Lidl-Trek repeated their 2024 success by winning the opening team time trial of La Vuelta Femenina. The team covered the 8.1km through the streets of Barcelona in 9:30 minutes, beating SD Worx-Protime and Liv-AlUla-Jayco by three seconds.
Defending champion Demi Vollering's FDJ-SUEZ team finished fourth on the day, losing six seconds, after the team lost Vittoria Guazzini to a crash around the U-turn on the course.
Ellen van Dijk led the Lidl-Trek team across the finish line and will wear the red leader's jersey on stage 2.
“We are super happy. We really wanted this win and trained well for it; we had the whole team going for this, not just the riders, but all the staff. To do it in the end is super nice,” said Van Dijk after their victory was confirmed.
“It went super fast. Before you know it, you finish. We had a good strategy and executed it really well. I think we did almost everything the way we wanted, so we were satisfied with the performance. And in the end, of course, it’s just waiting, waiting, waiting until the other teams finish. And then when you hear you won, it’s such a relief. These are the best wins because you can celebrate it all together."
Ellen van Dijk crossed the line first for Lidl-Trek in the opening team time trial and wears the first leader's jersey at La Vuelta Femenina (Image credit: Getty Images)
How it unfolded
The team time trial was held in the Eixample quarter of Barcelona with its long, straight boulevards. Starting and finishing on the Passeig de Gràcia, most of the course was out-and-back on the Avinguda Diagonal, with an intermediate time taking at the U-turn after 4.1km.
Lotto were the first team off the start ramp and set the first time when they finished in 10:07 minutes. Cofidis went five seconds faster at the turning point and set a new best time in 9:57 minutes, the first team to break the ten-minute mark.
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The first Women’s WorldTeam to start, Picnic PostNL, blitzed around the course, taking nine seconds off Cofidis at the halfway point and setting a real benchmark with 9:39 minutes at the finish, putting the team in the hotseats to wait if anybody could beat their time.
However, the next batch of teams all fell well short, with Movistar the closest contender as they finished seven seconds slower despite losing Cat Ferguson to a mechanical. When Liv-AlUla-Jayco reached the turning point, they stopped the clock at 4:58 minutes, promising a very fast time – and at the finish, the purple-clad team took the lead with 9:33 minutes.
Liv Allua Jayco on course (Image credit: Getty Images)
Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto had been within a second of Liv-AlUla-Jayco at the turning point but finished five seconds slower. Lidl-Trek were also a second behind the leaders at the intermediate time but increased their speed on the way home, taking the lead with 9:30 minutes.
UAE Team ADQ then finished off the pace in 10:00 minutes, leaving only SD Worx-Protime and FDJ-Suez out on the course. SD Worx-Protime were five seconds slower at the turning point but recovered to finish only three seconds down.
FDJ-Suez were two seconds slower than Lidl-Trek at the intermediate time, but lost Guazzini through the U-turn as her front wheel locked up. The Italian could finish the stage, but without her time trialling skills, the team finished in 9:36 minutes, handing the victory to Lidl-Trek.
Lukas Knöfler started working in cycling communications in 2013 and has seen the inside of the scene from many angles. Having worked as press officer for teams and races and written for several online and print publications, he has been Cyclingnews’ Women’s WorldTour correspondent since 2018.
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