Team Sky had said their sights on another grand tour top performance at the Vuelta but team leader Sergio Henao was an unexpected loser on the first mountain stage yesterday. The Colombian lost 2.41 but the team is hopeful that it was just a bad day.
Much had been expected from Sergio Henao in this year's Vuelta which is his first chance to ride a grand tour in a leadership role. Hence, it was a big surprise when the Colombian suddenly lost contact on an not overly difficult finishing climb during yesterday's second stage.
The Sky leader never recovered from his struggles and ended up losing 2.41. While it is still early in the race, Henao's podium dreams may already have come to an end on the second day of racing.
Sports director Marcus Ljungqvist was surprised by the outcome but hoped that it was just a result of a bad day.
"Of course losing time with Sergio is not what we hoped for," he admitted. "We didn’t see that one coming. It was a bad day but it’s one to learn from and move on. It’s still early in the race and we’ll look to find opportunities to take the time back."
"It’s one to look into and see what we could have done different. It’s a likely combination of things. Of course Sergio is disappointed by there’s a long way to go."
The team still has a genuine GC contender in its ranks. As it was the case in the Giro, Rigoberto Uran had went into the race in a domestique role but after yesterday's 10th place he now finds himself in a position to lead the team.
"Rigoberto did a good ride on the climb and the rest of the team did a good job to help bring them into the final," he said. "It should be a flatter stage tomorrow before another uphill finish and we're ready to get going again.”
Uran will have to stay attentive on a potentially windy day in Galicia today and on the final category 3 climb to the finish. Starting at 15.00 you can follow the stage on CyclingQuotes.com/live.
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