The 2025 Vuelta a Espana continued Wednesday with stage 5 – a 24.1-kilometer team time trial in and around the city of Figueras in northeastern Spain. The race had left France and transferred to Spain overnight and the team time trial would be contested on Spanish tarmac. Race organizers Unipublic and A.S.O. had chosen to include the much-neglected team time trial discipline in this year’s Vuelta to the great satisfaction of many pro cycling analysts.

The relatively short 24.1-kilometer stage 5 team time trial route was situated in flat terrain, and the riders would leave Figueras, travel east to Vilanova, and then continue northwest to Peralada and Cabanes, before returning to Figueras.

Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard had handed the general classification lead to David Gaudu of Team Groupama-FDJ in yesterday’s stage and the French rider would be wearing the red aero suit in today’s team time trial, though Vingegaard and his Visma-Lease a Bike gang were favorites to win the team time trial and retake the GC lead. Other favorites to take the stage victory included Team Lidl-Trek, UAE Team Emirates, and Ineos-Grenadiers-TotalEnergies.

The start list of Vuelta a Espana 2025 featured popular riders such as Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), Ben O’Connor (Jayco-Alula), Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R), Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), Thomas Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Filippo Ganna (Ineos-Grenadiers-TotalEnergies), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), and Egan Bernal (Ineos-Grenadiers).

The riders from Team Lotto-Caps were the first cyclists to enter the large black team time trial start ramp of stage 5 in Figueras late in the afternoon. The city of Figueras is the birthplace of famous painter Salvador Dali and hosts a very interesting Dali Museum, which features his surreal paintings, installation art, and sculptures. Perhaps the Vuelta race organizers would let themselves be inspired by Dali, bizarrely choose a dotted finish line for the stage finale in Figueres, and only record every other rider in honor of the great Salvador Dali, who excelled in surrealism.

Though it had rained heavily in the morning hours, the Lotto-Caps riders left the time trial start ramp under somewhat sunny weather conditions, and the tarmac was mostly dry, reducing the risk in the very technical starting kilometers inside Figueres. The Alpecin-Deceuninck team left the start ramp four minutes later.

Team Picnic-PostNL was the third team to leave the start ramp, which was located in front of the Dali Museum. Intermarche-Wanty also started their team time trial, as did other teams. The riders would enter small rural country roads after leaving the city of Figueres.

Lotto-Caps set an early fastest time at intermediate timing point 1. Intermarche-Wanty was three seconds slower, while Alpecin-Deceuninck was eight seconds behind in third and Picnic-PostNL fourth.

While many teams had yet to start their team time trials, Lotto was also fastest at Intermediate Timing Point 2 and Alpecin-Deceuninck was now more than sixteen seconds slower.

Lidl-Trek started its team time trial and Mads Pedersen was the first rider to set the pace for the team in the streets of Figueres. 

Lotto-Caps was the first team to reach the finish line. The team had spent 25:53 minutes on the roads before concluding their team effort. The riders entered the hot seats as leaders of the team time trial. Meanwhile, Tom Pidcock and the rest of the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team left the start ramp on a very important mission to protect the interests of Great Britain’s Pidcock in the general classification. Pidcock was fifth in the GC before the team time trial, sixteen seconds behind David Gaudu and Jonas Vingegaard.

While Alpecin-Deceuninck finished sixteen seconds behind Lotto-Caps at the finish, Lidl-Trek and Jayco-Alula pushed the Lotto team down in the rankings at Intermediate Timing Point 1. Lidl-Trek was now fastest, eight seconds behind Jayco.

Lidl-Trek also set a new fastest time at Intermediate Timing Point 2. Lidl-Trek’s Carlos Verona then crashed during the team time trial and the team decided not to wait for the Spanish rider. The six remaining riders would have to fight for the stage win.

Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team was second-best at both Intermediate Timing Point 1 and 2. Team Movistar and Team EF Education-EasyPost started their team time trials.

Lidl-Trek dropped Frenchman Julien Bernard. The climber was finding it hard to keep up the fast pace and the opportunity for a stage victory could not be wasted.

Lidl-Trek set a new fastest time when the team reached the finish line, and its riders replaced the Lotto-Caps riders in the hot seats. Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team later clocked the second-fastest finishing time, though more than thirteen seconds behind the Lidl-Trek guys. Tom Pidcock was the first rider to cross the finish line.

Team Ineos-Grenadiers-TotalEnergies and Bahrain-Victorious left the start ramp. The team time trial discipline was important for both teams. Ineos-Grenadiers-TotalEnergies were both targeting a stage win with time trial expert Filippo Ganna and protecting the interests of Egan Bernal in the general classification.

Decathlon-AG2R set a new second-fastest time at Intermediate Timing Point 1 and the team was less than a second behind Lidl-Trek. What an admirable and surprising effort from the French team.

Ineos-Grenadiers-TotalEnergies blast past Intermediate Timing Point 1 in a new best time. The team was ten seconds faster than Lidl-Trek and featured strong time trial riders such as Filippo Ganna, Magnus Sheffield and Michal Kwiatkowski. The key for the team would be to win the stage while managing to keep light climber Egan Bernal onboard.

The Ineos outfit was second-fastest at Intermediate Timing Point 2, but Magnus Sheffield surprisingly got dropped from the Ineos-Grenadiers-TotalEnergies team as did Brandon Rivera. Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe had started its team time trial and was looking strong. UAE Team Emirates also left the start ramp in Figueres with great expectations. The team featured Mikkel Bjerg, Juan Ayuso, Joao Almeida and other noteworthy time trial experts.

The four remaining riders in the Ineos-Grenadiers-TotalEnergies team finished the team time trial in a new second-fastest time but was five seconds behind Lidl-Trek.

A rider from Bora-Hansgrohe-Red Bull crashed heavily and hit his head on the tarmac at high speed.

Team Visma-Lease a Bike and Groupama-FDJ left the start ramp.

UAE Team Emirates set a new second-fastest time trial at Intermediate Timing Point 1. Its time was almost exactly the same as the leading team’s. Visma-Lease a Bike was third, three seconds behind Ineos-Grenadiers, while Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe was fourth at Intermediate Timing Point 1 and Groupama-FDJ was fifth with GC leader David Gaudu on the team.

Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe were second-best at the finish line. Lidl-Trek maintained the stage lead, while Ineos-Grenadiers-TotalEnergies were now third. But multiple teams had yet to reach the finish line.

UAE Team Emirates had dropped to third, five seconds behind Lidl-Trek, when the team reached Intermediate Timing Point 2.

Jonas Vingegaard and the rest of Team Visma-Lease a Bike proved slower at Intermediate Timing Point 2. The team only managed to squeeze itself into the top ten. The team was almost eighteen seconds behind Lidl-Trek, sixteen seconds behind Ineos-Grenadiers-TotalEnergies, and approximately thirteen seconds behind UAE Team Emirates. Perhaps Vingegaard shouldn’t have handed the red race leader jersey to David Gaudu in yesterday’s stage. Sometimes it’s better to hold onto what you’ve got.

UAE Team Emirates blast across the finish line in a new best time and replaced the Lidl-Trek riders in the hot seats. What a dominant performance from the UAE team, which featured Mikkel Bjerg, Juan Ayuso, and Joao Almeida.

Visma-Lease a Bike had managed to improve its time in the final stretch to the finish line and crossed the finish line in second place, eight seconds behind UAE Team Emirates.

UAE Team Emirates has won the stage 5 team time trial of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana. Team Visma-Lease a Bike finished eight seconds behind the winning team, while Lidl-Trek completed the stage podium nine seconds behind UAE Team Emirates. No dotted finish line was spotted, and while the results may appear surreal to some, the ghost of Salvador Dali did not manage to influence today’s racing in and around Figueres.

Jonas Vingegaard reclaimed the general classification lead but is now chased by a strong trio from UAE Team Emirates. Juan Ayuso, Joao Almeida and Marc Soler are all ready to steal the GC lead from the Dane. Giulio Ciccone is fifth for Lidl-Trek, while David Gaudu is now sixth after a respectable performance in the team time trial.

“We were a bit slower in the middle part of the team time trial and maybe we could have gone a bit faster there, but I believe we can be happy with how we performed today,” general classification leader Jonas Vingegaard told Roadcycling.com. “I am happy to be in the red jersey again and it is very nice. Tomorrow is the first proper hard stage, and we have to be ready for the fight,” Vingegaard explained.

Thursday’s stage 6 of Vuelta a Espana 2025 will take the riders further north and into mountain territory on a 170.3-kilometer route from Olot to Pal Andorra. The stage will conclude on the Pal climb (Category 1) where the general classification favorites are expected to battle for valuable time gains.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from the 2025 Vuelta a Espana.