Dismal start in Italy

Euskaltel got the Giro d'Italia off to the worst possible start in today's team time trial by ending up dead last. The team finished a full 1:13 down on the unbeatable HTC, but more importantly Igor Antón ceded 51 seconds to GC rival Nibali, 43 to Contador and nine to Purito Rodríguez. They started off well enough Euskaltel, but Cazaux and Aramendía had to let go on the second part of the course and the team never really got into the groove and, as anticipated, struggled against the more powerful and more typical team time trial teams. Cazaux finished the day 3:35 down and Aramendía 4:23. It can only get better after this.