Ineos Grenadiers faded in their team trial effort on stage 5 of the Vuelta a España and were unable to carry their lead from the first intermediate time check through to the line, eventually finishing fifth in Figueres.
The British team set out at a blistering pace, beating the leaders at the first check, Lidl-Trek, by six seconds, but as they came through the second intermediate point 8.5km later, Ineos had already lost seven seconds to the American team and would lose more en route to the line.
They finished provisionally second, seven seconds slower than Lidl-Trek, and ultimately lost out to three more teams, as UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Visma-Lease a Bike and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe also finished quicker.
"We tried to go in aggressively, and it was clear that the other teams have a strong lineup as well. We couldn't maintain it to the finish, and that's how it was," said DS Christian Knees to Cyclingnews and Eurosport after the finish, with no regrets over the pacing strategy.
"The plan was to win the stage, so it was worth the risk, and we put some pressure on the other teams there, I presume, so starting off quickly was necessary there. They all knew our times, and they might have reacted, so definitely we would do it again like this.
"It was a really brave ride from all of them. We knew it was ambitious, and we knew we had to do this in order to win today. Sometimes it can go bad, sometimes it doesn't work out as planned, and there's no real quick analysis, but I can say all the team rode super well."
However, it was by no means a disaster day, with GC Leader Egan Bernal only losing 16 seconds to UAE's Juan Ayuso and João Almeida on GC, and eight seconds to the new red jersey Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), only slipping to 10th overall and well in touching distance.
Knees hadn't yet spoken to Bernal, but was certain the Colombian national champion was going to be more than satisfied with where Ineos finished.
"I bet so, we only lost 16 seconds, and we're not far off, so it was a good day. Obviously, we would have liked to gain a little bit already. If you aim for the win and get it, then you obviously gain on the other, but Egan will be satisfied with today, definitely," he said, with Bernal confirming his DS's theory.
"It was a very good TTT. We started out strong because we wanted to go for the win, and we ended up setting a nice time that makes us more confident in our GC bid," said Bernal to Caracol TV and Eurosport.
"We are not far away from the top spots, and there is a lot of Vuelta left. The next couple of days will create bigger time gaps than this TTT has done."
Bernal's season has already been successful, with a seventh-place finish overall at the Giro d'Italia, but of course, as a former Giro and Tour de France winner, Bernal and the team are hoping for more than just another top 10.
"I mean, he finished already in seventh at the Giro this year. He's obviously already in great shape," said Knees.
"The team time trial was another step to keep him up there, so we succeeded, and we just take it day by day now and see how it goes. Obviously, we would like to have a better result than in the Giro; that's the ultimate goal, and we will fight for that."
Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our 2025 Vuelta a España coverage. Our team of journalists are on the ground from the Italian Gran Partida through to Madrid, bringing you breaking news, analysis, and more, from every stage of the Grand Tour as it happens. Find out more.
