BMC wins, Sky takes it easy at the Stage 1 time trial of the 2015 Vuelta a España

With big ambitions to pull off a double-shot pair of wins at both the Tour de France and Vuelta a España this year, Team Sky’s Chris Froome, the 2015 Tour winner, is taking it easy at first — along with his team. Hitting the stage 1 time trial yesterday, opening the Vuelta, Froome rode the 7.4 km course into Marbella, Spain relatively gently, conserving his energy as a demanding two weeks of competition begin.

BMC Racing, meanwhile, a squad of time trial specialists who also won that segment of the Tour de France, finished first, clocking a time of eight minutes and ten seconds.

The route into Marbella consisted of long, tight stretches of terrain that are almost all sand, prompting the team to adopt a strategy focused on avoiding accidents so early in the race — accidents that could trip up Froome’s or other Sky riders’ chances as the Vuelta continues. With its dialed-back approach, the UK-based Sky finished the first stage of competition at the -2015 Vuelta a España in 20th place.

BMC’s winning performace, meanwhile, was led by Slovakina Peter Velits, who will wear the leader’s jersey as Sunday’s much hillier 158.7 km stage 2 haul into Caminito del Rey begins. Putting in the best performance on stage 1’s difficult terrain, though, has Velits’s teammates feeling confident as the race’s series of grueling climbs loom, as the Guardian reported.

“When we’re the world team time trial champions we have to do the stripes proud,” said BMC’s Tejay van Garderen. “It’s a tricky course but in the end the guys stepped up and did us proud.”

However, BMC’s winning ride during the opening time trial segment won’t count towards overall standings for the rest of the Vuelta. Recognizing the precarious, risky nature of the time trial course, organizers decided to neutralize the stage, with the teams’ standings not affected by their stage 1 times. It’s also why Sky decided to take it easy, ultimately.

“I rode most of the race on my sidebars because it was so bumpy and because there was a lot of gravel and sand on the corners,” said Geraint Thomas, as reported in the Guardian. “If everyone had gone flat out it might have been quite dangerous.”

There are, after all, much more difficult stages ahead for contenders at the Vuelta a España . Sunday’s trek into Caminito del Rey is one thing, but then, notoriously, there’s the prospect of stages 7, 11 and 16, the toughest of the race. Stage 7 ranges 191.1 km from Jodar to La Alpujarras, stage 11 covers 138 km from Andorra la Vella to Cortals d’Encamp, and stage 16 is a 184 km ride from Luarca to Ermita de Alba, all of them through the mountains.

Riders, no doubt, have their work cut out for them this year.