Belgian sprinter Jasper Philipsen captured the opening stage of the Vuelta a España 2025, outsprinting Britain’s Ethan Vernon and Venezuela’s Orluis Aular after 186.1 kilometres from Turin’s Reggia di Venaria to Novara in Italy’s Piedmont region. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider, returning to Grand-Tour competition six weeks after abandoning the Tour de France with a broken collarbone, claimed his fourth career stage win at the Spanish race and pulled on the event’s first red leader’s jersey. Pre-stage favourite Mads Pedersen finished 14th after losing position in the final metres, while Philipsen’s victory gives him an early advantage heading into Sunday’s hill-top finish to Limone Piemonte, the second of the race’s 21 stages that conclude in Madrid on 14 September.