Good afternoon, and a warm welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the opening day of the 2017 Tirreno-Adriatico. The 'Race of the two seas' kicks off with a team time trial in Lido di Camaiore, a seaside resort in Versilia.
It's 22.7km long, and flat, and the general classification contenders will need to put in strong showings to tee themselves up for the rest of the race.
We're off
Lotto Soudal have just got this team time trial underway. The Belgian team are the first down the start ramp, at 2pm CET prompt.
Here's how Lotto Soudal line up
Tim Wellens (Bel) Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Jens Debusschere (Bel) Bart De Clercq (Bel) Nikolas Maes (Bel) Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Maxime Monfort (Bel) Jurgen Roelandts (Bel)
Bahrain-Merida are the next team down the start ramp. Here they are warming up a little earlier
Photo: @TirrenAdriatico
Unlike Lotto Soudal, Bahrain-Merida have a big GC hitter and favourite for the overall title in their ranks. Vincenzo Nibali is a two-time winner of this race, and will be looking to take his first victory for his new team at this important stepping stone to the Giro d'Italia.
Trek-Segafredo are the next team off. Another team with a GC favourite and Giro contender in Bauke Mollema. Here are the riders hoping to deliver the Dutchman to a strong time.
Matthias Brändle (Aut) Marco Coledan (Ita) Koen de Kort (Ned) Fabio Felline (Ita) Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Boy van Poppel (Ned)
Bahrain-Merida are ticking along nicely at the moment as they come through the tight streets of the town before turning back to return along the coastline.
Here is the map of the route. It's all straight, wide coastal road save for that technical section in the middle that features narrower roads and four 90-degree bends.
Tom Dumoulin's Sunweb team are out now. The Dutchman, going for the maglia rosa at the Giro, is such a strong time triallist and unlike the likes of Quintana, it will be him doing the longer and stronger turns for his team.
Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Chad Haga (USA) Max Walscheid (Ger) Georg Preidler (Aut) Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Mike Teunissen (Ned) Albert Timmer (Ned)
Italian Pro Continental outfit Bardiani-CSF are off. Movistar up next, as Lotto Soudal come towards the end of the course.
Lotto Soudal are down to the bare minimum of five riders as they approach the line. Each team's time is taken when the fifth rider crosses the line.
Lotto Soudal clock 24:12
That's our first benchmark.
Here come Nairo Quintana's Movistar. Time trialling is a weakness of the Colombian's, who is a previous winner of this race, so his teammates will need to put in a strong ride for him today.
Quintana has horsepower in the form of Alex Dowsett, Jonathan Castroviejo, and Nelson Oliveira.
Nairo Quintana (Col) Andrey Amador Bikkazakova (Crc) Daniele Bennati (Ita) Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Alex Dowsett (GBr) Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Nelson Oliveira (Por) Jasha Sütterlin (Ger)
Have you listened to our preview podcast?
We've teamed up again with Recon Ride, so here's Dane Cash and Cosmo Catalano with everything you need to know about the race.
Here come Bahrain-Merida on the approach to the line, but they can't clock the best time. They finish one second down on Lotto Soudal, with 24:13.
Team LottoNL-Jumbo are the next team down the ramp. Roglic and Van Emden are strong against the clock, while Gesink would seem to represent the Dutch team's GC hopes.
Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel) Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Lars Boom (Ned) Robert Gesink (Ned) Juan José Lobato (Spa) Paul Martens (Ger) Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jos van Emden (Ned)
24:18 for Trek-Segafredo - that's 6 seconds down on Lotto Soudal's time.
Mollema, then, is five seconds down on Nibali on GC.
Meanwhile, the TTT world champions roll down the ramp. Quick-Step Floors may not have a GC favourite but they're among the big favourites for the stage win today.
Fernando Gaviria (Col) Tom Boonen (Bel) Bob Jungels (Lux) Iljo Keisse (Bel) Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Niki Terpstra (Ned) Matteo Trentin (Ita) Julien Vermote (Bel)
Movistar look pretty slick, it has to be said. Quintana's diminutive frame there tucked behind his larger and more powerful teammates.
Here come Sunweb...
Lotto Soudal's time holds strong as Tom Dumoulin's Sunweb team stop the clock on 24:16.
Cannondale-Drapac are the next team off. Interestingly, they're all using disc brakes on their TT bikes today - not that this course requires much braking. More on that later from our man on the ground, Stephen Farrand.
Rigoberto Uran leads Cannondale-Drapac. Ryan Mullen among some strong rouleurs there.
71 Rigoberto Urán (Col) 72 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) 73 Patrick Bevin (NZl) 74 Simon Clarke (Aus) 75 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) 76 Ryan Mullen (Irl) 77 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) 78 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel)
The class divide between WorldTour and Pro Continental shows, as Bardiani-CSF can only manage 25:41 - almost a minute and a half slower than Lotto Soudal, who still hold the best time with five teams home.
Movistar come into the final kilometre with seven of their eight riders. This is going to be a good time.
23:42 for Movistar
That puts Quintana half a minute up on Nibali, Mollema, and Dumoulin. He'll be pretty happy with that.
FDJ are out on the course. Thibaut Pinot is a big contender here for the overall.
Thibaut Pinot (Fra) William Bonnet (Fra) Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Steve Morabito (Swi) Sebastien Reichenbach (Swi) Anthony Roux (Fra) Jeremy Roy (Fra)
RT @faustocoppi60: 57.47 km/h for Movistar. Holy crap, that's fast. Their rivals still to start but this looked super solid. #tirr
Here come Orica-Scott. They've scored some massive TTT results in the past but are evolving as a more GC-oriented team these days. How can they perform for Adam Yates?
Adam Yates (GBr) Luke Durbridge (Aus) Caleb Ewan (Aus) Michael Hepburn (Aus) Daryl Impey (RSA) Roger Kluge (Ger) Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Luka Mezgec (Slo)
Good time for LottoNL-Jumbo, who stop the clock on 24 minutes dead with five riders. That's the second best time.
We're constantly updating the provisional standings, as the teams come home. You can see that over to the right of your screen.
Dimension Data are off. No one here for GC for them.
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Mark Cavendish (GBr) Stephen Cummings (GBr) Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Mark Renshaw (Aus) Scott Thwaites (GBr) Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Johann Van Zyl (RSA)
Here come Quick-Step. Can they get near Movistar's time?
They can! 23:37 for Quick-Step, who cross the line with seven riders. Great effort from the world champions. That will be hard to beat.
Pro Conti outfit Novo Nordisk are next off the ramp - the team exclusively comprising diabetics.
Team Sky are on the rollers. Troubled times, currently, for the British team, as Cyclingnews revealed this week that dissent is emerging among the riders.
Cannondale-Drapac stop the clock on 24:38. A disappointing time from the American outfit, who are still looking for their first win of the season.
Another Pro Conti team off the ramp now: Androni Giocattoli. The Italian team missed out on a wildcard for the Giro d'Italia, and being invited to this fellow RCS-organised race won't be too much of a consolation. They have talented young Colombian Egan Bernal as their team leader.
FDJ approach the line. This could be good...
It's not enough for the stage win, but that's a great time for FDJ: 23:42.
Thibaut Pinot and the team as a whole have made huge strides forward in their time trialling over the past 12 months or so, since starting with a new and improved Lapierre machine, and that has continued today.
Pinot, then, is level on the general classification with Nairo Quintana, and some 30 seconds ahead of Mollema and Nibali.
Fabio Aru begins his Tirreno-Adriatico as Astana roll down the ramp. The pressure is on for the Italian as some strong times have already been posted by fellow GC favourites.
Fabio Aru (Ita) Oscar Gatto (Ita) Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Moreno Moser (Ita) Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Michele Scarponi (Ita) Andrey Zeits (Kaz)
I don't why comms never give FDJ the credit they deserve at the TTT... it's not like their good performances are a surprise these days
23:45 for Orica-Scott. That's the fourth best time.
Team Sky roll down the ramp. Mikel Landa and Geraint Thomas will share leadership at the Giro, and that will be the case here, too.
Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Michał Kwiatkowski (Pol) Gianni Moscon (Ita) Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Diego Rosa (Ita) Geraint Thomas (GBr) Elia Viviani (Ita)
And there have been further developments in the Team Sky story today, as it has emerged that Chris Froome refused to sign a statement of support for Brailsford that team management had urged all riders to sign. Has the three-time Tour de France winner lost faith in Brailsford?
There are also reports that Sky will withdraw their backing of the team at the end of the year, though the board chairman has issued a statement of support. Here's all the latest:
Steve Cummings leads a bare five Dimension Data team over the line for 24:13. Eighth place, as it stands.
Katusha-Alpecin are the next team off. Simon Spilak can be a threat in week-long stage races.
Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Matvey Mamykin (Rus) Simon Špilak (Slo) Rein Taaramäe (Est) Rick Zabel (Ger)
Bora-Hansgrohe are next off the ramp as we enter the final five teams here. Road world champion Peter Sagan is here, though it's standard team colours today for the Slovak. Rafal Majka is the team's GC hope, the Pole gearing up for a first shot at the Tour de France overall.
Peter Sagan (Svk) Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Rafał Majka (Pol) Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat)
Novo Nordisk, with six riders, stop the clock on 26:12. That's the slowest time so far.
This isn't looking great for Sky. Landa. for whom time trialling is a glaring weakness, loses the wheel and the train has to slow down slightly so as not to cut him adrift.
Next off are Nippo-Vini Fantini, who, like Androni, were another Italian Pro Conti team not invited to the Giro.
Aru doesn't look too comfortable either. He's on his lower bares - not the tuck ones - a lot here, and his position isn't steady. Astana in the final part of the course.
Rosa is struggling for Sky, too. Him and Landa just hanging on at the back now, not even thinking about coming through for a turn.
Astana stop the clock on 24:15
Crash!
Gianni Moscon is on the deck for Sky, his front wheel in pieces. Wow.
Replays show that Moscon's wheel just disintegrated and crumbled underneath him. Crazy. Road rash all over his back.
Astana's ride puts Aru two seconds down on Nibali, but over half a minute down on Pinot and Quintana.
Meanwhile, AG2R La Mondiale are off the ramp
11 Jan Bakelants (Bel) 12 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) 13 Ben Gastauer (Lux) 14 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) 15 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) 16 Hugo Houle (Can) 17 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) 18 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita)
Sky come towards the line now. Can they limit the damage?
No they cannot. 25:02 is the time. That leaves them 13th as it stands.
Big blow to the hopes of Landa and Thomas.
UAE Team Emirates are next up - the penultimate team off the ramp. Can Rui Costa continue his stellar start to the season? The former world champion has rediscovered the winning touch, taking victory on the queen stage of the Vuelta a San Juan, and doing the same at the Abu Dhabi Tour to win the overall. He was also on the podium at the Tour of Oman.
211 Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Por) 212 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) 213 Filippo Ganna (Ita) 214 Marko Kump (Slo) 215 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) 216 Marco Marcato (Ita) 217 Sacha Modolo (Ita) 218 Matej Mohoric (Slo)
The mistery of the broken wheel of Gianni Moscon during the TTT #TirrenoAdriatico https://t.co/BXsopa4DRG
Katusha come to the line. Not a great ride for them either, even if they finished with seven. 24:56.
Here come BMC! The American team have twice been world TTT champions, and they're out to beat the time of Quick-Step, who have won it three times.
1 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) 2 Damiano Caruso (Ita) 3 Rohan Dennis (Aus) 4 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) 5 Stefan Kung (Swi) 6 Daniel Oss (Ita) 7 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) 8 Tejay van Garderen (USA)
Sagan is part of a Bora bare five that stops the clock on 24:31. That's the 12th quickest time.
BMC look good out there, as always. Five of their eight have been part of the Worlds-winning line-ups: Dennis, Oss, Phinney, Kung, Quinziato.
Lots of buzz on social media surrounding Moscon's wheel. Here's a grainy photo posted on Twitter by Eurosport's Laura Meseguer.
Here come Nippo-Vini Fantini with six. They're one second off Bardiani, if Italian Pro Conti rivalry means anything. 25:42 is their time.
That was fast! Solid performance all round from the @Movistar_Team boys. Didn't see much below 60kph for most of that.
AG2R come to the line now and this is going to be a decent time for the French outfit. 24:20. It's good enough for 12th as it stands.
BMC still have a full complement of eight riders as they turn and come back along the coast.
UAE and BMC the only two times left out on the course.
Quinziato's speedo is showing 62km/h. This looks fast from BMC.
The Quick-Step boys watch on nervously in the finish area, and they won't like the fact that all eight BMC riders are still there, still taking turns and still looking fluid as ever. Five km's to go until we know the winner.
24:29 for UAE Team Emirates. Costa said the TTT could hamper his overall ambitions, and he's facing a massively uphill task now.
So, this is now all about the stage win, with just BMC left out on the course.
Quinziato pulls off and wishes his teammates good luck. His work is done - up to the rest to bring it home.
Van Avermaet is starting to suffer on the back as BMC enter the final kilometre.
Bu they have a minute and 10 seconds to get to the line for the win. BMC are going to snatch this, it seems.
BMC win it!
23:20 for the former TTT world champions. A full 17 seconds quicker than Quick-Step.
There was actually a small gap between the first four riders and the fifth - not that it will matter. A convincing victory for BMC.
Damiano Caruso leads the race overall
The Italian was the first of the BMC crew to cross the line, and he takes the first leader's jersey for his troubles.
What BMC will be equally pleased with, though, is where this leaves Tejay Van Garderen in his bid for the overall title. The American is riding the Giro this year and this is a big test for him.
In terms of the GC favourites, he's the best placed, with 22 seconds on Quintana and Pinot, 25 on Adam Yates, and nearly a minute on Nibali, Aru, Dumoulin.
I'll put together a breakdown of where this leaves the GC favourites...
That was not fast enough. Dissapointing TTT for us. Hard week of racing ahead though. Let's make the most of it.
There's also WorldTour racing going on over in France as we speak, with the time trial stage at Paris-Nice. We also have live coverage of that, and you might just catch the end of it if you move quickly. Here's the link.
Caruso pulls on the leader's jersey
Photo: @TirrenAdriatico
Our man in Italy Stephen Farrand has been to the TeamSky bus as the inquisition into that disappointing display begins.
In truth their ride was falling apart long before Moscon's wheel suddenly did so, and Landa and Thomas will now have to pull off a miracle to get themselves onto the final podium.
Over at Paris-Nice, Julian Alaphilippe has taken a sensational victory in the uphill time trial to put himself into the leader's yellow jersey.
Last RT: Wow. BMC just rode the fastest TTT in history, and by some distance.
Here's what's in store tomorrow
Thanks for your company today, and do make sure you join us again tomorrow for that long and punchy stage, which looks like a cracker. We'll also have full live coverage of stage 5 of Paris-Nice, and in the meantime keep up to date with all the news and reaction from both races on Cyclingnews. I'll leave you with today's stage report and a corker of a photo from Tim de Waele. Bye!
