"Racing in America my first time is very different. he roads are really wide and the people are really friendly."

Those were the words of Astana's Alexey Lutsenko after the Team Time Trial at the World Championships in Richmond, Virginia. Lutsenko and his five teammates finished 8th of 27 teams on Sunday, 1:38 behind repeat winners BMC of the United States.

On a sunny day with stronger than usual winds, Lutsenko and his teammates raced a flat course through the city center and out into nearby farmland before returning through a difficult technical sector in a small forest full of big houses.

Lutsenko remains to race the individual time trial for Kazakhstan on Wednesday and the road race next Sunday. Lars Boom (NED), Andrei Grivko (UKR), Tanel Kangert (EST) and Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP) will also race the men's elite championship on 28 September, and Jakob Fuglsang (DEN) flies home on Monday.