A funny thing happened in the first stage of the Tour Colombia 2.1, the team time trial: in a random draw to determine the starting order of the 27 teams, all WorldTour teams were placed in the second half of the list.

The draw took place Monday afternoon at race headquarters, where one of the podium hostesses drew lots from a bin. Not a single WorldTour team was entered, with Israel's Startup Nation being the first Tier One team in 15th place. Movistar was 17th, Deceuninck-Quick Step 19th, UAE Team Emirates 20th, and EF Pro Cycling 23rd. Team Ineos was 24th, followed by the Russian National Team, Portuguese Continental team Efapal, and Mexican Continental team Canels.

The odds that none of the six WorldTour teams would be selected for the first 14 slots were 1 in 175.

Asked about the statistical anomaly of having all WorldTour teams in the second half of the start list, EF Pro Cycling's Jonathan Vaughters said, "The teams, the race, Jonathan Vaughters of EF Pro Cycling, when asked about the statistical anomaly of all WorldTour teams being in the second half of the start list, replied that it has worked out really well for the teams, the race, and the TV broadcaster.

"Yeah," he said. I think the organizers definitely wanted to see the stronger teams go last."

The draw also left other team managers scratching their heads.

Jonas Kearney, performance manager for Rally Cycling, who started in fifth place and led the stage until Detunink-Quickstep crossed the finish line 42 minutes later, said the lack of WorldTour teams in the first half of the draw stood out.

"I noticed when the number numbers were called, but who knows," Kearney told Cycling News before the teams took to the course.

"It's probably just a coincidence, I don't care. But I don't care. The weather was great and the course was open, so everybody had a great warm-up." We were able to work a little bit on the team time trial in the warm-up. I was able to work a little bit on the team time trial because usually the course is closed and we have to do everything on the trainer. It was nice to get there early and warm up on the track."

The race side introduced UCI representative Pascal Sins to Cycling News.

"The draw was completely legitimate. There is no doubt about that. All the numbers were put in the same hat, and to make it more transparent, PCC asked one of the hostesses to do the draw. Had they not done so, the two weakest teams would have started as the last two teams.

"However, the race rules (as developed by the organizers) were very clear in the technical guide. In the team time trial on the first day, it is not mandatory to draw all teams."

"The teams were not required to draw.

In the end, the Vaughters' six-race team completed the 16.7 km course in 18:01, 45 seconds ahead of Detunink-Quickstep and 46 seconds ahead of Team Ineos. Larry eventually finished in fourth place.