Victor Campenaerts finished sixth in the opening time trial of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana today. The Belgian Team LottoNL-Jumbo cyclist crashed after five kilometres, but continued his time trial quickly to only lose 26 seconds to victor Wout Poels (Team Sky).

The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana is the first European race in 2016 for Team LottoNL-Jumbo. The Spanish stage race started on Wednesday with a tough opening time trial of 16.25 kilometres. Campenaerts finished his race in 23-01 minutes.

“Victor delivered a strong time trial,” sports director Merijn Zeeman said. “But he slipped away and fell off his bike in a turn. He continued his race quickly afterwards, though. He performed superbly in the end by finishing sixth. We didn’t expect that anymore because a crash like that costs a lot of time.”

“I wasn’t standing still for more than 27 seconds because of my crash, but it was at least 12 seconds,” Campenaerts added. “I’m 12 seconds behind the second place cyclist, so it could have been a very good result for me.

“It was a stupid crash. In an easy turn, my front wheel slipped away. It didn’t feel like I was riding too fast in that turn. The asphalt is a little bit more slippery in Spain than it is in Belgium or Holland. My chain came off, but the mechanic helped me back on the road quickly. It took some time to find my rhythm again and I began asking myself about why I should still push myself to my limit.

“My legs felt great, so I immediately decided to use my frustration for the rest of the time trial. I didn’t expect that my time was going to last as the fastest for such a long time. That I finish sixth in the end is a confirmation of the feelings that I had during my training.”

Koen Bouwman’s time trial was good, as well. He finished at 23-12 minutes and placed 19th. “That’s a good result of him,” Zeeman continued. “He is a neo-professional. He and Alexey Vermeulen will have space to develop and improve themselves during the upcoming days. Tomorrow, there’s already an uphill finish. With world-class riders participating, it will be hard for us. Bouwman, Vermeulen and Campenaerts may ride this race without any pressure.”