Jesse Sergent was close to his first grand tour stage win when he finished second in the final time trial of the Vuelta a Espana. The Kiwi was frustrated to have had another near-miss after having finished in the top 5 several times this year.

Jesse Sergent finished the 9.7-kilometer time trial hours before the top of the GC, the final starters, even began their warm up, and after posting the second fastest time after Adriano Malori (Movistar) knocked him down one position, he had a long wait to know if it would stand.

When the rain began for the last third of the riders still to race the odds increased as the already tricky course became much more delicate to navigate. When the red jersey skinsuit of Alberto Contador carefully eased across the finish on the slick cobbled road it was official: second place for the Kiwi time trial specialist with a time of 20:11.

Malori also had a long wait in the virtual hotseat before it was confirmed he had notched the stage win, eight seconds quicker than Sergent. The overall classification remained unchanged as none of the top contenders needed to take risks on the wet course and Contador easily cemented the overall victory.

“I felt like I had a good ride," Sergent said. "I checked the course three times, looked at the map in the race book, pretty much had every corner in my head. But it was definitely a surprise this morning to see that the course was not pan flat like it showed in the race book; there was a pretty steep down hill, steep uphill, the corners were not too bad, only a couple where you had to be careful. But it was not as straightforward as we all thought.

"I really tried to lay it on the line, everywhere on the course, and with it only being 9k I didn’t maybe have the chance to ride my own pace up the climbs and try and bring it back on the flats, I really had to go full-gas and take the risk of blowing up.

"It was like a sprint at the start and then nearly going 90kmh down a hill to a full brake into a right hand turn and already it starts climbing.  It was definitely a lot of changes in speed and that’s one thing that hurts the most after three weeks of racing.”

Trek Factory Racing placed four of its five riders in the top 20, demonstrating its strength on the final day of the three-week Grand Tour. Although they narrowly missed the goal of a stage win today, the team ended on a high note after a race of ups and downs, which included crashes and injuries on the first day, countered by Jasper Stuyven’s powerful fourth place finishes in the sprint stages, a third by Fabian Cancellara in the stage 10 time trial, and the fourth best team in the opening stage TTT.

“We did not reach our goals, and this is clear, and we are not happy about that," sports director Josu Larrazabal said. "Today in the TT confirms our feeling for the whole Vuelta: we have a strong team, we were always present in the breaks, always close to the wins in the three time trials, we miss always that last step, the last level, to make the difference and to have a real good result.

"If you take the Vuelta without the win, of course we are missing to reach our goal, but if you put a win on top of what we did, all our placements in the results, it takes a lot of value. We were in top 5 three times, and Jasper showed so much promise here, we were always close in the TTs. 

"So if I look at the performances I am really happy, it was really good. But of course we need the result, it is always about the result. I am happy also with the attitude of the guys especially after the first big crash, and losing the GC early with Haimar [Zubeldia] sickness, even with this the guys kept fighting, and the morale stayed high. We showed this today in the last day with 3 guys in the top 11.  With this attitude, and the [good] performances, with this I am certain the results will come.”

In one week’s time Trek Factory Racing will line up for the World Championships’ Team Time Trial, and based on the high performances in the three time trials at the Vuelta the team proved they will be a force to consider. Sergent will undoubtedly be part of the squad next Sunday, and although his second place today was hard to swallow after a season of near misses for Trek Factory Racing in the race against the clock, it gives optimism for a possible medal in the prestigious event.

“It’s the last day of a Grand Tour, and everyone has different feelings at this point," he said. "The last few days have not been easy for me, and throughout the tour I have been a little bit up and down, but today I felt like I had it. And days like today, especially for riders like me who don’t get many chances in a Grand Tour, I really wanted to make the most of it and leave it all out there.

"It’s hard to finish second because I feel like I have really been chasing a win in the time trial this year, but there has always been someone faster. It’s been a little bit hard - every TT this year I have been competitive but it would be nice to have one victory instead of a whole heap of top fives. But it’s motivation for the two time trials that are left: the World’s TTT and the individual. The team time trial, I think, we have a chance.”