Rabobank dominant in Tirreno-Adriatico team time trial
Boom takes overall lead on day one
The Rabobank team continued their impressive run of results by dominating the opening team time trial at Tirreno-Adriatico, securing the first leader’s jersey for Lars Boom and opening a useful time gap on all the other overall contenders for team leader Robert Gesink.
Rabobank was the first team to start the flat, out and back course and set a time of eighteen minutes and eight seconds. They covered the 16.8km course at an average of over 55km/h.
Garmin-Cervelo started hesitantly but finished strong to take second place at nine seconds, HTC-Highroad was third at ten seconds and Saxo Bank-SunGard was fourth with a time of 18:19.
The Rabobank team included strong time trialists Sebastian Langeveld, Tom Leezer, Bram Tankink and Maarten Wynants. Boom won the prologue at the Tour of Oman and this team time trial victory is Rabobank’s twelfth victory of the 2011 season. Boom was first to cross the line for Rabobank and so pulled on the first sky blue race leader’s jersey.
Overall contenders lose precious seconds
RCS Sport, the organisers of Tirreno-Adriatico, caused a surprise by introducing an opening team time trial and a final individual time trial to this year’s Tirreno-Adriatico route. It reduced the number of stages suited to the sprinters to just two but makes the race more suited to stage race riders.
Most of the big-name sprinters have still opted for Tirreno-Adriatico for their final build-up to Milan-San Remo but the race will also see Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale), Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD), Marco Pinotti (HTC-Highroad), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky), Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) and Robert Gesink (Rabobank) fight for overall success.
Rabobank’s victory has already boosted Gesink’s overall chances and damaged those of several key rivals.
Liquigas-Cannondale finished a solid fifth in the team, but that meant Basso lost 22 precious to Gesink. BMC was sixth, leaving Cadel Evans 26 seconds behind, while Leopard Trek was seventh at 29 seconds. World time trial champion Fabian Cancellara did long turns on the front but his Luxembourg team finished off the pace with a time of 18:37.
Michele Scarponi’s Lampre-ISD team lost 37 seconds, while 2010 Tirreno-Adriatico winner Stefano Garzelli lost 47 seconds after Acqua & Sapone was only twelfth. Giovanni Visconti chances also now looked slim after Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli were seventeenth, losing 55 seconds.
Some riders also took a physical battering. Omega Pharma-Lotto set a time of 18:49 to finish 11th but sprinter Andre Greipel was unable to make a full contribution to his team’s effort after crashing while warming up for the team time trial. He started the time trial with the left side of his face covered in bandages.
Time bonuses will now become a key factor in the battle for overall victory. Ten, six and four seconds are awarded at the end of road stages and time bonuses of three, two and one second are awarded at intermediate sprints.
Thursday’s second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico is over 202km from Carrara to Arezzo in the heart of Tuscany. It is expected to finish with a bunch sprint with local resident Daniele Bennati (Leopard Trek) surely hoping to final land his first win of the season.
1 | Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:18:08 |
2 | Team Garmin-Cervelo | 0:00:09 |
3 | HTC-Highroad | 0:00:10 |
4 | Saxo Bank Sungard | 0:00:11 |
5 | Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:00:22 |
6 | BMC Racing Team | 0:00:26 |
7 | Leopard Trek | 0:00:29 |
8 | Team RadioShack | 0:00:30 |
9 | Sky Procycling | 0:00:33 |
10 | Lampre - ISD | 0:00:37 |
11 | Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:00:41 |
12 | Acqua & Sapone | 0:00:47 |
13 | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:00:51 |
14 | Pro Team Astana | |
15 | Movistar Team | |
16 | Katusha Team | 0:00:53 |
17 | Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli | 0:00:55 |
18 | AG2R La Mondiale | 0:00:57 |
19 | Quickstep Cycling Team | 0:01:08 |
20 | Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:01:13 |
1 | Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:18:08 |
2 | Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | |
3 | Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | |
4 | Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | |
5 | Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team | |
6 | Thomas Leezer (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | |
7 | Tyler Farrar (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo | 0:00:09 |
8 | David Zabriskie (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo | |
9 | Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Team Garmin-Cervelo | |
10 | Roger Hammond (GBr) Team Garmin-Cervelo | |
11 | Andreas Klier (Ger) Team Garmin-Cervelo | |
12 | Rick Flens (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:00:10 |
13 | Marco Pinotti (Ita) HTC-Highroad | |
14 | Bert Grabsch (Ger) HTC-Highroad | |
15 | Michael Albasini (Swi) HTC-Highroad | |
16 | Peter Velits (Svk) HTC-Highroad | |
17 | Hayden Roulston (NZl) HTC-Highroad | |
18 | Mark Renshaw (Aus) HTC-Highroad | |
19 | Nick Nuyens (Bel) Saxo Bank Sungard | 0:00:11 |
20 | Baden Cooke (Aus) Saxo Bank Sungard | |
21 | Juan José Haedo (Arg) Saxo Bank Sungard | |
22 | Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Saxo Bank Sungard | |
23 | Michael Morkov (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard | |
24 | Gustav Larsson (Swe) Saxo Bank Sungard | |
25 | Thor Hushovd (Nor) Team Garmin-Cervelo | |
26 | Mark Cavendish (GBr) HTC-Highroad | 0:00:17 |
27 | David Tanner (Aus) Saxo Bank Sungard | 0:00:20 |
28 | Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:00:22 |
29 | Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
30 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
31 | Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
32 | Tiziano Dall'Antonia (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
33 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
34 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
35 | Alan Marangoni (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
36 | Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard | 0:00:24 |
37 | Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:26 |
38 | Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
39 | George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
40 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
41 | Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team | |
42 | Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
43 | Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
44 | Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
45 | Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Leopard Trek | 0:00:28 |
46 | Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek | |
47 | Daniele Bennati (Ita) Leopard Trek | |
48 | Stuart O'grady (Aus) Leopard Trek | |
49 | Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Leopard Trek | |
50 | Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team RadioShack | 0:00:30 |
51 | Tiago Machado (Por) Team RadioShack | |
52 | Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Team RadioShack | |
53 | Ben Hermans (Bel) Team RadioShack | |
54 | Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Team RadioShack | |
55 | Stephen Cummings (GBr) Sky Procycling | 0:00:33 |
56 | Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Sky Procycling | |
57 | Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling | |
58 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling | |
59 | Mathew Hayman (Aus) Sky Procycling | |
60 | Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Procycling | |
61 | Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Sky Procycling | |
62 | Matthew Wilson (Aus) Team Garmin-Cervelo | 0:00:36 |
63 | Brett Lancaster (Aus) Team Garmin-Cervelo | |
64 | Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre - ISD | 0:00:37 |
65 | Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD | |
66 | Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Lampre - ISD | |
67 | Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre - ISD | |
68 | Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD | |
69 | Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre - ISD | |
70 | Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre - ISD | |
71 | Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:00:41 |
72 | Sebastian Lang (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto | |
73 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | |
74 | Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Omega Pharma-Lotto | |
75 | Frederik Willems (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | |
76 | Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling | 0:00:44 |
77 | Adam Hansen (Aus) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:00:46 |
78 | Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | 0:00:47 |
79 | Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Acqua & Sapone | |
80 | Massimo Codol (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
81 | Alessandro Proni (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
82 | Fabio Taborre (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
83 | Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Team RadioShack | 0:00:49 |
84 | Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Team RadioShack | |
85 | Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:00:51 |
86 | Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
87 | Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
88 | Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
89 | Borut Bozic (Slo) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
90 | Wouter Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
91 | Jens Mouris (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
92 | Simon Clarke (Aus) Pro Team Astana | |
93 | Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Pro Team Astana | |
94 | Allan Davis (Aus) Pro Team Astana | |
95 | Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Pro Team Astana | |
96 | Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz) Pro Team Astana | |
97 | Roman Kireyev (Kaz) Pro Team Astana | |
98 | Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Pro Team Astana | |
99 | Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Movistar Team | |
100 | Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Movistar Team | |
101 | Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar Team | |
102 | Branislau Samoilau (Blr) Movistar Team | |
103 | Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Movistar Team | |
104 | Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Movistar Team | |
105 | Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team | |
106 | David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Movistar Team | |
107 | Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Katusha Team | 0:00:52 |
108 | Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team | |
109 | Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Katusha Team | |
110 | Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Katusha Team | |
111 | Aliaksandr Kuschynski (Blr) Katusha Team | |
112 | Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha Team | |
113 | Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team | |
114 | Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli | 0:00:54 |
115 | Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli | |
116 | Diego Caccia (Ita) Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli | |
117 | Francesco Failli (Ita) Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli | |
118 | Andrea Noe (Ita) Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli | |
119 | Davide Ricci Bitti (Ita) Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli | |
120 | Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Pro Team Astana | 0:00:57 |
121 | Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale | |
122 | Yuriy Krivtsov (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
123 | Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | |
124 | Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | |
125 | David Lelay (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
126 | Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
127 | Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre - ISD | |
128 | Bernhard Eisel (Aut) HTC-Highroad | 0:00:59 |
129 | Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quickstep Cycling Team | 0:01:08 |
130 | Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team | |
131 | Davide Malacarne (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team | |
132 | Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team | |
133 | Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Quickstep Cycling Team | |
134 | Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team | |
135 | Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:01:13 |
136 | Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
137 | Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
138 | Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
139 | Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
140 | Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:01:27 |
141 | Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team | 0:01:41 |
142 | Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Leopard Trek | 0:01:47 |
143 | Leonardo Giordani (Ita) Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli | 0:01:50 |
144 | Oscar Gatto (Ita) Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli | |
145 | André Greipel (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:02:00 |
146 | Joost Posthuma (Ned) Leopard Trek | 0:02:03 |
147 | Marco Bandiera (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team | |
148 | Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:02:11 |
149 | Daniel Sesma (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:02:17 |
150 | Davide Vigano (Ita) Leopard Trek | 0:02:35 |
151 | Maarten Wynants (Bel) Rabobank Cycling Team | |
152 | Paolo Ciavatta (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | 0:02:53 |
153 | Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
154 | Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:03:08 |
155 | Grégory Rast (Swi) Team RadioShack | 0:03:15 |
156 | Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:03:24 |
157 | Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | 0:03:25 |
158 | Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team | 0:03:31 |
159 | Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:03:41 |
160 | Ivan Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:04:39 |
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Fabio Jakobsen gives his first press conference since Tour de Pologne crash
Dutch rider 'slowly but steadily' getting back up to speed -
Mollema: Racing the Giro-Tour de France double and Olympics is possible in 2021
Dutchman to target all three, plus Ardennes Classics this season -
Mark Cavendish: I know I'm still good
'Even if I'm not winning, I can still add something to this team' says Deceuninck-QuickStep's new signing -
Electric bike deals: Discounts on road, hybrid and mountain e-bikes
Cheap electric bikes promise the world but often fail to deliver, instead, save money on quality e-bikes with our pick of the best electric bike deals
Sign up to the Cyclingnews Newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how to do this, and how we hold your data, please see our privacy policy
Thank you for signing up to Cycling News. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.