A well-balanced effort, building up on their speed through the course as the Movistar Team usually does, led the squad directed by ChenteGarcía Acosta and José Luis Jaimerena towards 5th place in the 17.6-kilometer opening effort in the Giro d'Italia, a TTT from San Lorenzo al Mare to Sanremo. Against the biggest specialists on fast courses, the telephone squad opposed their bond and seriousness, its nine riders keeping strength, cohesion and linearity over the bike path in the Riviera dei Fiori.

Eight of the Blues - Lobato, Herrada, Izagirre, Fernández, Intxausti, Visconti, Antón and Amador - eventually came together across the line, 21" behind Australian outfit Orica-GreenEdge - with Simon Gerrans as first Maglia Rosa - having lost only seven seconds into the final eight kilometers, overtaking experienced, GC-focused squads like BMC, Sky and Katusha in the process. It's another boost of morale for Unzué's roster, which will take on stage two tomorrow over flat roads from Albenga to Genova (177km), searching for the first bunch sprint.

“This TT keeps confirming we're an overall strong squad," manager Eusebio Unzue said. "Though time gaps were minimal, even ridiculous considering what we will see in Milan at the end of the race, we must be excited about today's performance, because all guys did well and even some pure climbers, like Igor Antón, made it to the finish - even keeping in mind that it was mainly the TT specialists' task. In such a fast course, with power riders leading the way, staying so close to the top guys is satisfactory, and though it's only the final time which counts, making the top-3 or 4 in the second part of the course and beating some GC teams at the end makes us happy.

"Now we're heading into different terrains, with stages suiting Lobato - whom we'll try to stay with as much as we can - and especially some days where many teams are already fighting for their chances. We'll try to profit from our guys' abilities and also protecting Juanjo. He's really strong at the moment and has 6-7 chances to show what he's got inside."