Vuelta a España: Jasper Philipsen sees off Ethan Vernon to take red jersey

Jasper Philipsen, of Alpecin-Deceuninck, won the first stage of the Vuelta a España in a sprint finish on Saturday to take the red jersey. It was Philipsen’s first win since he claimed the first stage at last month’s Tour de France before a serious crash ruled him out of the rest of the race.

Ethan Vernon, of ProTeam Israel-Premier Tech, was second and Orluis Aular, of Movistar, third behind the Belgian sprinter.

As the Vuelta made its first start in Italy on the largely flat 186.1km ride from Turin to the town of Novara, which has hosted two Giro d’Italia finishes, six riders formed a breakaway and opened up a two-minute lead.

Burgos Burpellet’s Hugo de la Calle then launched an audacious solo move with 83km to go, but he was caught by the peloton with 38km left before the teams set the stage up for the sprint finish.

More to follow