Team Sky managed to get Chris Froome safely through what was a very nervous and windy first road stage of the Vuelta a Espana. The team is now looking forward to tomorrow where a small climb in the finale will offer the first small test for the riders.

Chris Froome finished on the coattails of the sprinters on stage two at the Vuelta a Espana after strong work from his Team Sky team-mates.

The Brit dug deep to finish high up in 17th position after being expertly shepherded through a fast and technical run-in.

Team Sky hit the front heading along the seafront in San Fernando with Philip Deignan, Pete Kennaugh and Christian Knees driving the pace with Froome in tow. The effort allowed Froome to stay clear of trouble and finish ahead of his general classification rivals in the process.

The stage gave the sprinters their first opportunity and Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) did not disappoint with a comfortable victory. The Frenchman had the measure of John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) and Roberto Ferrari (Lampre-Merida) at the line following a big scramble for road position.

In the battle for the red jersey, the bunch finish meant stage placings became a factor as Alejandro Valverde inherited the race lead from Movistar team-mate Jonathan Castroviejo.

Froome remains 27 seconds back on the lead following the 174.4km test.

"We made it our one goal today that we should be well-positioned and the guys did a really good job all stage," said Sports Director Dario Cioni.

"On paper it looked easy but during the first half of the stage there was some wind and out here you really don't need much to get in trouble. There was a point when it could have possibly split but we knew that further up the road it would die down. It wasn't enough to do any real damage.

"Tomorrow's stage could be interesting. It's a more difficult stage with the finish up a small climb. Again it will be essential that Chris is in a good place heading into the finish. At that point we'll see the first small test for the riders."