went up the road and was easily caught by Movistar's work that dislodged the main sprinters, the stage and initial lead of the race fell on Andreas Kron who won the sprint in a little group that went away before the final climb of the day, winning in front of Luis Leon Sanchez and Remi Rochas.
Positive: Kamna having some seconds that will be useful for the GC, Kron taking his first World Tour win, first of many.
Negative: Poels, Meintjes and Froome completely out of the GC fight, several sprinters who climb well also were dropped and missed out on a good chance to get a stage today. Moivstar seemed to have a plan but I didn't understand it, spent unnecessary energy.
The Route
An individual time-trial is a nice addition to the Volta and I must say this early on, right before the mountains is a brilliant format of which I'm positively surprised. The TT itself is not flat at all it features several bumps that will affect the outcome of the stage, right from the start with 500 meters at 5.6%, then 3.2Km at 3.5% shortly after, and after a lap around the lake the riders have another slight uphill with another 500 meters at 5.6%, before a downhill, fast aproach to the line with some technical turns and roundabouts along the way.
Definitely not a normal time-trial, but with 18.5Km in distance there is time for those with a big engine to develop a strong constant pace, with special focus on these uphill sections, alongside some risks in the several corners they'll find.
The Weather
There will be some wind from the east,it will intensify throughout the afternoon. Except from the start, the open sections will see a crosswind so I don't think it'll make a significant difference.
The Favourites
It's not in any way a regular time-trial, featuring some wind and some climbs, aswell as a descending finale back into Banyoles it's one where the effort will have to vary a lot throughout the route and the planning has to be ideal in order to get the win. However some specialists are marking their presence here and will be looking for that elusive win, Rohan Dennis first and foremost, likely will be the name mentioned the most as he seeks a win and possibly the lead of the race, but so will plenty of his rivals. Deceuninck bring in Remi Cavagna (who crashed today) and Josef Cerny as big contenders aswell for the day, and men who love hilly TT's, and although there aren't plenty purists, there are some names who love these conditions and will be big threats like Luis Leon Sanchez who was very active today, Thomas de Gendt and Chad Haga.
There are several riders who will be threats to the stage though that don't come as specialists, but will be fighting for every second available before reaching the mountains. The quality is quite high actually, and although I will surely miss a name or two can surely perform really well, some very strong rides are expected from the likes of João Almeida for example who has established himself as one of the most consistent riders out there and comes in with great form, Brandon McNulty who is back after a crash took him out of Paris-Nice whilst in the GC fight, Ineos duo Geraint Thomas and Richie Porte who are slowly getting back to good form and EF's big man Hugh Carthy. Of course, from Jumbo-Visma I would also expect some good performances specially from the likes of Steven Kruijswijk and Chris Harper.
Prediction Time
⭐ De Gendt, LL.Sanchez, Carthy, Thomas, Kruijswijk
He was excruciatingly close to getting that win in Paris-Nice, I think he'll get payback tomorrow and take his first win of the season.
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