"We got through and we can look forward to the rest of the race" - Simon Yates satisfied after stressful start in Utrecht

A team time-trial is always a difficult and tricky effort, however yesterday in the streets of Utrecht for the opening team time-trial, the leftover wet spots from the rain that fell on the Dutch city in the early afternoon made it even more dangerous.

One of the riders who was satisfied to come out of it safely was Simon Yates, who's looking to revalidate his 2018 title in the race. “It was a tricky start, the road was a little bit half-wet sometimes, you’d got into a corner and it’s just blind faith, you don’t know if it’s going to be wet or dry on the other side," Yates said in a post-race interview.

Team BikeExchange - Jayco did not have the big engines that were features in the likes of Jumbo-Visma, INEOS Grenadiers or Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team, however are a team with a lot of experience and knowhow in this specific discipline, and have had a lot of time-trial specific work done this year with their leaders. That has earned them a fourth spot, 31 seconds down on Jumbo-Visma.

“We almost had a couple of mishaps but luckily we all survived, so I think that’s the main thing, we got through and we can look forward to the rest of the race," Yates said. On more than one occasions the Australian team had difficulties in corners due to wet roads. Something which seemingly did not affect as much the latter teams, making for a difference out on the road. Nevertheless it was a good start for the Briton who sees himself taking some seconds on many of his direct rivals. In these last two days in the Netherlands there will be a need to stay safe as the tension is set to be quite high in the bunch sprints.