Cycling: George Bennett scores ninth-place finish in opening stage of Vuelta a Espana

George Bennett's Jumbo-Visma team has made an immediate impact on the Vuelta a Espana, the third and final grand cycle tour.

Defending champion Primoz Roglic took the early lead by winning the opening stage, a 173km trek from Irun as the race got off to an explosive start.

The Slovenian, who lost the Tour de France yellow jersey on the last competitive stage, powered away from a small group of top contenders with just over 1km to go in the Alto de Arrate.

Roglic's Jumbo-Visma teammate American Sepp Kuss blew the peloton apart during the last climb with a brutal acceleration.

Bennett finished 40 seconds back in ninth.

Meanwhile, Team Bahrain McLaren's Jan Tratnik edged past Ben O'Connor in a two-man finish to win the 16th stage of the Giro d'Italia, a 229km hilly route from Udine to San Daniele del Friuli.

Around 13 minutes adrift of the stage winner, Portuguese Joao Almeida made a late charge on the steep finish to extend his overall race lead to 17 seconds over Sunweb's Wilco Kelderman.

Reuters