Vuelta a Espana: Astana win team time trial

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Astana put in a thoroughly dominant and mistake-free ride to win the opening team time trial at the Vuelta a Espana. The men in black and blue finished the 13.4km course in a time of 14:51 to win ahead of Deceuninck-QuickStep and Team Sunweb. The win put Miguel Angel Lopez in the first leader’s jersey of this year’s race after he crossed the line ahead of his teammates.

Deceuninck-QuickStep pushed Astana all the way and may have edged the win had it not been for a poorly parked Jumbo-Visma car. The Belgian team were forced to check their line and then lost two riders on the final corner as they looked to keep their rhythm. They crossed the line just two seconds down on Astana.

Jumbo-Visma’s terrible day didn’t stop there. The Dutch team were the favourites to win the stage and they were in contention until a crash took down several of their squad – including pre-race favourite Primoz Roglic – just after the intermediate check. Roglic battled through despite visible cuts on his left side but his GC chances were dealt a significant blow with close to 50 seconds lost to Lopez.

Astana came into the Vuelta a Espana with a squad built around Lopez but they had to wait until the sun began to set in Spain before their time trial began. Before then, Dimension Data and a strong-looking EF Education First had taken control of the race with the American team looking particularly impressive. They set a time of 14:58 and were the first squad to dip under fifteen minutes in a throwback to their last Grand Tour TTT win at the Giro in 2012.

However, when Astana began on the route it was clear that the team containing Lopez, Fuglsang and Luis Leon Sanchez were on a mission. While Sunweb had already nudged EF-Education First off the top stop, Astana were setting a blistering pace through the first time check. They were fastest by six seconds, ahead of Groupama-FDJ at the intermediate check and continued to dominate to the line.

Jumbo-Visma’s day was a catalogue of errors. They lost Sepp Kuss early on to a mechanical but dragged themselves back into contention with a respectable time in the first check. Then, on a slight rise and left-hand corner, they rode through a short wet patch. One rider then rode onto the white line and at that point seemed to lose control. When he tumbled he took several riders down with him, including Roglic. The Dutch squad, with Tony Martin at the helm, mounted a comeback as they began to regroup but the damage was already done by the time they eventually crossed the line in 18th place.

In July, Jumbo-Visma were the toast of the TTT but a wet patch on the road and a short lapse in concentration offered a timely reminder of how quickly the sport can change.

By the time Astana reached the hot seat, only Movistar and Deceuninck-QuickStep stood in the way as realistic challengers. The Spanish team were already 13 seconds down at the first check and would eventually finish seventh on the stage but Deceuninck – without ever looking spectacular – remained in contention and would have certainly finished closer or even won the stage had they not been hampered towards the end by a Jumbo-Visma car that had stopped in the road to aid a rider. Still, that’s cycling, and that’s the Vuelta. Everything can change in the blink of an eye and there’s still almost three weeks to go.

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