Visma | Lease a Bike admits disappointment after Vuelta time trial: 'The main goal was to win'

Visma | Lease a Bike finished with three riders inside the top 20 in the Stage 1 time trial at the Vuelta a España. Wout van Aert had attracted most of the attention beforehand, but rather than the Belgian, who finished eighth, it was two Frenchmen who ended up taking centre stage. Van Aert remains just nine seconds off the red jersey after the opening day.

Before the Vuelta, Van Aert had spoken openly about targeting the red jersey, and to make that possible he needed a strong time trial on the opening day. Finishing nine seconds behind stage winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was certainly a respectable start, although Van Aert was not the highest-placed Visma | Lease a Bike rider in the results.

Christophe Laporte was actually two seconds quicker, earning the Frenchman fifth place. "It was a difficult time trial. You had to go flat out from start to finish and there were very few moments to recover. It was hard, but I enjoyed racing here," the 33-year-old Frenchman said via his team’s channels.

Bruno Armirail might have been capable of doing even better than Laporte and Van Aert, but the 32-year-old time trial specialist was forced to change bikes midway through his ride. Armirail was visibly frustrated by the problem, gesturing with his arms before eventually accepting his fate and getting back underway.

Once he had been helped back up to speed, Armirail calmly completed the time trial through Monaco. He eventually finished 147th, just over a minute behind Pogačar. With Matthew Brennan also taking 16th place, Head of Performance Mathieu Heijboer could not be entirely satisfied with Visma | Lease a Bike's opening-day performance.

The Dutchman had set the bar high. "The main goal was to win, so obviously we're not completely satisfied. That said, we can say that Christophe, Wout and Matthew all rode very good time trials here," Heijboer explained after the stage.

"Wout confirmed that he's in good form, and we know he generally takes a few fewer risks. Looking ahead to tomorrow, he's already in a good position. The competition will be strong, but a finish like that should suit him," Heijboer added, referring to Sunday's long Stage 2 from Monaco to Manosque.