Vuelta a España cycling race gets underway in Barcelona

The Vuelta a España Grand Tour gets underway in Barcelona on Saturday.

Stage one of the event will see a team time trial across 14.8km of the city center. 

The event will also mean major disruptions to traffic in the Catalan capital all day, as many major roads will be closed for most of the day. The city council recommends using the metro as an alternative. 

The race will begin around 6.55 pm from Port Olympic before passing by the Arc de Triumf, going through Poblenou, crossing Eixample, and finishing in Montjuïc. 

The event is not ticketed and will be free to view from the parameters of the route throughout the city. 

With 18 turns of 90 degrees or more, stage one of the Vuelta a España will be a highly technical race, as riders will have to show off their coordination in navigating these turns. In the second half of the route, there are longer stretches where the cyclists will be able to show off their power. 

Stage two of the event takes place on Sunday, with riders racing 182km from Mataró, north of Barcelona, through Sabadell and Manresa, before finishing again in Montjuïc in the Catalan capital.