Astana finished fifth in the team time trial at the Tour de France. Vincenzo Nibali's team lost more than half a minute to BMC. Lieuwe Westra was among the five riders to reach the finish together for the Kazakh team. "Ultimately, I think we did the maximum," he told ANP.

"More was not possible. We tried to stay together as long as possible but in the beginning we missed a few turns. We were almost flying," said Westra who has confidence in his Italian leader. "I have no doubts about him. But after the first mountain stage we know more."

Lars Boom sat uo just before the final climb. "It was just too hard for me," he said. "It looks very good for Vincenzo, he rode very easily."