Cannondale created a major surprise in today's opening team time trial of the Vuelta a Espana when the team finished second behind Movistar. Alessandro De Marchi admitted that he had never expected his team to do so well.

Going into the opening team time trial of the Vuelta a Espana, Cannondale had barely been mentioned as a potential winner of the stage. However, the team created a major surprise when they finished second behind Movistar after having led the stage for most of the day.

Alessandro De Marchi admitted that he had never expected his team to be in contention for the win.

“It’s been a nice experience to hope for the win for so much time but at the end we’re second," he said. "Damiano Caruso was our first man on the line.

"It’s a good performance anyway. Had we been told this morning that we’d be second, we wouldn’t have believed that. We were not expected to go so well. We read the course very well and we remained united.”