Froome safely through opening stage of Vuelta (Reuters)

Sky’s Chris Froome began his bid for a rare Tour de France-Vuelta double with a relatively gentle workout in the opening stage team time trial on Saturday with safety the main priority for the British outfit. The 7.4-km ride into the southern resort of Marbella, which included several narrow, sand-covered stretches, will not count towards the overall standings due to safety concerns and Sky were focused on avoiding mishaps and saving energy for Sunday’s second stage as the team came home in 20th place out of 22. BMC Racing of the United States, who also won the team time trial at last month’s Tour de France and are the world champions, were first in eight minutes 10 seconds.