Fine conditions for racing in Cantabria made for fast times in the opening team time trial at the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta, Australian WorldTour squad BikeExchange-Jayco setting the early pace with a scorching time out on the course.
Their mark would stand the tests of most of the field before Trek-Segafredo swept in just six seconds ahead of their time, with the remaining teams, including defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten’s Movistar squad, off the pace.
Trek-Segafredo brought good form in the discipline into the race, a month removed from winning the Vårgårda TTT.
The US team covered the 19.9 km in 23’31 minutes, finishing six seconds ahead of BikeExchange-Jayco and 11 seconds ahead of FDJ-SUEZ-Futuroscope.
Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) crossed the line first to become the first overall leader, with the Paris-Roubaix winner to wear the red jersey on stage 2.
“It was a very nice time trial from the whole team, all the girls were really motivated, and so was the staff. Congratulations to everyone at Trek-Segafredo. We were compact from the start, and then there were four of us left, and we did our best,” said Longo Borghini.
Trek-Segafredo lost Amalie Dideriksen and Lucinda Brand relatively early on, but Elisa Longo Borghini, Elynor Bäckstedt, Shirin van Anrooij, and Elisa Balsamo finished together to set the eventual winning time.
Van Vleuten sits 25 seconds behind the four from Trek-Segafredo, with Tour de France rival Demi Vollering two seconds ahead of her at present. Other climbing contenders like Kasia Niewidoma (59 seconds behind, Canyon-SRAM), Mavi Garcia (1’28 behind, UAE Team ADQ) and Silvia Persico (1’32, Valcar Travel & Service) all lost significant time.
The Challenge by La Vuelta continues with Stage 2, a mountainous course starting and finishing in Colindres that takes in five categorised climbs over the 106km of racing. Watch Live and Free on SBS On Demand from 2.20am AEST or catch up via the replay and winning moment the next day on SBS On Demand.
