Jasper Philipsen wins sprint finish on opening stage of Spanish Vuelta

NOVARA, Italy (AP) — Jasper Philipsen won a sprint finish on the opening stage in Italy of the Spanish Vuelta on Saturday, as title favorite Jonas Vingegaard finished safely in the pack.

Belgian sprinter Philipsen powered to the line after being launched by his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates. He finished the 186-kilometer (115-mile) stage from Turin to Novara in the Piedmont region in 4 hours, 9 minutes, 12 seconds.

It was the 27-year-old’s fourth career win at a Vuelta — to go with 10 stage wins at the Tour de France.

Philipsen was followed by Ethan Vernon in second and Orluis Aular in third.

Philipsen also won the opening stage of the Tour de France in July. He crashed out of the race two days later.

“After my crash in the Tour I was really disappointed to be out. It was a setback and you have to find new goals,” he said. “And this was a nice goal because I knew that we only had one chance since there were not many opportunities for sprinters like me at this Vuelta.”

The first stage was just one of four flat stages during the three-week race that will feature several summit finishes on Spain’s mountains.

Philipsen will wear the Vuelta’s red leader’s jersey on Sunday for a 160-kilometer (100-mile) flat stage with an uphill finish at Limone Piemonte.

The race stays in Italy until crossing into France on Stage 4. It then shifts to Spain, where it will completely be held in the country’s northern half. Spain is just recovering from a brutal heat wave that fueled massive wildfires,

Vingegaard, a two-time Tour winner, is favored to win his first Vuelta after top rival Tadej Pogačar and four-time Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic both opted to skip the race.

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