Dutch team DSM-Firmenich earned a surprise victory in the first stage of the 2023 Vuelta a España on Saturday, as the third Grand Tour of the season started with a team time trial in heavy Barcelona rain.

Reigning Vuelta champion Remco Evenepoel and his Soudal-QuickStep teammates finished fourth, with the Belgian appearing frustrated at the end of the race because of the darkness and late start time.

Jumbo-Visma, boasting three-time Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic and back-to-back Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard -- both favorites for the general classification -- surprisingly struggled, coming in 32 seconds behind DSM to finish 11th.

Italian rider Lorenzo Milesi won the first red jersey of the Vuelta, as he was the first of the DSM riders to cross the line in the 14.8-kilometer team time trial.

"Of course (we didn't expect this), but it's an amazing feeling," Milesi told Spanish TV channel La 2. "This win with all the team was so fun and so nice. It was really emotional to watch all the (rest of the) race. We took some risks but had a good plan and stuck to the plan, and it worked really well, so I'm very happy."

Barcelona temperatures soared this week, but ahead of the race, a thunderstorm hit the Catalan capital, creating slippery conditions, which led to several crashes on the technical course.

Second to start, DSM set what looked like an early strong benchmark of 17 minutes, 30 seconds, which penultimate starters Movistar Team finished a fraction of a second behind. The Spanish side finished six seconds ahead of EF Education-Easypost in third.

Ineos Grenadiers, led by former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas, placed eighth, 20 seconds behind the leaders.

Stage 2 on Sunday sees riders duel over 182 kilometers between Mataro and Barcelona's Montjuic Castle.

This is the 78th edition of the race, which ends in Madrid on Sept. 17 after 21 stages and 3,153.8 kilometers.