UAE Team Emirates 5th in team time trial

The UAE Team Emirates began the Tour Colombia with a fifth place. The team, directed by Joxean Matxin, needed 15’41” minutes to cover the 14km city stretch in Medellin. The riders went just 34 seconds slower than the winning team EF Education First with new race leader Rigoberto Urán.

The time over the distance saw the team average 53.560km an hour – not fast enough to clock a time of 15’07” minutes set by Urán’s team.

Sergio Henao, the team’s classification rider, said, “We lost a few seconds more that we expected, above all in the second part of the stage. Our overall feelings, though, were good. Those gaps are not insurmountable and the spirit of our team is strong. All these factors leave me optimistic that I can compete in the next days against the very strong riders and teams assembled here in Colombia.”

Stage 1 results:
1 EF Education First 15’05”
2 Deceuninck-Quick Step 8″
3 Team Sky 10″
4 Astana 22″
5 UAE Team Emirates 35″

Overall classification after stage 1:
1 Rigoberto Urán (Col) EF Education First 15’05”
2 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First s.t.
3 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First s.t.
19 Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates +35″