Tim Elverson praised his BIKE Channel Canyon troops after they were seventh fastest in the Ronde van Midden Nederland team time trial.
The squad, which includes defending champion Chris Opie, clocked 29min 17sec in the 26.3km test between Doorn and Leersum.
They averaged 53.887kph over the two-lap course to finish 39 seconds behind stage one winners ONE Pro Cycling (28:38).
Sports director Elverson was buoyed by the display, particularly given the squad have had just a week to prepare together.
And no more than seven days to get accustomed to the Canyon Speedmax time trial bike. Elverson said:
“I think seventh, when you look at the teams and the time we had to prep, is a great result.
“I feel confident, if we had a few months prep, we could win a time trial like that.”
Tomorrow will see the UCI 2.2 contest conclude with a 197.3km road race. Opie sprinted to glory on stage two last season to clinch the overall crown. Below is the full result from stage one.
1 One Pro Cycling 28:38
2 ColoQuick CULT 28:48 (@0.:10)
3 Team Joker Icopal 28:56 (@0:18)
4 Delta Cycling Rotterdam 28:56 (st)
5 Team Veloconcept 28:58 (@0:20)
6 Leopard Pro Cycling 29:02 (@0:24)
7 BIKE Channel Canyon 29:17 (@0:39)
8 Destil – Jo Piels Cycling Team 29:39 (@1:01)
9 Metec – TKH Continental Cyclingteam p/b Mantel 29:39 (st)
10 Development Team Sunweb 29:41 (@1:03)
11 Lotto – Soudal U23 29:50 (@1:12)
12 Baby-Dump Cyclingteam 29:51 (@1:13)
13 SEG Racing Academy 29:57 (@1:19)
14 Rad-Net Rose Team 29:57 (st)
15 Monkey Town Continental Team 30:11 (@1:33)
16 WV De Jonge Renner 30:12 (@1:34)
17 Madison Genesis 30:39 (@2:01)
18 Westland Wil Vooruit 30:40 (@2:02)
19 Team Coop 31:09 (@2:31)
20 Sensa – Kanjers voor Kanjers 31:24 (@2:46)
21 Vlasman Cycling Team 31:28 (@2:50)
22 UWTC De Volharding 31:43 (@3:05)
