With a powerful team containing several strong riders for the flats, Belkin were one of the outsiders in today's Giro d'Italia team time trial. However, the team was heavily affected by the bad weather conditions and so Wilco Kelderman and Steven Kruijswijk lost more time than they had hoped.

The Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM kicked off the 97th Giro d'Italia with a 13th place in the opening time trial. On the 21.7-kilometre parcours on Belfast’s wet roads, the nine men of Sports Directors Jan Boven and Frans Maassen clocked 25-43 minutes. Orica-GreenEdge set a time of 24-42, won and put Svein Tuft in the race leader’s pink jersey. 

The Belkin Boys rode in heavy rains during the first kilometres of their team time trial. The men in green and black were able to make up a lot of time in the second part, however, and received praise from Boven.

“Unfortunately, lady luck wasn’t on our side today,” he said. “But you just cannot control the weather. We were one of the teams that had to deal with heavy rains. 

“We lost a lot of time in the first part as there were quite a few turns. Luckily, it dried out a little later which gave the riders their confidence back. The boys rode a superb second half. If it had been dry, we would have been in the top ten. The boys are clearly ready for the Giro, their legs are strong.” 

Steven Kruijswijk is happy that the Giro has finally started and that his legs felt fine today.

"We’re finally off, which is always nice. We had a good squad for this time trial, but unfortunately, the weather conditions were not favourable for us.

"Nevertheless, we did a fair time trial. We stayed upright and I feel good about today as I was able keep a good pace. We mustn’t worry about the time loss too much. We didn’t lose a lot.” 

Before the peloton flies to Italy, it faces two flat stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland. The Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM will focus on protecting their leaders during those stages. 

“That’s our main mission for the first days,” said Boven. “It’s very important that Wilco and Steven are well protected. The first few days of a grand tour are always very hectic. We’re trying to preview as much of the parcours as we can.” 

The peloton faces a 219-kilometre sprint stage with start and finish in Belfast tomorrow.