Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) won the individual time trial of the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol, confirming that he has been working hard on his time trialing skills and giving him a shot at overall victory in the early-season Spanish stage race. Wellens stopped the clock with a time of 22:25 for the rolling course. He was two-second faster than Jakob Fuglsang, with his Astana teammate Ion Izagirre third at nine seconds. Wellens' second consecutive stage win cemented his overall lead, with the top of the GC board reflected the stage results. Fuglsang is now second overall at seven seconds, and Izagirre third at 14 seconds. Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) is fourth overall at 18 seconds and so still an overall contender.ADVERTISEMENT The stage looked set to be dominated by twins Adam and Simon Yates, who took turns in the hot seat after setting the fastest times. However they were eventually knocked off the top step, although both remained in the top ten for the day. Adam was fifth at 15 seconds and Simon was eighth at 22 seconds. The time trial was highly technical, with barely a flat section of road through the olive trees and fields. A steady grind up a category 3 climb lead to a very fast and long descent. The 16.2km route finished with a short climb up to the finish line, with 500 meters of the 1.75km climb at 11.4 per cent. Simon Yates came into the stage over 14 minutes down but put up an early fast time of 22:47. He was joined on the provisional podium by teammate Esteban Chaves, with a time of 23:38, although the Colombian soon started dropping down the list.
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