Contador takes race lead in Vuelta Andalucia time trial

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Javier Moreno (Movistar) won the time trial on the opening day’s double stage at the Vuelta a Andalucia, with Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) moving into the race lead.

Moreno, in his home region of Spain, posted a time of 9:51 on the 8.2km course around the town of Coria del Rio, with Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo) two seconds back and and Jerome Coppel (Cofidis) at four seconds.

Contador was fourth fastest with 9:57 – eight seconds quicker than rival Chris Froome – and clinched the leader’s red jersey.

"I can not be happier," Moreno said. "The victory is dedicated to those who are always there, especially my family, my partner and little Javi Gema. Now we have four stages ahead to support both Juanjo in the sprints as Beñat for the general."

The course, running through Coria del Rio on the outskirts of Seville featured two short inclines and several technical corners, one of which almost got the better of Froome. There were no crashes but the pile-up in the split stage’s road race earlier in the day meant that Frank Schleck (Trek Factory Racing) didn’t start.

Coppel was the first man to go under 10 minutes but his lead stood for less than half a minute as Moreno, the next man off the ramp, put in a commanding ride. As the wind picked up only Beñat Intxausti (Movistar) and Bob Jungels (Trek Factory Racing) – along with Kelderman and Contador – could join them in the sub-10-minute club.

Much had been made before the race of this first showdown of 2015 between Contador and Froome and it was the Spaniard who carved out a small advantage. They both finished safely in the front group in stage 1a so the gap to the Brit in fourth place on GC stands at eight seconds. With the likes of the devilish Hazallanas summit finish on the horizon, that counts for very little, apart from perhaps the psychological upper hand.

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