Strong collective Lidl-Trek dominates competition in team time trial at Tour of Valencia

After the Spanish season opener in Mallorca, the next Spanish race kicked off today. In Valencia, several WorldTour teams are competing for overall victory in the always challenging Tour of Valencia. In the first stage, Lidl-Trek proved to be incredibly strong, winning the team time trial with a commanding lead over Team Jayco AlUla and UAE Team Emirates XRG. Mathias Vacek will wear the leader's jersey on behalf of Lidl-Trek tomorrow.

In the opening stage of the Tour of Valencia, riders were immediately presented with a rare challenge: a team time trial on a course that was far from straightforward. Home team Euskaltel-Euskadi had the honor of setting off first, recording a time of 41 minutes and 39 seconds. However, this time was quickly beaten by Israel-Premier Tech, which shaved nearly a minute off the Spanish team’s time.

Shortly after, it was time for the WorldTour teams to make their entrance. Lidl-Trek, featuring time trial specialist Daan Hoole and top sprinter Jonathan Milan, set a time under 40 minutes — stopping the clock at 39:19. INEOS Grenadiers, with former time trial world champion Tobias Fossin their lineup, was considered one of the favorites for the victory but ultimately finished almost a minute behind Lidl-Trek.

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Even top teams UAE Team Emirates XRG and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe can't match Lidl-Trek's time

UAE Team Emirates XRG was the next WorldTour team with general classification ambitions to take the start. At the first time check, the team — led by João Almeida — was still close to Lidl-Trek. However, in the final kilometers, the squad lost significant time to the American formation. They ultimately finished 50 seconds behind Lidl-Trek.

Meanwhile, Movistar was also unable to get close to the top time, losing over a minute. Could the challenge still come from Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe? The German team was the last to start, but they too failed to match Lidl-Trek’s time, finishing more than a minute behind. Behind the dominant American squad, Team Jayco AlUla secured second place, with their GC leader Ben O’Connor putting in an excellent performance.

Results stage 1 Tour of Valencia 2025 (team time trial)

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