An eighth spot was far from ideal for INEOS Grenadiers at the opening time-trial of the Vuelta a Espana, but their losses were bigger than any other team in terms of riders as they've lost Laurens de Plus, much to the disliking of Geraint Thomas.
“I was the first to go through the corner where De Plus fell. Maybe I went a bit too fast, so he has to take a risk and falls," Thomas told Eurosport. “Filippo Ganna had a puncture. And a few guys got very nervous after Laurens' crash, of course they didn't want to fall either. The rain had a big effect on our performance, but it was the same for all teams. The only downside for us was that it was a route where we couldn't really use our strength. However, we had the intention to go full for it.”
What was on paper a route well suited to the British team and they were big candidates to jump into the race lead, it turned instead into a race of survival. Crashes affected many riders, the team lost De Plus and Ganna early on in their effort, but still managed to gain a few seconds on Jumbo-Visma. However, Thomas lost time on Evenepoel in a day they expected to instead gain an advantage.
“Delivering power on the straights, and careful in the corners. Unfortunately I did that a little too quickly, because Laurens is a great loss," he lamented. Into stage 2 where the riders' individual form will be taken more into consideration, Thomas will already need to have his climbing legs ready.
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