Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team earned a podium spot in the 1st stage of La Vuelta a Espana — a 16.5km team time trial in Pamplona — on Saturday.
OPQS finished 2rd to Movistar (18'51"), and ahead of Rabobank. OPQS and Rabobank had the same time of 19'01", as did 4th place BMC Racing Team.
OPQS was 4th at the intermediate checkpoint.
The team looks next to a 180km stage from Pamplona to Viana on Sunday.
"The team had a great performance today," Sports Director Davide Bramati said. "We had a great time at the check point. At more or less 8 kms to the finish, we entered into a roundabout. The motorbike in front of us took the wrong way — turning left instead of going straight. Tony Martin, who was leading the team at that time, followed the motorbike, it's a question of instinct. We reacted immediately, but we lost Tony and Zdenek Stybar, who were the two first riders. The rest of the guys continued riding even if we lost a lot of time because of it. Everybody had to brake and find the race pace again. We were 2nd at the end. It's a good result, but we could have done better without this problem. We will fight again in the next stages. The GC is really close."