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ONCE edges Postal in Vuelta opener
Despite losing two riders early on, ONCE-Eroski lived up to its role of overwhelming favorite in the opening team time trial event in the Vuelta a España on Saturday.
It was a repeat of the Spanish squad's 2002 victory in the same stage over American squad U.S. Postal-Berry Floor.
ONCE-Eroski clocked 32 minutes, 1 second for the 28km course starting and finishing in Gijon, 10 seconds faster than Postal and 24 seconds ahead of third-placed Ibanesto.com.
Spaniard Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, 29, crossed the line at the head of the ONCE-Eroski team to take the first gold leader's jersey of the race. He last wore it when he won the prologue in Murcia in 1999, the year he went on to finish second overall.
"This is a battle, not the war we have won today,” said Gonzalez de Galdeano. “But it is a great start. We may not have as good time trialists on an individual level as other squads, but winning a team time trial is a question of a group effort, and we showed today we are the strongest for that."
ONCE-Eroski suffered a blow when German Jorg Jaksche and Spaniard Mikel Pradera lost contact with their seven teammates on the opening third-category climb.
"It was an explosive start and they simply couldn't handle the pace,” said Gonzalez de Galdeano.
Fastest on the climb by three seconds over Ibanesto.com, Gonzalez de Galdeano and Czech specialist Jan Hruska maintained the pace, keeping U.S. Postal 16 seconds behind at the second checkpoint at 14 km.
On the final run through the streets of Gijon, US Postal's superiority of numbers enabled them to close the gap to 10 seconds, but a long burst by Gonzalez de Galdeano gave the Spaniards their third TTT victory in Vuelta history.
Spaniard Aitor Gonzalez, last year's winner, had a bad first day, suffering a puncture with 1.2km to go and losing 1:25 to Gonzalez de Galdeano's squad after his Fassa Bortolo team was forced to wait for him.
"It is a pity, this blow of bad luck, but the race is still long and there is much road in front of us," Gonzalez said. "I felt well today, and in the hour of truth, I hope to be present."
The Relax-Fuenlabrada team was even less fortunate, crashing on the descent of a category-3 hill just 7km after the start. Team leader Santi Blanco, along with Nacor Burgos and José Manuel Maestre, were the most seriously affected, but were able to finish the stage.
Blanco, who fractured his left cheekbone in the crash, is expected to start Sunday. Burgos and Maestre suffered bruises but no fractures and also should be able to start stage two, a 148km run between Gijon and Cangas de Onis that is sure to be a day for the sprinters.
One sprinter who will not be in contention is Italian Ivan Quaranta (Saeco), who abandoned the Vuelta after just 3km, on the category-3 climb that was the only difficulty on today’s stage. World champion Mario Cipollini, however, managed to finish with his Domina Vacanze squad – albeit more than three minutes down. – Reuters and AFP contributed to this report
