Cancellara crushes final Tirreno stage

Image 1 of 39

Cadel Evans (BMC) held off his closest rivals in the final 9.3km time trial at Tirreno-Adriatico to secure overall victory by 19 seconds, while Fabian Cancellara won his first-ever time trial for his new Leopard Trek team.

Cancellara used his immense power to set a time of 10 minutes and 33 seconds for the pan flat out-and-back course along the San Benedetto del Tronto seafront. Fellow power rider Lars Boom (Rabobank) was second with a time of 10:42, while talented Italian and former Under 23 world time trial champion Adriano Malori (Lampre-ISD) was third, 18 seconds slower.

Evans started the time trial in last place but quickly showed he would be difficult to beat by diving through the fast first corner. Only Robert Gesink (Rabobank), Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) had any chance of beating the experienced Australian on general classification, but knew they would have to ride the time trial of their lives.

Gesink’s skinny build makes him a pure climber but he can also push a big gear. He arches his back when tucked on the aero bars but it proved effective and he set a time of 11:00 exactly. That was impressive and made him virtual race leader.

Basso had revealed he can put out 440 watts at threshold but seemed to struggle in the time trial and set a time of 11:16. That cost him third place overall to Gesink and left him in fourth place, with his teammate Vincenzo Nibali taking fifth at 30 seconds. Marco Pinotti (HTC-Highroad) finished fifth overall at 39 seconds after taking sixth in the time trial.

Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) started his time trial two minutes ahead of Evans and was desperately hoping to avoid another second place overall. Last year he tied on time with Stefano Garzelli but the Acqua & Sapone rider won overall thanks to better stage placings.

Scarponi gave it everything in the time trial but could only set a time of 11:10 and must have known that Evans would be faster. Indeed, the Australian soon appeared in the long finishing straight and stopped the clock in a time of 11:04. That gave him overall victory by 11 seconds on Gesink, with Scarponi slipping to third at 15 seconds.

Before the stage finish the Italian coast guard had symbolically recovered the winner’s trident trophy from the bottom of the Adriatic and Evans raised it above his head as he celebrated victory.

“I was tired after I’d finished but my morale was good,” Evans said.

“I knew the times of Vincenzo Nibali and thought I might not do it. I kept going and was struggling with the gear I was using but I made it.”

Evans had only raced for two days before Tirreno-Adriatico but won with a combination of strong and intelligent racing, backed up by a solid BMC team that included Alessandro Ballan and an on-form George Hincapie.

"I'm extremely pleased that I rode so well today and throughout the entire race. I worked very hard this winter, training alone for hours. Every day I rode my bike I was thinking about Aldo Sassi, just like today."

Despite his excellent form, Evans will not ride Milan-San Remo on Saturday but is scheduled to ride the seven-day Volta a Catalunya that starts next Monday. He will face Tour de France rivals Alberto Contador, Ivan Basso, Levi Leipheimer, Christian Vande Velde and Carlos Sastre in the seven-day race.

"My focus remains on the Tour de France, but I always prefer to have some results beforehand," Evans said.

First Leopard Trek win for Fabian

Fabian Cancellara was also very happy on the podium, after taking his first-ever victory in Leopard Trek colours. It is the team’s second win after Dominic Klemme won the GP Samyn in Belgium. However, Cancellara revealed on Twitter that his victory cost him 50 Euro in a bet with directeur sportif Torsten Schmidt because he failed to ride at an average speed over 55km/h.

Nonetheless, victory was an early birthday present for the Swiss rider. He turns 30 on Friday, just a day before Milan-San Remo.

"I'm looking forward to Milan-San Remo, but not too intensely. First, I have my birthday. It (the order) is: time trial, birthday and then Milan-San Remo," he said. “Of course, I'm very, very happy. I'm extremely satisfied to have my first victory with Leopard Trek."

Cancellara started the time trial at 2:08 in the afternoon and had to wait almost two hours to see if he had won the stage. "My win might be predictable for some people, but it was never certain until the end,” he said.

"A time trial isn't finished until the last rider storms across the line. At the world championships, when I am the last rider to go, I have a reference time. Today, I did not have that, so it became a matter of experience and of knowing what the ideal time might be. In a time trial over only 10km, you don't spare yourself."

Results