Lampre-Merida captains Przemyslaw Niemiec and Damiano Cunego knew that they were likely to suffer a time loss in yesterday's opening team time trial but the stage panned out much worse than they had expected. Having been one of the teams to do their ride in very wet conditions, they could only manage 17th and the team regretted the bad luck that had seen them get their race off to a poor start.

Last year Lampre-Merida did surprisingly well in the team time trials in both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France despite not having any real specialists omboard and they were hopeful that they would carry on the momentum in yesterday's opening stage of the 2014 Giro. However, the team could only manage 7th, losing 1.20 to stage winners Orica-GreenEDGE.

That time loss puts GC riders Przemyslaw Niemiec and Damiano Cunego on the back foot right from the beginning of the race. Much of the loss, however, can be explained by the bad luck that saw the Italians be badlly affected by the wet roads in Belfast.

"It was too bad that we non-favorable conditions," manager Brent Copeland said. "The weather has been so changeable that the rain and wind have influenced the time trial for some teams. When we started, the road was very wet. 

"We took it easy in a few corners, losing seconds since it will not be the team time trial that decides the fate of our Giro. The boys have decided not to take additional risks and took it easy in the remaining part of the course.

"I regret not having been able to benefit in full of the good work of test and preparation that the riders and the athletic directors have done in recent days. I will also point out that we did not have mechanical problems. Our mechanics have prepared the best bikes for the riders."