(Montreal) Of the four teams that have a Quebec athlete in their ranks, Olivia Baril, UAE Team ADQ, obtained the best ranking in the team time trial, a ninth place, at the start of the Women’s Tour of Spain, Monday.

On the flat 14.5 kilometer course of this first stage disputed in the streets of Torrevieja, the team of the athlete from Rouyn-Noranda maintained an average speed of 46.44 km / h to stop the clock at 18 minutes 44 seconds, trailing winners Jumbo-Visma by 41 seconds. Britain’s Anna Henderson dons the red leader’s jersey.

“We did the best we could, except we made lots and lots of technical mistakes. Let’s say it could have been better,” said Olivia Baril after the race.

The team time trial is an exercise where the members of the same team must produce a homogeneous effort, because it is the time of the fourth rider who was retained in the classification. This is what was lacking at UAE Team ADQ as noted by the Quebecer.

“Some teammates had a harder time,” she conceded.

The teams of Magdeleine Vallières-Mill (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, 48 seconds), Simone Boilard (St-Michel — Mavic — Auber93, 59 seconds) and Adèle Normand (Massi-Tactic, 1 min 26 s) took 11th , 12th and 14th out of 23 teams entered.

In the general classification, Baril is 43rd, Vallières-Mill 55th, Boilard 60th and Normand 76th. Changes are expected on Tuesday as nine runners from two teams are all within a one-second gap.

The course of the second stage will be disputed on Tuesday over the 106 kilometers separating Orihuela and Pilar de la Horadada, in the south-east of Spain.