MADRID — 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 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 toward the overall standings due to safety concerns and Sky was 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, which also won the team time trial at last month's Tour de France and is the world champion, was first in eight minutes 10 seconds. Tinkoff-Saxo of Russia and Australian outfit Orica were second and third respectively. — Reuters
