Team dsm-firmenich take opening TTT victory at Vuelta a España

Balancing risk and reward, Team dsm-firmenich navigated the wet opening day team time trial in Barcelona to take a brilliant win at the Vuelta a España.

Just before the race got underway the skies above Barcelona opened up and rain began to fall. As one of the early starters, the team had to navigate the conditions as the roads turned from dry to wet, making for some potential danger. With a material plan set to tackle the changing conditions and after good training in recent days, the team were confident and worked incredibly cohesively as a unit. Setting the fastest time at the intermediate, they would go on to continue that form and move into the hot seat at the finish. A nervous hour followed as the Team dsm-firmenich squad waited as team-after-team came close but just couldn’t match their effort. A rapturous celebration followed as everyone revelled in a great victory which sees Team dsm-firmenich move into the red jersey and race lead with Lorenzo Milesi.

Speaking after the finish Milesi said: “It’s an amazing feeling. This win with all the team was so fun and so nice, it was really emotional. Also watching the whole race and the other teams ride their efforts; that was definitely a harder watch than in Glasgow. We took some risks out there but had a good pacing plan with the team and stuck to that. I think that worked really well for us. I’m just super happy to be a part of this win and of course to be in the red jersey will be special too.”

Romain Bardet added: “It’s a dream start for us to be honest. We did some nice training on Wednesday here together. The goal for the Vuelta still says the same; we will take it day-by-day. We want to make sure that our young guys can learn as much and gain as much experience as they can. We did well in the process today. It was a fun experience to ride with the guys on the limit on every corner but also caring about how the guys were following behind you. I’m proud of everyone, it’s a really nice day.”

Team dsm-firmenich coach Phil West continued: “It’s a really, really nice way to start the Vuelta and it’s a lovely example of teamwork from both the staff and riders. We set out to go through our process throughout the day. Of course in these races you never know quite what can happen, so we just focused on what we could control, and that’s what we did. Unfortunately the rain came before the start so there was quite some water on the circuit. Even despite the weather, the guys focused on the process and executed their plan in the race as the best we could and in the end we came out with a really nice ride. It’s a good way to kick this Vuelta off and we’re looking forward to the next days.”