Scalar-tensor gravity theories with a nonminimal Gauss-Bonnet coupling typically lead to an anomalous propagation speed for gravitational waves, and have therefore been tightly constrained by multimessenger observations such as GW170817/GRB170817A. In this paper we show that this is not a general feature of scalar-tensor theories, but rather a consequence of assuming that spacetime torsion vanishes identically. At least for the case of a nonminimal Gauss-Bonnet coupling, removing the torsionless condition restores the canonical dispersion relation and therefore the correct propagation speed for gravitational waves. To achieve this result we develop a new approach, based on the first-order formulation of gravity, to deal with perturbations on these Riemann-Cartan geometries.topological invariants, e.g., the Pontryagin or Gauss-Bonnet (GB) terms, motivated by effective field theories, string theory, and particle physics [15]. From a phenomenological viewpoint, the scalar-Pontryagin modification to GR-also known as Chern-Simons modified gravity-is an interesting extension that might explain the flat galaxy rotation curves dispensing with dark matter [16], while leaving the propagation speed of GWs unaffected [17]. This interaction generates nontrivial effects when rotation is included [18][19][20][21][22][23], providing a smoking gun in future GW detectors [24][25][26][27]. The couplings between scalar fields and the GB term, on the other hand, have been studied in different setups and several solutions that exhibit spontaneous scalarization have been reported [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. Their stability, however, depends on the choice of the coupling between the scalar field and the GB term [42][43][44]. In spite of this, the theory is experimentally disadvantaged from an astrophysical viewpoint, since it develops an anomalous propagation speed for GWs [45].Scalar-tensor theories have been formulated in geometries that depart from the pseudo-Riemannian framework several times in the past. In particular, the gravitational role of Riemann-Cartan (RC) geometries, characterized by curvature and torsion, was first discussed by Cartan and Einstein themselves [46], and later on in the framework of gauge theories of gravitation [47][48][49][50]. Within its simplest formulation-the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble (ECSK) theory-torsion is a nonpropagating field sourced only by the spin density of matter. The nonminimal coupling of scalar fields to geometry dramati-arXiv:1910.00148v3 [gr-qc]