Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team entered the 2014 Giro d'Italia with the main goal of supporting Rigoberto Uran as the GC leader. The Colombian rider relied on his reinforcements immediately, as the team finished just 5" down on stage winner Orica-GreenEDGE in the Stage 1 21km TTT on Friday in Belfast.
Orica-GreenEDGE won with a time of 24'42". OPQS averaged 52.535km/h along the parcours. BMC Racing Team was 3rd (+7"). Rain was a factor for many of the teams, including Garmin-Sharp who suffered a crash that affected their GC ambitions.
Time differences will be crucial for GC teams. Uran will need to minimize all time gaps in anticipation of the final week of the Giro, which is sure to be brutal for all in the peloton.
"I’m very happy about the start of this Giro,” Uran said. “Even if we weren’t the favorites, we came here to try to win this team time trial. Despite not having guys like Tony Martin, with the big engines for a time trial, we wanted to show our attitude toward the Giro d’Italia as a team. We prepared very well for the race and I think our effort paid off. We didn’t win, but we took a few seconds on a few of the GC contenders. It’s only the first say of the race but I’m satisfied with what we did today."
