INTERVIEW | Nelson Oliveira 11th on Vuelta a Espana opening but promises to go for a stage win: "It would be a dream. I've already won once, it's not impossible"

Nelson Oliveira started another Grand Tour of his career in the city of Lisbon, in an excellent individual effort, finishing the stage in 11th place, just behind João Almeida and 20 seconds behind the day's winner, Brandon McNulty.

Speaking exclusively to CyclingUpToDate at the end of the stage, the Movistar Team man was happy: "The sensations were good and it was nice to have the vibrant support of the people here in Lisbon at the start of a Grand Tour. I'm very proud to be racing here in Portugal". As for his time in the time trial, the Anadia native said: "I wanted to do better, but someone was better than me".

The possibility of getting away in the early stages to try and give the Portuguese a cheer and even maybe try to get to the red jersey through an escape, since he finished the day quite close to the lead:

"We have to think about the team's own tactics and see where we go from here. We have to think about the team's own tactics and see what the team proposes from now on, we have two stages here in Portugal that are for sprint finishes, we have to be patient. There's still a lot between now and Madrid, but we'll see," he concludes. "It would be a dream. I've already won once, it's not impossible."