Cycling: what a start! At the team time trial on the 1st stage of the Vuelta a Espana, there was a heart-stopping finale to marvel at. The Sky and Movistar teams each needed 27:30 minutes for the 37 km route. Sky were awarded victory by four tenths, making Peter Kennaugh the first leader of the Tour. Alberto Contador and his team Tinkoff lost a whopping 52 seconds to the day's winners. Bora-Argon 18 did an excellent job with the XNUMXth best time of the day.
Bora-Argon 18 is in the lead for a long time
The 71st Vuelta a Espana should start again this Saturday evening with a team time trial. The drivers had to travel from Ourense to Castrelo de Miño 28 km return. At 18:26 the German team opened Bora Argon 18 the last major tour of the year. When they – logically – set their first best time of 31:34 minutes at the finish line, they probably had no idea themselves that they would all be sitting in the so-called hot seat for quite a long time. One reason for this was the technical problems of Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana). Shortly after the start, the entire team had to Astana therefore wait for his captain and lost an enormous amount of time. At the finish, it was only a second behind Bora-Argon 18. But the other teams also struggled with the German time. Louis Meintjes was hit particularly hard because the ranking driver lost with his team lampre over a minute on Bora-Argon 18. Although the team I AM When the nine of them crossed the finish line, they were also 16 seconds slower than the Germans, who were slowly getting used to a possible top 10 placement. It was already clear from the split times that it wouldn't be enough for more, because the team Etixx Quick Step was going extremely fast. At the finish, they were able to beat the German time by a full 35 seconds. Now they were the hunted and the strongest teams were yet to come.
Orica-BikeExchange having a good time for Captain Chaves
After the team Cannondale Andrew Talansky, meanwhile, moved into second place with a five-second lead over Bora-Argon 18, impressed the team Orica Bike Exchange again in a team time trial. However, the men around Esteban Chaves not only drove for a good stage placement, but also for their captain. They beat the time of Etixx-Quick Step by a full 16 seconds. The team needed almost two minutes longer for this route Giant Alpecin. But then the top teams entered the race. The team BMC was already on the same level as Orica-BikeExchange in all intermediate times, was even six seconds ahead shortly before the finish. But on the last few kilometers they seemed to give in a bit, so that it wasn't enough for a second after all. So Samy Sanchez's wish to take over the leader's jersey of the Vuelta a Espana was at least postponed. The team LottoNL Jumbo could not keep up with the best times, but with a 31:04 they were able to keep the deficit for their captain Steven Kruijswijk within limits.
Sky & Movistar almost at the same time - Peter Kennaugh first leader
Now the teams Movistar, Sky and Tinkoff were still on the track. All three teams were behind at the split times. But the team Movistar was able to put on an unbelievable final sprint on the asphalt like a few years ago: 30:37 minutes and thus the lead! The team Sky again was roughly level with Movistar on split times, but blew apart several times on the crests and even Chris Froome had to open a gap himself. When the British train crossed the line and the time was displayed, it couldn't have been more exciting: 30:37 minutes! Movistar and Sky thus got the same time, but Team Sky was four tenths faster. The team Tinkoff on the other hand, lost a whopping 52 seconds to the two top teams and Alberto Contador is already relatively far behind. The Bora-Argon 18 team was a very good tenth at the end of the day.
Vuelta a Espana Stage #1: The daily classification
Tour Locations | Driver | Time |
---|---|---|
1. | TeamSky | 30:37 |
2. | Team Movistar | + 0: 00 |
3. | Team Orica BikeExchange | + 0: 06 |
4. | Team BMC Racing | + 0: 07 |
5. | Team Etixx Quick Step | + 0: 22 |
6. | Team LottoNL Jumbo | + 0: 28 |
7. | Team Trek Segafredo | + 0: 50 |
8. | Team Cannondale-Drapac | + 0: 52 |
9. | Team Tinkoff | + 0: 52 |
10. | Team Bora-Argon 18 | + 0: 57 |
Vuelta a Espana stage #1: The general classification
Tour Locations | Driver | Country | Team | Time |
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1. | Peter Kennaugh | Great Britain | Sky | 30:37 |
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