Froome is happy with ‘solid’ start to Vuelta
Chris Froome’s Team Sky finished fourth in the opening stage of the Vuelta a Espana, with BMC Racing winning the team time trial in Nimes.
Froome’s bid to become only the third man to win the Vuelta and Tour de France in the same year got off to a decent start. The British cyclist is 18th, but trails Rohan Dennis, BMC’s Australian rider, by just nine seconds.
There was a brief scare after the event, as police in the southern French city closed a railway station and arrested a man with a fake gun, amid heightened security following a twin terror attack in Spain.
“It’s a good start for us,” Froome said. “OK, it’s not the stage victory, but we put in a very solid ride. We are there or thereabouts with the best teams.”
Dennis is the first Australian since Michael Matthews in 2014 to take the leader’s red jersey. He said: “It was a hard course, very technical to start. It tested everything; strength, technique, speed and handling.”
The 14-kilometre opening stage time trial saw teams race around historical sites of Nimes. Quick-Step Floors and Team Sunweb pushed close, but none of the 21 other teams were able to dislodge BMC from the initial summit.
The 13.7 km track, which went mostly through winding, narrow city centre streets and through a Roman amphitheatre, was almost half the length of the team time trial in last year’s Vuelta, in which Sky pipped Movistar to victory by under a second. UAE Team Emirates, LottoNL-Jumbo and Movistar all experienced crashes, although the riders were able to continue.
Today’s second stage will stay in France, taking the riders from Nimes to Gruissan, and should be ideal for fast finishers.
The riders Froome hopes to emulate by completing a Tour-Vuelta double in the same season are Jacques Anquetil (1963) and Bernard Hinault (1978). The Team Sky man has four Tour de France titles to his name but has never been able to win the Vuelta.
Nairo Quintana opted not to defend his title, while Alejandro Valverde, his Movistar team-mate, is not competing because of an injury. Spain’s Alberto Contador, who won this event in 2008, 2012 and 2014, is 16 seconds off the pace. His Trek Segafredo team were 11th, leaving him 63rd overall. The 34-year-old is retiring after the race.