Omega Pharma-Quick Step blasted to the victory in stage one of Tirreno-Adriatico on Wednesday, winning the team time trial by 11 seconds over second placed Movistar. The team had planned to have star sprinter Mark Cavendish cross the line first, which the Manx Missile did, earning the first blue leader’s jersey.
The Belgian squad rode the powerful engines of world time trial champion Tony Martin, along with best young rider Michal Kwiatkowski to victory. They shed riders periodically, finishing with just the required five, with Cavendish leading Martin, Kwiatkowski, Zdenek Stybar, and Niki Terpstra over the line.
Rains washed over the team time trial course, the same course as a year ago, with times significantly slower than in 2012, as teams picked their way gingerly through the course’s few corners. Omega Pharma-Quick Step clocked the 16.9km in 19’24”. Movistar rode strongly for second, finishing in 19’35”. BMC Racing was third, in 19’40”.
Interviewer Dan Lloyd asked Cavendish for a few words about the team’s effort. “Two words: Tony Martin,” Cavendish smiled. “He did the majority, but all the guys were incredible. The team’s plan for the day didn’t have too much pressure along with it. Everyone knew what to do, and though we only finished with five guys, everyone had their part to play.”
Martin Velits was the first Omega Pharma-Quick Step sacrifice, and the squad eventually used up the energy of Guillaume Van Keirsbulck and Gert Steegmans before the finish as well.
“There are no real egos in the team, well maybe mine, and it’s just about getting your eight guys to be as quick as possible,” Cavendish added wryly. “I’m just super proud to be a part of it. It’s a really nice feeling. When the team time trial works, the whole team gets to celebrate, and that’s what makes it special. You know what you have to do, but you can still be relaxed.”
Unlike other days when weather is a feature, when it can affect some riders but not others, the rain was an equal opportunity factor in Italy. On the exact course that got Tirreno-Adriatico started a year ago, Lotto-Belisol rolled down the ramp first. The returning champion was Orica-GreenEdge, which took the start second, followed by Katusha and Movistar.
Lotto-Belisol finished safe and sound, harboring ambitions for sprinter André Greipel over the next two days, laying down a modest gauntlet of 20 minutes, 18 seconds. Orica-GreenEdge soon came through 30 seconds quicker, in a time of 19’48”. This added more than a minute to their winning time of 18’41” from last year, giving everyone else the indication that truly high speeds on the rain slickened roads would not be possible. With Cannondale and Vacansoleil-DCM on the course, followed by Sky Procycling, Radioshack-Leopard, and NetApp-Endura, Movistar came through to take the best time away from Orica-GreenEdge, posting their 19’35”.
A number of the bigger favourites – the team time trial stalwarts over the past few seasons – would ultimately disappoint on the wet roads. The Cannondale squad of Peter Sagan and Moreno Moser was strong, however, coming through with a time of 19’42”, eventually good for fourth place. After Vacansoleil-DCM failed to impress, Omega Pharma-Quick Step posted their eventual winning time, bumping Movistar down to second.
Sky Procycling came through next, posting a respectable but less than flashy 19’49”. Fabian Cancellara’s Radioshack-Leopard squad was even further down, taking a time of 20 minutes even, only 6th best at the time and eventually 10th overall. NetApp-Endura came through with a well-earned 20’03”, although Ag2R-La Mondiale could not carry its early season hot streak into the Tirreno team time trial, as the French team stopped the clock in 20’29”. FDJ only did a little better, finishing in 20’26”, while the surprise of the day was Lampre-Merida.
While the Italian squad normally fails to impress in short, fast efforts, they were one of the few squads to bring all eight men home together. Cunego, Ferrari, Cimolai, Stortoni, Niemiec, Malori, Pietropolli, and Pozzato finished in 19’59”, good for ninth overall, one second quicker than Radioshack-Leopard.
Conversely, Garmin-Sharp finished with just five, and while the American squad does not have its best time trialists in the race, 16th place in 20’21” was not ideal. With just a few teams left to cross, only BMC Racing seemed likely to shake up the standings. Saxo-Tinkoff nearly came apart when fifth man Manuele Boaro lost contact on the final turn, but the Italian recovered and helped overall favourite Alberto Contador to a decent finish of 19’53”, good for 8th.
It took MTN-Qhubeka 20 minutes, 24 seconds to become the first African-registered team to complete a stage of a WorldTour race, while neither Blanco nor Vini-Fantini could break the 20-minute mark soon after. Taylor Phinney led BMC Racing through in 19’40”, good for third place. Euskaltel-Euskadi and Argos-Shimano finished near the back end, with Astana the final team on the road.
Vincenzo Nibali’s title defense got off to a strong start, as Astana grabbed fifth, in 19’44”.
Tirreno – Adriatico (WorldTour)
Stage 1, San Vincenzo to Donoratico (team time trial):
1, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, 16.9 kilometres in 19 mins 24 secs
2, Movistar Team, at 11 secs
3, BMC Racing Team, at 16 secs
4, Cannondale Pro Cycling, at 19 secs
5, Astana Pro Team, at 20 secs
6, Orica-GreenEdge, at 24 secs
7, Sky Procycling, at 25 secs
8, Team Saxo-Tinkoff, at 29 secs
9, Lampre-Merida, at 35 secs
10, RadioShack Leopard, at 36 secs
11, Blanco Pro Cycling Team, at 37 secs
12, Team NetApp-Endura, at 39 secs
13, Katusha, at 44 secs
14, Team Argos-Shimano, at 51 secs
15, Lotto Belisol, at 54 secs
16, Garmin-Sharp, at 57 secs
17, MTN-Qhubeka, at 1 min
18, FDJ, at 1 min 2 secs
19, Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team, at 1 min 4 secs
20, Ag2R La Mondiale, at 1 min 5 secs
21, Vini Fantini-Selle Italia, at 1 min 6 secs
22, Euskaltel-Euskadi
Overall classification after stage 1:
1, Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 19 mins 24 secs
2, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
3, Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
4, Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
5, Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
6, Giovanni Visconti (Movistar Team) at 11 secs
7, Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Movistar Team)
8, Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (Movistar Team)
9, Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Movistar Team)
10, Eros Capecchi (Movistar Team)
11, Alex Dowsett (Movistar Team)
12, Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Movistar Team)
13, Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team) at 16 secs
14, Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team)
15, Stephen Cummings (BMC Racing Team)
16, Thor Hushovd (BMC Racing Team)
17, Michael Schär (BMC Racing Team)
18, Moreno Moser (Cannondale Pro Cycling) at 19 secs
19, Kristijan Koren (Cannondale Pro Cycling)
20, Damiano Caruso (Cannondale Pro Cycling)
21, Fabio Sabatini (Cannondale Pro Cycling)
22, Peter Sagan (Cannondale Pro Cycling)
23, Maciej Bodnar (Cannondale Pro Cycling)
24, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Pro Team) at 20 secs
25, Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Astana Pro Team)
26, Paolo Tiralongo (Astana Pro Team)
27, Valerio Agnoli (Astana Pro Team)
28, Janez Brajkovic (Astana Pro Team)
29, Alessandro Vanotti (Astana Pro Team)
30, Sebastian Langeveld (Orica-GreenEdge) at mins 24 secs
31, Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge)
32, Svein Tuft (Orica-GreenEdge)
33, Stuart O’Grady (Orica-GreenEdge)
34, Jens Mouris (Orica-GreenEdge)
35, Matthew Harley Goss (Orica-GreenEdge)
36, Peter Kennaugh (Sky Procycling) at 25 secs
37, Rigoberto Uran Uran (Sky Procycling)
38, Christian Knees (Sky Procycling)
39, Dario Cataldo (Sky Procycling)
40, Christopher Froome (Sky Procycling)
41, Salvatore Puccio (Sky Procycling)
42, Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Sky Procycling)
43, Alberto Contador Velasco (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) at 29 secs
44, Daniele Bennati (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
45, Roman Kreuziger (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
46, Michael Rogers (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
47, Manuele Boaro (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
48, Tiziano Dall’Antonia (Cannondale Pro Cycling) at 32 secs
49, Davide Cimolai (Lampre-Merida) at 35 secs
50, Adriano Malori (Lampre-Merida)
51, Daniele Pietropolli (Lampre-Merida)
52, Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Merida)
53, Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-Merida)
54, Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida)
55, Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack Leopard) at 36 secs
56, Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack Leopard)
57, Yaroslav Popovych (RadioShack Leopard)
58, Danilo Hondo (RadioShack Leopard)
59, Christopher Horner (RadioShack Leopard)
60, Bauke Mollema (Blanco Pro Cycling Team) at 37 secs
61, Paul Martens (Blanco Pro Cycling Team)
62, Tom Jelte Slagter (Blanco Pro Cycling Team)
63, Sep Vanmarcke (Blanco Pro Cycling Team)
64, Lars Boom (Blanco Pro Cycling Team)
65, Simone Stortoni (Lampre-Merida) at 38 secs
66, Roberto Ferrari (Lampre-Merida)
67, David De La Cruz Melgarejo (Team NetApp-Endura) at 39 secs
68, Jan Barta (Team NetApp-Endura)
69, Bartosz Huzarski (Team NetApp-Endura)
70, Daniel Schorn (Team NetApp-Endura)
71, Paul Voss (Team NetApp-Endura)
72, Vladimir Isaichev (Katusha) at 44 secs
73, Angel Vicioso Arcos (Katusha)
74, Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Katusha)
75, Maxim Belkov (Katusha)
76, Pavel Brutt (Katusha)
77, Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Katusha)
78, Tom Dumoulin (Team Argos-Shimano) at 51 secs
79, Simon Geschke (Team Argos-Shimano)
80, Johannes Fröhlinger (Team Argos-Shimano)
81, John Degenkolb (Team Argos-Shimano)
82, Matthieu Sprick (Team Argos-Shimano)
83, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) at 54 secs
84, Greg Henderson (Lotto Belisol)
85, André Greipel (Lotto Belisol)
86, Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto Belisol)
87, Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol)
88, Marcel Sieberg (Lotto Belisol)
89, Bram Tankink (Blanco Pro Cycling Team) at 57 secs
90, Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp)
91, Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Sharp)
92, Thomas Dekker (Garmin-Sharp)
93, Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp)
94, Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp)
95, Ignatas Konovalovas (MTN-Qhubeka) at 1 min 0 secs
96, Jacobus Venter (MTN-Qhubeka)
97, Jay Robert Thomson (MTN-Qhubeka)
98, Gerald Ciolek (MTN-Qhubeka)
99, Sergio Pardilla Bellon (MTN-Qhubeka)
100, Kristian Sbaragli (MTN-Qhubeka)
101, Arthur Vichot (FDJ) at 1 min 2 secs
102, Cédric Pineau (FDJ)
103, Sandy Casar (FDJ)
104, Anthony Roux (FDJ)
105, Mickael Delage (FDJ)
106, Laurent Mangel (FDJ)
107, Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) at 1 min 4 secs
108, Sergey Lagutin (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
109, Mirko Selvaggi (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
110, Tomasz Marczynski (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
111, Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
112, Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
113, Ben Gastauer (AG2R La Mondiale) at 1 min 5 secs
114, Rinaldo Nocentini (AG2R La Mondiale)
115, Davide Appollonio (AG2R La Mondiale)
116, Matteo Montaguti (AG2R La Mondiale)
117, Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R La Mondiale)
118, Matteo Rabottini (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia) at 1 min 6 secs
119, Mauro Santambrogio (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia)
120, Francesco Failli (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia)
121, Stefano Garzelli (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia)
122, Francesco Chicchi (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia)
123, Jorge Azanza Soto (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
124, Robert Vrecer (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
125, Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
126, Ioannis Tamouridis (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
127, Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
128, Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
129, Klaas Lodewyck (BMC Racing Team)
130, José Joao Pimenta Costa Mendes (Team NetApp-Endura) at 1 min 9 secs
131, Matteo Tosatto (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) at 1 min 10 secs
132, Oscar Gatto (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia) at 1 min 17 secs
133, Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) at 1 min 22 secs
134, Manuel Quinziato (BMC Racing Team)
135, Robert Hunter (Garmin-Sharp) at 1 min 26 secs
136, Stijn Devolder (RadioShack Leopard) at 1 min 27 secs
137, Andy Schleck (RadioShack Leopard)
138, Mauro Finetto (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia) at 1 min 34 secs
139, Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Movistar Team) at 1 min 35 secs
140, Murilo Antonio Fischer (FDJ) at 1 min 50 secs
141, Cesare Benedetti (Team NetApp-Endura) at 1 min 54 secs
142, Zakkari Dempster (Team NetApp-Endura)
143, Brett Lancaster (Orica-GreenEdge)
144, Maarten Wynants (Blanco Pro Cycling Team) at 2 mins 5 secs
145, Gert Steegmans (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
146, Martin Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
147, Kevin Hulsmans (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia) at 2 mins 10 secs
148, Olivier Kaisen (Lotto Belisol) at 2 mins 20 secs
149, Lars Petter Nordhaug (Blanco Pro Cycling Team) at 2 mins 26 secs
150, Jelle Vanendert (Lotto Belisol) at 2 mins 27 secs
151, Vicente Reynes Mimo (Lotto Belisol)
152, Grega Bole (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) at 2 mins 30 secs
153, Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (Sky Procycling) at 2 mins 31 secs
154, Martin Reimer (MTN-Qhubeka) at 2 mins 35 secs
155, Ramon Sinkeldam (Team Argos-Shimano) at 2 mins 37 secs
156, Alan Marangoni (Cannondale Pro Cycling) at 2 mins 38 secs
157, Sébastien Rosseler (Garmin-Sharp) at 2 mins 43 secs
158, Nick Nuyens (Garmin-Sharp)
159, Mitchell Docker (Orica-GreenEdge) at 2 mins 47 secs
160, Miguel Minguez Ayala (Euskaltel-Euskadi) at 2 mins 48 secs
161, Ricardo Garcia Ambroa (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
162, Boy van Poppel (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) at 2 mins 55 secs
163, Arnaud Demare (FDJ) at 2 mins 56 secs
164, Andreas Stauff (MTN-Qhubeka) at 2 mins 57 secs
165, Albert Timmer (Team Argos-Shimano) at 3 mins 7 secs
166, Koen De Kort (Team Argos-Shimano)
167, Dmitriy Muravyev (Astana Pro Team) at 3 mins 10 secs
168, Dmitriy Gruzdev (Astana Pro Team)
169, Hayden Roulston (RadioShack Leopard) at 3 mins 11 secs
170, Manuel Belletti (AG2R La Mondiale) at 3 mins 15 secs
171, Luca Paolini (Katusha) at 3 mins 20 secs
172, Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Katusha)
173, Steve Chainel (AG2R La Mondiale) at 3 mins 36 secs
174, Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) at 3 mins 48 secs
175, Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
Best young rider:
1, Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) at 19 mins 24 secs
2, Alex Dowsett (Movistar Team) at 11 secs
3, Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team) at 16 secs
4, Moreno Moser (Cannondale Pro Cycling) at 19 secs
5, Peter Sagan (Cannondale Pro Cycling)
6, Peter Kennaugh (Sky Procycling) at 25 secs
7, Salvatore Puccio (Sky Procycling)
8, Davide Cimolai (Lampre-Merida) at 35 secs
9, Adriano Malori (Lampre-Merida)
10, Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack Leopard) at 36 secs