World champions BMC Racing win team time trial at Tirreno-Adriatico
Oss takes blue leader's jersey in Lido di Camaiore
BMC stormed to victory in the opening team time trial of Tirreno-Adriatico at Lido di Camaiore, with Daniel Oss leading the team across the line to take the blue jersey of race leader and Tejay van Garderen gaining an early boost in the race for final overall victory.
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With four riders from their back-to-back world title winning efforts in the discipline on show on Wednesday – Oss, van Garderen, Taylor Phinney and Manuel Quinziato – BMC were among the favourites for the stage, and they duly scorched around the 22.7-km course at an average of 56.947kph to record the quickest time of the day.
"It's amazing," said Oss as he waited to receive the blue jersey. "It was one of the objectives for the team win the first stage because we have an amazing team for the TTT. But we also have some amazing climbers like Tejay for the GC, so this is a good start."
BMC's time of 23:55 was two seconds faster than the previous best established by a fluid Etixx-QuickStep, where, as ever, Tony Martin had been the principal driver but where others, including Omnium world champion Fernando Gaviria, contributed strongly.
If the presence of the two recent world champions in the team time trial was in line with the formbook, then the surprise of the day came from the FDJ team of Thibaut Pinot, who were the early pace-setters and finished the day in 3rd place, 9 seconds down on BMC.
The French squad were winners of the team time trial at the recent La Méditerranéenne event, and their showing at WorldTour level here was further evidence of the emphasis they have begun placing upon the discipline in recent seasons. They display also leaves Pinot well-positioned to improve on his fourth place overall finish at Tirreno-Adriatico two years ago.
World champion Peter Sagan and his Tinkoff team placed a solid fourth, 11 seconds down on BMC, while the Astana squad of Vincenzo Nibali – the final outfit to take the start ramp – produced a solid if unspectacular ride to place sixth on the day, 15 seconds off the pace.
Bauke Mollema, second overall a year ago, will be relatively pleased with his start here, as Fabian Cancellara's prodigious efforts helped his Trek-Segafredo team take 7th on the stage, just two seconds behind Nibali.
There was relative disappointment, however, for Orica-GreenEdge, usually such a strong performer in team time trials, as they had to settle for 9th place, though their 25-second deficit won't be of undue concern for their climbing pair of Esteban Chaves and Adam Yates.
Alejandro Valverde's Movistar team was the first to start, and they would finish the day some 29 seconds down on BMC, a setback considering the talent at their disposal in Italy, though all disappointment was relative compared to that of Cannondale.
The squad's rotten luck in team time trials, a back catalogue that dates to their crash in the opening stage of the 2013 Vuelta a España and includes spills at the 2014 Giro d'Italia and 2015 Giro del Trentino, continued in Tuscany on Wednesday as three of their riders crashed early on, including, it seems, new signing and leader Rigoberto Uran. The Colombian had to finish the stage on a normal road bike, but was among Cannondale's formation of five riders who crossed the line in last place, 2:03 down on BMC.
Tirreno-Adriatico continues on Thursday with a sinuous opening road stage to Pomerance, which features a finale designed by double world champion Paolo Bettini, and might favour the finisseurs over the pure sprinters.
Oss will set out from Camaiore in the blue jersey of race leader, but was under no illusions about his place within the BMC hierarchy on Wednesday evening. "We have the jersey but I repeat, we're for the GC with Tejay, and then on tomorrow's stage, I think Greg [Van Avermaet] had a good chance."
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | BMC Racing Team | 0:23:55 |
Row 1 - Cell 0 | Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
Row 2 - Cell 0 | Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
Row 3 - Cell 0 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
Row 4 - Cell 0 | Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
Row 5 - Cell 0 | Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
Row 6 - Cell 0 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
Row 7 - Cell 0 | Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team | 0:02:08 |
Row 8 - Cell 0 | Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 0:03:05 |
2 | Etixx - Quick-Step | 0:00:02 |
Row 10 - Cell 0 | Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
Row 11 - Cell 0 | Yves Lampaert (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
Row 12 - Cell 0 | Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx - Quick-Step | Row 12 - Cell 2 |
Row 13 - Cell 0 | Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx - Quick-Step | Row 13 - Cell 2 |
Row 14 - Cell 0 | Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx - Quick-Step | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
Row 15 - Cell 0 | Fernando Gaviria (Col) Etixx - Quick-Step | Row 15 - Cell 2 |
Row 16 - Cell 0 | Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step | Row 16 - Cell 2 |
Row 17 - Cell 0 | Julien Vermote (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step | 0:00:19 |
3 | FDJ | 0:00:09 |
Row 19 - Cell 0 | Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
Row 20 - Cell 0 | Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
Row 21 - Cell 0 | Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
Row 22 - Cell 0 | Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ | Row 22 - Cell 2 |
Row 23 - Cell 0 | Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
Row 24 - Cell 0 | Steve Morabito (Swi) FDJ | 0:00:37 |
Row 25 - Cell 0 | Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
Row 26 - Cell 0 | William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ | 0:02:20 |
4 | Tinkoff Team | 0:00:11 |
Row 28 - Cell 0 | Manuele Boaro (Ita) Tinkoff Team | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
Row 29 - Cell 0 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Tinkoff Team | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
Row 30 - Cell 0 | Oscar Gatto (Ita) Tinkoff Team | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
Row 31 - Cell 0 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff Team | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
Row 32 - Cell 0 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
Row 33 - Cell 0 | Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff Team | 0:00:23 |
Row 34 - Cell 0 | Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Team | 0:02:43 |
Row 35 - Cell 0 | Adam Blythe (GBr) Tinkoff Team | 0:04:25 |
5 | IAM Cycling | 0:00:12 |
Row 37 - Cell 0 | Roger Kluge (Ger) IAM Cycling | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
Row 38 - Cell 0 | Reto Hollenstein (Swi) IAM Cycling | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
Row 39 - Cell 0 | Stef Clement (Ned) IAM Cycling | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
Row 40 - Cell 0 | Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling | Row 40 - Cell 2 |
Row 41 - Cell 0 | Leigh Howard (Aus) IAM Cycling | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
Row 42 - Cell 0 | Mathias Frank (Swi) IAM Cycling | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
Row 43 - Cell 0 | Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
Row 44 - Cell 0 | Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling | 0:01:32 |
6 | Astana Pro Team | 0:00:15 |
Row 46 - Cell 0 | Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
Row 47 - Cell 0 | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
Row 48 - Cell 0 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
Row 49 - Cell 0 | Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
Row 50 - Cell 0 | Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
Row 51 - Cell 0 | Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | Row 51 - Cell 2 |
Row 52 - Cell 0 | Eros Capecchi (Ita) Astana Pro Team | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
Row 53 - Cell 0 | Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Astana Pro Team | 0:03:21 |
7 | Trek-Segafredo | 0:00:17 |
Row 55 - Cell 0 | Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek-Segafredo | Row 55 - Cell 2 |
Row 56 - Cell 0 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | Row 56 - Cell 2 |
Row 57 - Cell 0 | Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
Row 58 - Cell 0 | Stijn Devolder (Bel) Trek-Segafredo | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
Row 59 - Cell 0 | Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
Row 60 - Cell 0 | Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo | 0:00:23 |
Row 61 - Cell 0 | Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Trek-Segafredo | 0:02:58 |
Row 62 - Cell 0 | Marco Coledan (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
8 | Team Sky | 0:00:21 |
Row 64 - Cell 0 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
Row 65 - Cell 0 | Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
Row 66 - Cell 0 | Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
Row 67 - Cell 0 | Wouter Poels (Ned) Team Sky | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
Row 68 - Cell 0 | Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
Row 69 - Cell 0 | Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
Row 70 - Cell 0 | Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky | 0:00:55 |
Row 71 - Cell 0 | Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky | 0:04:11 |
9 | Orica-GreenEdge | 0:00:25 |
Row 73 - Cell 0 | Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
Row 74 - Cell 0 | Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge | Row 74 - Cell 2 |
Row 75 - Cell 0 | Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Orica-GreenEdge | Row 75 - Cell 2 |
Row 76 - Cell 0 | Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge | Row 76 - Cell 2 |
Row 77 - Cell 0 | Svein Tuft (Can) Orica-GreenEdge | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
Row 78 - Cell 0 | Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
Row 79 - Cell 0 | Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEdge | 0:03:15 |
Row 80 - Cell 0 | Luka Mezgec (Slo) Orica-GreenEdge | 0:04:11 |
10 | Movistar Team | 0:00:29 |