Lampre-Merida bounced back from the loss of Chris Horner with a solid performance in the opening team time trial. Having ended the stage in 10th, the team exceeded its own expectations.

Lampre-Merida got the Vuelta a Espana off to the worst possible start as they lost Chris Horner before the riders had even rolled down the start ramp for the opening team time trial. Hence, they were pleased to put the disappointment behind them in stage 1 where they exceeded their own expectations.

With no TT specialists on the team, the Italians were not expected to be among the best in today's stage and so their 10th place was a surprise. Sports director Joxean Fernandez Matxin even believes that the team could have done even better.

"The course was very technical, with so many roundabouts and some turns that were difficult to interpret," he said. "There were just a few straight sections where you could go at high speed.These characteristics made ​​it even more important to have harmony among the riders and choose the right lines 

"After an initial section in which we did not go strong, we found a good pace and got faster and faster in the second half of the course. Our performance is beyond expectations. Without any doubt, we could even have been in the top seven."