Bike Exchange Jayco and team leader Simon Yates finished the opening time trial of the Vuelta a España with mixed emotions.

Nevertheless, the results sheet shows the Australian team and the 2018 Vuelta a España winner in a better position than quite a few of their rivals.

"The start was tricky. The track surface was half-wet at times, and after entering the corners it was blind and you didn't know if the other side was wet or dry. [but luckily we all survived.

Marco Pinotti, BikeExchange-Jayco's time trial specialist coach, admitted that he was hoping for a top-five finish.

"We were expecting a podium, and maybe even a win," he said. But some teams were stronger than us. So we'll take some lessons learned and try to do better next time."

His words were echoed by Gene Bates, the team's lead director at the Vuelta. He also noted that Jumbo-Visma also had a great performance, although the different weather conditions did not work in the team's favor.

"There is no denying that Jumbo was very good, and they started off in great conditions.

The fact that the course was wet for the teams that started early helped the racers to attack the course.

"We wanted to see what we could do in the best conditions," Bates said.

"But the racers did a great job. We didn't have any major accidents, but I slipped a little bit in the corners.

"But because it was wet, I lost a little bit of speed on the inside and the outside.

The time difference early in the Grand Tour may be of little note on GC in three weeks' time. However, Bates said he does not feel that the caustic nature of the two flat stages coming up will be mitigated.

"The stress will continue over the next two days, given the strong winds seen in Holland, the possibility of sprint finishes, and the fresh pack coming into this stage," he said. 'It's probably going to be hectic, although we probably won't see any GC riders until stage 6 and the first big summit finish of the race.'