Malori, Dowsett make it Movistar 1-2 in Sarthe TT

Adriano Malori led a Movistar one-two in the Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire afternoon time trial, beating teammate Alex Dowsett in the 6.8km test in Angers.

The Italian covered the course in a time of 7:58 at over 51km/h. Dowsett was nine seconds slower, with Ramunas Navardauskas (Cannondale-Garmin) third in a time of 8:13. It was Malori’s third win of the 2015 season after also winning time trials at the Tour de San Luis and the more recent Tirreno-Adriatico.

“I’m not so surprised to win as I’ve felt good sensations in the last month," the Italian champion for time trial explained after receiving the yellow jersey on stage. “I came here to win the time trial today. Now I also lead the race. It looks like a very hard stage on the map tomorrow and I have strong competitors with [Tiago] Machado, [Ramunas] Navardauskas and [Stephen] Cummings. They are so close to me...”

Asked how much of a climber he was ahead of that queen stage due to finish atop the Mont des Avaloirs, which is the highest peak of western France (alt. 416 m.), Malori said: “I don’t know, I’ll answer this question tomorrow.” But he gave an interesting insight of what kind of tactic Movistar might play: “Alex is training for the Hour Record. We have more chances to win this race with Jesus Herrada.”

The 2013 Spanish road champion stands 20 seconds down on GC while former yellow jersey Anthony Roux of FDJ limited the losses despite his bronchitis and now lays in third place at 12 seconds. He’s the 2011 overall winner of the Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire.

“I didn’t feel super as I felt the efforts of the morning stage in my legs”, defending champion Navardauskas told Cyclingnews. “I tried my best on this quite technical course with small bumps that required to stay focused all the time. I’m third like last year with Movistar ahead of me. They’re a strong team with strong boys for time trialling but there are still two days to go. They’ll need to ride and I wish them the best of luck to defend the jersey with a team of six riders only.”

Malori also mentioned Machado among the underdogs. As he scored the fourth best time, the Portuguese also bettered his winning time of 2010 by twelve seconds. “It’s all due to the improvement of time trial bikes," said the Katusha rider. “This bike I rode today is the best I’ve ever had against the clock.”

The Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire continues with two road race stages on Thursday and Friday.

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