GRANADA, Spain -- Liquigas won the team time trial of the Spanish Vuelta on Saturday with Filippo Ponzzato surging ahead to take the first stage of the cycling season's third major tour.
Ponzzato finished the 4.8-mile course in 8 minutes, 21 seconds to edge Liquigas teammates Valerio Agnoli and Manuel Quinziato, who had the same time.
The Euskaltel team was eight seconds behind in second, with Caisse d'Epargne another second back.
Rain made the roads slippery on the Granada city circuit. Jose Antoni Carrasco of race-opening Andalucia Cajasur fell at the beginning of the trial.
Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre's Team CSC finished fifth, while Giro d'Italia winner Alberto Contador's Astana team was eighth.
"Everyone has gone out to give it all, trying not to lose it on the bends," Contador said. "The important thing was to avoid falling. We lost 14 seconds to Liquigas and it's not bad. It's been a good spectacle for a first stage."
The Vuelta covers 1,947 miles with eight high mountain stages, including the grueling Angliru in northern Spain. It has two more time trials.
The second stage is a 103-mile ride from Granada to Jaen on Sunday.