Lidl-Trek was well-prepared for the opening 34.3km team time trial at Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, having reconned the stage at the Team’s January training camp.
As soon as the Team rolled off the ramp, it was obvious that every single rider meant business and an impressively strong team performance out on course saw them stop the clock at 39 minutes 19 seconds to move into the hot seat.
As one of the first teams to start, it was a long wait however, in the end, no one was able to get close to matching the benchmark set by the Team, made up of Simone Consonni, Daan Hoole, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier, Jonathan Milan, Jakob Söderqvist, Edward Theuns, and Mathias Vacek.
Quotes from the race leader after Stage 1, Mathias Vacek, and Jonathan Milan below:
Mathias Vacek:
“It’s a really great feeling. We could even think about the margin we had at the finish, about 50 seconds. It’s crazy what we did today. We aimed high, but winning is something special for us, and for the team it’s a great success. We’re super confident now for the next races and time trials. Today we enjoyed our victory and we left everything out there. It feels so great.
“It was not really decided that I should pass the finish first, but I was in the first position before the downhill and I stayed there until the finish line, and I’m proud that I can wear the yellow jersey now for the next stage. I want to thank my team, to the other guys because without them it wouldn’t be possible. The team effort we put in and all the details we worked on, now it paid off and it feels great. I don’t want to say that I’m going to win the next stages, but I’ll try to keep the jersey for as long as possible.
“I have a good gap to the other teams but for sure it will be hard racing with some tough climbs in the next says. I’ll see how I feel but I will leave it all out there to keep the jersey as long as possible.”
Jonathan Milan:
“I would say absolutely yes [it went to plan]. The plan was a bit easy – go full gas and give 100% of ourselves, so we were believing in this. We were also try this time trial in the last month, during the January training camp. From the beginning we looked and said that with our team it would be really perfect. I think it’s a perfect result.
“I think it was the plan to make Mathias first. In the end everyone deserves this victory, everyone gave 100%. Mathias did a nice pace and I think he can play his cards also in the next days.
“I think I’ll have to wait a bit. The last stage should be pretty interesting for me. I’ll have to suffer a bit, I’ll help my teammates and we’ll see.”
