Tirreno-Adriatico 2016: Stage 7

Hello and welcome to coverage of the final time trial of the 2016 Tirreno-Adriatico

Stage 6 Report

Stage 6 video highlights

Good afternoon. Here we have it, the final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. It all hangs in the balance for the overall contenders and there is also a stage to be won out there. Johan Lebon is the current fastest, with Alex Dowsett just 2 seconds down on him in second place. 

Tony Martin is out on course though, so let's see what he can do.

Tony Martin has just finished his 10km time trial and surprisingly goes two seconds slower than Lebon with a time of 11:23. He slots into second place, just ahead of Dowsett.

We're hearing that Julien Vermote has crashed out on course. No news on how serious the incident was, however. 

Greg van Avermaet goes into this final time trial in the leader's blue jersey, after taking victory from a late breakaway during yesterday's stage. He's got slim margin over Zdenek Stybar and Peter Sagan. Here is how things look at the moment. 

1 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 20:30:43
2 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:00:07
3 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 0:00:08
4 Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:00:21
5 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step
6 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ 0:00:28
7 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ
8 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff Team 0:00:30
9 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 0:00:31
10 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:34

World champion Vasil Kiriyenka is now out on route. Van Avermaet will  be the final rider down the ramp at 15:46 local time. Click here for the full start times for today's TT.

Fabian Cancellara is now on the turbo warming up. He was in fine form earlier in the week, what can he do today? He'll be off in just over 30 minutes. 

Another scalp for Le Bon, with Kiryienka going seven seconds slower. The world champion set the fastest time at the intermediate check, but must have blown in the second half. 

This is how the top 5 looks at the moment

1 Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ.fr 00:11:21
2 Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx - Quick-Step 00:11:23
3 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team
4 Tom Leezer (Ned) LottoNL Jumbo 00:11:24
5 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo

If you want to remind yourself of what happened yesterday, you can read our full report here or watch the highlights here. 

Today's time trial is pan flat and therefor for the power riders but the tight corners at the halfway point of the route has caught a few people out. As well as Vermote coming down, Adam Blythe says that he too hit the deck. 

Fabian Cancellara (Trek) will roll down the start ramp for his effort in five minutes' time. It's his final time racing on the seafront in San Benedetto del Tronto and he'll want to sign off in style. Cancellara won this time trial last year, and he sealed overall victory at Tirreno-Adriatico here in 2008 to boot. That same year, of course, Cancellara won Milan-San Remo, and his fast start to his final season makes him one of the outstanding favourites again for Saturday's race.

Johan Le Bon (FDJ) is a surprise leader at this point, but the Breton has some time trialling form over short distances. He's fared well in the Three Days of De Panne's closing time trial in the past and was a bronze medallist in the discipline as a junior. And, of course, he was a key part of FDJ's surprising third place finish in the opening team time trial last week.

Cancellara is underway, he's two minutes into his effort so about 9 remaining. 

Cancellara going great guns at the moment. He's 9 seconds up on Le Bon at the moment. Can he hold on to it.

Cancellara passes two ailing riders on the finish straight and smashes Le Bon's time by 13 seconds. 

After that blistering time from Cancellara, this is how things are shaping up at the moment.

1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Segafredo 00:11:08
2 Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ.fr 00:11:21
3 Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx - Quick-Step 00:11:23
4 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team
5 Tom Leezer (Ned) LottoNL Jumbo 00:11:24

Alexander Geniez went through the intermediate check as the second fastest and he crosses the finish line 7th overall. This continues FDJ's resurgence in the time trialling discipline. 

Rigoberto Uran coming towards the end of his run. He's well out of contention for the overall classification so today's stage is just one to get through for the Colombian. 

Another man that is out of contention for the overall classification is Tejay van Garderen. He was up in the top 5 all week but a broken spoke meant he lost plenty of time yesterday. 

Domenico Pozzovivo has just begun his test, we've got 32 riders still to start. Van Avermaet will get going in around 45 minutes. 

Peter Sagan now warming up in front of huge crowds by the Tinkoff bus. He'll be the third to last rider down the ramp and with a chance at adding Tirreno to his Tour of California title, we can expect him to give it everything. 

Van Garderen about to get going. He's obviously a very strong time triallist but he will have a tough job trying to beat Cancellara on a flat course such as this. 

Edvald Boasson Hagen is out on course. He has had a very good season so far and he could put in a descent time today. 

Away from the racing for the moment and this morning we got the good news that Kris Boeckmans would finally make his racing return this Friday. Boeckmans has been out of action since his horror crash at the Vuelta a Espana last year. Read the full story here. 

Boasson Hagen went through the intermediate split in second place, six seconds behind Fabian Cancellara. 

Lotto-Soudal confirm that Jens Debusschere didn't start the TT today, stating it was done as a precaution. The Belgian injured his ribs in a crash earlier this week. 

Van Garderen into the final 500 metres but he's already outside the top 10. 

Van Garderen crosses the line in 54th place and 53 seconds behind Cancellara. Not a great result but he was not going for it as he would have if the overall win had been on the cards. 

Boasson Hagen finishes his effort in a time of 11:27 and that is enough for 8th place for now. 

After Boasson Hagen's time, this is how things look in the top 10. 

1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Segafredo 00:11:08
2 Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ.fr 00:11:21
3 Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx - Quick-Step 00:11:23
4 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team
5 Tom Leezer (Ned) LottoNL Jumbo 00:11:24
6 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo
7 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr 00:11:25
8 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 00:11:27
9 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky 00:11:28
10 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data 00:11:32

We're getting to the pointy end of this time trial. Just 12 riders still to go with two-minute gaps between each rider. 

Better safe than sorry... Marco Coledan posted this photo of his teammate Cancellara on the team bus. 

A small correction on that top 10 it is actually Caruso in 10th place.

1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Segafredo 00:11:08
2 Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ.fr 00:11:21
3 Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx - Quick-Step 00:11:23
4 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team
5 Tom Leezer (Ned) LottoNL Jumbo 00:11:24
6 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo
7 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr 00:11:25
8 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 00:11:27
9 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky 00:11:28
10 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC 00:11:30

Vincenzo Nibali has got underway. He is 34 seconds down on Van Avermaet in the overall classification. 

Etixx-QuickStep still have Brambilla, Jungels and Stybar still to run. Here they all are warming up ahead of their ride. 

Mollema putting in his effort. He's rocking all over the bike. Not a great riding style. 

Here is Van Avermaet warming up in his blue skinsuit. Just over 10 minutes until he gets going. 

Mollema finishes his ride in a time of 11:48. 

Brambilla the next rider to get going, just four more riders left.

Nibali has completed his time trial, doing a time of 11:34. He was very angry with the cancellation of stage 5, threatening that he wouldn't ride the Giro d'Italia for fear of stage cancellations.

Peter Sagan is off. What can he do today? Will his newly shaved legs prove aero enough?

Stybar is now underway. A quick reminder of the top five with just one rider left to start. 

1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Segafredo 00:11:08
2 Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ.fr 00:11:21
3 Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx - Quick-Step 00:11:23
4 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team
5 Tom Leezer (Ned) LottoNL Jumbo 00:11:24

Reichenbach finishes his ride, he goes 11:35. A solid performance from the Swiss rider. 

Greg Van Avermaet is a go. All the riders have started, now we will find out the overall winner of Tirreno-Adriatico. 

Thibaut Pinot is grimacing as he drives to the line. He posts the same time as his teammate Reichenbach and the two are locked on the same time in the overall classification too. 

Brambilla the next rider to cross the line. He's wiggling all over the bike as he loses a boat load of time. He stops the clock at 12:10, over a minute slower than Cancellara. 

Jungels closing in on the finish. He's many of the other riders' favourite for the overall title. 

Jungels finishes in a time of 11:41, which is slower than Pinot. He will be disappointed with that. 

That will be a boost for Van Avermaet. It's not a done deal but that has made things a little bit easier. 

Sagan goes 11th fastest with a time of 11:32. That's a good effort from the Tinkoff rider. Just two more riders to finish. 

An intermediate split gives Van Avermaet the victory just two seconds over Sagan at the moment. 

Stybar slipping down the rankings with his time of 12:05. He'll drop off the podium with that time. 

Van Avermaet goes under the flamme rouge.

Van Avermaet crosses the line to win the overall classification by just a single second. 

Fabian Cancellara wins the stage by 13 seconds over Johan Le Bon. 

Confirmation, Van Avermaet takes the overall win with Sagan in second and Jungels in third. That could hardly have been closer. 

This has been a fantastic spring for Van Avermaet. Will this lead to his first monument victory?

Confirmation of the top 10 in the general classification. 

1 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 20:42:22
2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 0:00:01
3 Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:00:23
4 Sebastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ 0:00:24
5 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ 0:00:24
6 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:29
7 Zdenek Štybar (Cze) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:00:33
8 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 0:00:39
9 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:45
10 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff Team 0:00:48

Cancellara steps onto the podium to accept his award as stage winner. Here's what he had to say after the stage. 

"Well, I don’t think it’s incredible. It‘s just business as usual. We saw with some of the riders that went earlier, with the wind conditions, that the course seemed faster. I just did what I had to do.

"For me it is now recovery mode because I didn’t have the best feeling this week."
 

After such a good start to the year, Cancellara also tried to take the pressure off himself going into Milan-San Remo. He stated that the pressure would now be on the likes of Van Avermaet, Stybar and Sagan. 

As well as making it into the top 3. Jungels also wins the young rider's classification. 

Sagan looks very disappointed with that second place. He gives a halfhearted wave on the podium. 

In contrast, Van Avermaet is beaming as he steps onto the podium. He certainly wouldn't have expected to be up there at the start of the week. 

Fabian Cancellara sprays the champagne on the podium. 

And here is your winner Greg van Avermaet. 

We've already got a brief report and results from today's stage, which you can find here, plus our growing gallery of images. 

BMC have just issued a press release stating that Van Avermaet will be their leader for Milan-San Remo. Phlippe Gilbert will not be riding after falling ill before Tirreno-Adriatico. 

We will of course have live coverage of Milan-San Remo for you this Saturday with our very own Stephen Farrand and Barry Ryan covering the race from Italy. 

You can find the provisional start list for Milan-San Remo here.

We will also have video highlights from today's stage very soon. They are loading as we speak, so you can watch back anything you missed this afternoon. 

You can read the full story on Van Avermaet and San Remo here. 

Video highlights are now available on our website, head here to relive today's nailbiting action. 

That is it from us today, stick with Cyclingnews or all the reaction from today's final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico and tune in on Saturday for live coverage of Milan-San Remo.