Giro del Trentino 2016: Stage 1

Hello and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of the opening team time trail stage of the Giro del Trentino.

The Giro del Trentino race page

The Giro del Trentino race history

Team time trial start times

Official start list

Nibali and Landa expected to clash at mountainous Giro del Trentino
 

Buongiorno from Italy for full live coverage of the Giro del Trentino opening team time trial stage. We will have all the action from the 12.1km TTT at the northern tip of Lake Garda.

It's a beautiful day for a bike race with riders set to race under blue skies and warm spring sun. 

The TT course start overlooking Lake Garda in Riva del Garda and then heads inland via straight roads and some fast corners. A long straight roads takes the rides back to Lake Garda for the finish in Torbole. 

@girodeltrentino Tue, 19th Apr 2016 12:39:18

These are the official start times for the TTT. 

1 Team Sky 15:05:00
2 Astana Pro Team 15:08:00
3 Italian National Team 15:11:00
4 Bardiani CSF 15:14:00
5 SkyDive Dubai Pro Cycling Team 15:17:00
6 Nippo - Vini Fantini 15:20:00
7 AG2R La Mondiale 15:23:00
8 Drapac Professional Cycling 15:26:00
9 Bora-Argon 18 15:29:00
10 Tirol Cycling Team 15:32:00
11 d'Amico Bottecchia 15:35:00
12 Norda MG.Kvis 15:38:00
13 Amore & Vita - Selle SMP 15:41:00
14 Southeast - Venezuela 15:44:00
15 Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec 15:47:00
16 Brazil National Team 15:50:00
17 Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 15:53:00
18 Gazprom-Rusvelo 15:56:00

Team Sky is on the start ramp. And they're off! 

The early turns and a side wind will cause sone problems and indeed Ian Boswell was off the back for a while.

Team Sky has opted for a single line strategy but has some problems going through a corner. 

Next up is Astana with Vincenzo Nibali.  

The teams start every three minutes.

Astana starts a little more conservatively and stays together as they hit the lake side. 

The strong breeze blowing across Lake Garda attracts lots of sail boats and wind surfers but makes it a testing TTT for the riders in each team. 

@girodeltrentino Tue, 19th Apr 2016 13:06:02

The Italian team is off next but immediately loses a rider due to a mechanical problem for the last rider off the start ramp.

Astana is also wisely following a single line strategy, following the white line in the middle of the road.

The riders also face some speed bumps along the route today. 

Next off is Bardiani-CSF, starting with just seven riders.

@girodeltrentino Tue, 19th Apr 2016 13:13:11

Mikel Landa is in last place of the Team Sky train at the moment. He is the team's protected leader.

Here comes Team Sky.

Team Sky sets a time of 13:44. That's the time to beat for now.

The Astana team is next in and could beat Team Sky.

Astana sets a time of 13:30, beating Team Sky by 14 seconds. 

Next off is AG2R-La Mondiale, with Pozzovivo and Bardet.

Nippo-Vini Fantini is also out on the 12.1km TTT course.

The Team Sky squad includes Deignan, Knees, Boswell, Lopez, Peters, Zandio and local resident and neo-pro Gianni Moscon.

The Italian national team sets a time of 14:14, 44 seconds slower than Astana.

The clear blue skies show off the stunning mountains of the Trentino region, some are still snow-covered.

Here comes Bardiani but they are slower than Team Sky and set a time of 14:04.

Crash! Two Drapac rider have gone down on an early corner.

They crashed on the first left turn, scattering the other riders across the road and onto the footpath. They only have six riders but that is enough.  

Last year Cyclingnews witnessed when the Garmin team crashed in the Trentino TTT. It easy to crash in TTT due to the high speed, the tiny gaps between riders and the corners and cross winds on courses.

SkyDive Dubai is in next, setting a time of 14:15.

Nippo Vini Fantini finish in 14:04.

AG@R is down to just five riders and could lose their last man.

@girodeltrentino Tue, 19th Apr 2016 13:34:12

AG2R set a time of 13:46, 16 seconds down on Astana and the same time as Team Sky.

@girodeltrentino Tue, 19th Apr 2016 13:37:10

Here comes Drapac. 

They finish with five riders in a time of 14:24, not bad considering two riders crashed early on. 

Here comes Bora-Argon 18. The German team is fast but not fast enough and sets 13:46. That puts them in fourth place.

Amore e Vita is off now. There are several Italian Continental teams in action. It is a big race for them and a chance to shine on live television in Italy and around the world.

@girodeltrentino Tue, 19th Apr 2016 13:40:16

The Norda team is moving fast but quickly drops a rider.

The locally-based Tirol team finishes with their fifth rider off the back, setting a tie of 14:32.

Androni is out on the TTT course. 

The Androni team take the left turn very carefully after other teams crashed in the same spot.

Today's TTT is flat and fast but the race heads into the mountains for the other three stages this week.

@girodeltrentino Tue, 19th Apr 2016 13:50:55

The Southeast team is also in action and only three minutes from the finish.

The Caja Rural-Seguros RGA team is also out on the course, with talented young British rider Hugh Carthy as protected rider.

Gazprom is last off. they won the TTT at the Coppi e Bartoli this year.

The Russian team has started fast.

Southeast sets a time of 14:05. 

Astana is still fastest with 13:30. Can Gazprom beat them? 

Here comes Androni, they are on a good ride.

Though they fail to break 14 minutes setting 14:06. 

A national team from Brazil is also riding the Giro del Trentino as they prepare for the Olympics.They are out on the course now. They look disciplined but not very fast at the moment.

Brazil sets a time of 14:33.

@girodeltrentino Tue, 19th Apr 2016 14:04:04

Gazprom is fast and have seven riders together. They could challenge Astana.

Here comes Caja Rural. They set a time of 14:24, that could hurt Hugh Carthy's overall ambitions. 

Here comes Gazprom!

It is going to be close.

Gazprom breaks up in the final kilometre. that will cost them time.

Indeed, they hit the line and sets a time of 13:51. That puts them down in fifth place behind winniers Astana, who set 13:30.

Astana beat Team Sky by 14 seconds, with AG2R third, also at 14 seconds. 

1 Astana 0:13:30
2 Team Sky 0:00:14
3 AG2R La Mondiale
4 Bora-Argon 18 0:00:16
5 Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:00:22
6 Nippo - Vini Fantini 0:00:34
7 Bardiani CSF
8 Southeast-Venezuela

The Astana riders are pretty pleased to have the win in the TTT. Backstage, Nibali is presented with a charm bracelet of some sort.

It looks as if it's Valerio Agnoli who crossed the line first for Astana and so he will wear the race leader's jersey.

Astana crack open the Prosecco on the podium - Agnoli isn't quite as practiced as his teammates perhaps, but he finally gets the bottle open and everyone scatters for cover from the spray.

Thanks for reading along with Cyclingnews. We'll be back again tomorrow for live coverage of both the Giro del Trentino on Live2.cyclingnews.com, and La Flèche Wallonne on live.cyclingnews.com.