"It's true, the real mountain stages are to come, but I was really counting on today's stage," Uran said. “To win the time trial has great significance for me personally, for my team, and for Colombia, and to take the Maglia Rosa as well is a nice surprise. There’s a long way to go, of course, and the real mountains are still ahead of us, but today is important.

"I worked a lot for this stage. We came here two months ago to perform recon. We worked a lot with Specialized, including in the wind tunnel in California. I was very good at the time trial at the Tour de Romandie and carried my condition into the Giro.

"I kept receiving information about the times of Cadel Evans as I went along the course today. I think it made a difference. I wanted to do well today, but I didn’t expect to win and take the jersey.

“I wanted to do well in Tirreno-Adriatico and in the Tour of Catalonia, but I had stomach trouble so, when the results didn’t come, the team re-focused entirely on the Giro. We’re here in good health, with a great team, and we want to do well in the Giro d’Italia.

"I’m 27 years old, still young, but I’ve already been professional cyclist for 9 years and I think it was time I started getting results like this. I used to win time trials in Colombia, when I was still a junior.

“I’ve learned a lot since last year. I moved to Omega Pharma - Quick-Step to be the team’s leader in the 3-week tours, and I’ve worked hard. In Ireland we were very clear about this: we said we were here to win the Giro, and that’s what we’re alining at.

But there is no one rival in the next days. There are many more. There are many rivals here: Quintana, Evans, Majka, Pozzovivo. The final week, the hard stages, are still ahead of us.”

"But, we really aimed everything at this Giro. We're here, we're doing really well, we have a great team, so we are here to try and win the Giro and we will do our best to honor and protect the Maglia Rosa.

"I'm super proud. For me, it's something special, but it's also special for my country. I'm thrilled to be here and make my Colombian public proud with a victory and the pink jersey."

OPQS also finished with four riders in the top 10 of the time trial — from Barbaresco to Barolo — that favored those who can also climb. Gianluca Brambilla, Wout Poels, and Thomas De Gendt finished 5th, 6th, and 8th.

"De Gendt is really strong in the time trials and we all wanted to do well," Uran said. "Look at the bike themselves, our Specialized bikes. They're fast by themselves, right? Put these guys on those bikes and see what more can happen. Brambilla was 5th, Poels 6th, and De Gendt 8th. I don't have anything else to say. We have strong guys and really fast machines to ride on."

Uran's win is his first individual victory of the season, and the 32nd for OPQS, in three disciplines, in 2014.

OPQS looks next to a flat, 157km Stage 13 on Friday.