The Vuelta opens with a 9.4 km individual time trial through Monaco, and with a piece of history. The Giro started here in 1966 and the Tour in 2009, making Monaco the first place to have launched all three Grand Tours. The course is twisting and technical, run on narrow streets that barely straighten before the next corner, so it rewards handling and nerve more than raw power. The opening two kilometres drag gently upward before the road tips down fifty metres to the harbour and runs flat to the line. The winner pulls on the first red jersey of a race that will climb more than 58,000 metres before it reaches Granada. Spain has to wait. The opening four days run through Monaco, France and Andorra, and the race does not reach Spanish roads until stage 5.