After riders had expressed concerns over the safety of the TTT course, the Vuelta a Espana jury has decided to neutralize the times and so the opening stage won't count for the GC.

The decision was taken after a meeting between the organizers, rider representatives and the race judges. Yesterday several riders expressed their frustration that they were going to race at speeds of more than 50km/h on a narroy bike path with sand, mud and rubber mats. They still have to but now they have no reason to take any risks to gain time on GC.

"Having received the concerns of teams and riders and after an inspection of the course with the technical director of the race, the Race Jury has decided that the stage will take place on the planned route,” a statement from the organizers reads.

"The recorded times will be counted for the team classification and not for the individual general classification.”