A 19.9-kilometer team effort kicked off the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta Wednesday evening and Trek-Segafredo stormed to victory in a time of 23 minutes and 31 seconds (50.773 km/h), beating the previous fastest time set by Team Bike Exchange by six seconds.
With only two teams to finish the slightly rolling course it was not a long wait in the hot seat for the US registered WorldTour team. The last teams, SD Worx and Movistar, clocked 4th and 5th places respectively, giving Trek-Segafredo their 2nd win of the year after winning the Postnord Vårgårda WestSweden TTT.
FDJ - SUEZ - Futuroscope rounded out the podium in third place.
The Trek-Segafredo team was comprised of Elisa Longo Borghini, Elisa Balsamo, Shirin van Anrooij, Elynor Bäckstedt, Lucinda Brand and Amalie Dideriksen.
Elisa Longo Borghini crossed the line first for Trek-Segafredo and will wear the leader’s jersey into a hilly Stage 2.
The five-day women's Vuelta culminates in Madrid with the men on Sunday.
Quotes of Elisa Longo Borghini:
“I feel really happy because it was another team victory. We had a good plan and the team did really well. I have to thank the entire staff of Trek-Segafredo and all the girls because they were really committed today.
“We knew we were generally strong compared to the others, there was not one team that was standing over the others, so we knew we would be competitive today. We tried our best to start fast and finish fast.
“We will enjoy the jersey with the whole Team tonight – every time you win you need to enjoy it and tomorrow is another day. There are really strong riders here and I know I am in good shape but I never underestimate my rivals – I have a lot of respect for them.
“It’s a discipline that Trek-Segafredo really likes, and we were really motivated for today. There’s no secret, it takes a lot of commitment. We did a lot of work at the Mapei Sport Center with the positioning this winter. It has made a difference as you can see each rider has improved a lot with this their time trials this season. It’s a discipline we really like and As the women’s team it’s a discipline we really like because you need a good synergy and we have that.
“My ambitions for this for race are to race free and see where my limits are this week. Tomorrow is a very hard stage and I just want to cherish this moment now with my teammates and we will think about Stage2 tomorrow morning. Of course, I will try to defend the leader’s jersey. I am honored to wear it as it does not happen often, so I will definitely try and defend it.”
