La Vuelta Ciclista a España

On the fifth day of La Vuelta, the race finally arrived in Spain for one of the most important stages of the opening week – the 24.1km team time trial.  It was for the 15th time in the last 20 years that a TTT took place at the Spanish Grand Tour, which on Wednesday was present in Figueres, the birthplace of the famous Salvador Dali – one of 20th century’s most important artists and a leading exponent of Surrealism.

The seven T-Rex Quick-Step riders in the race – Gianmarco Garofoli, Mikel Landa, William Lecerf, Pepijn Reinderink, German ITT Champion Maximilian Schachmann, Mauri Vansevenant and Louis Vervaeke – put together a solid effort on the flat course around the Catalan city and stopped the clock at the end of this stage won by UAE Team Emirates in 26:14, having averaged 55.1km/h.

Following this TTT – which came so late into the race for the first time since the ‘70s – the best placed T-Rex Quick-Step rider in the general classification ahead of Friday’s challenging summit finish in Andorra is Czech Tour winner Junior Lecerf.

Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images