Live coverage

Tirreno-Adriatico 2019: Stage 1

By PFletcher
published

January 1 - March 19, Lido di Camaiore, Italy, Road - WorldTour

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Live coverage of the opening stage of the 2019 Tirreno-Adriatico, a 21.5km team time trial in Lido di Camaiore. 

 

Welcome to our live coverage of the 2019 Tirreno-Adriatico. The 'Race of the two seas' gets underway today with a 21.5km team time trial at Lido de Camaiore, as it has done for the past three years. 

AG2R La Mondiale are the first team down the start ramp, at 14:00 local time, so in around five minutes. 

Before we get underway, now's the time, if you haven't already, to have a read of our 2019 Tirreno-Adriatico race preview. 

It's a rainy day in Lido Camaiore, which will slow down the riders today. 

And we're off!

Here are the seven riders out there for the French squad. 

The roads are very wet, with large puddles to the side of the road. It's very slippy. Fortunately for the riders, it's not a technical course. They head straight up along the coast before turning around at the half-way point and then heading straight back the other way. 

Dimension Data are the second team on the ramp and they get underway now. 

Here's the map. As I mentioned, it's mostly in a straight line. The only tricky section comes at the turn, where there are a few tight corners to negotiate in the wet. The wind is blowing from the south west, so it's a cross-tailwind on the way out and cross-head on the way back. 

And here's the profile. Flat as a pancake. 

Bora-Hansgrohe are next down the ramp, with Peter Sagan of course and also some real firepower in Daniel Oss, Maciej Bodnar, and Marcus Burghardt.  

Sagan has started the race despite falling ill in the past week. He has had a stomach virus that sounds particularly nasty and will be hoping it hasn't knocked him off course for the Milan-San Remo and the spring classics.Full details here.

Crash!

A Bora-Hansgrohe rider collides with a pedestrian. Unbelievable.

Can't quite believe what just happened. A police officer shouts to the man, who is making his way to the side of the road rather nonchalantly, and Majka can't help but slam into him, with Gatto unable to avoid the collision too. The riders are back up the man is still on the ground. 

Meanwhile CCC Team roll down the ramp. They're in orange with a new-look squad but this is, technically, the team that has won here for the past three years in a row. 

CCC have lost most of their strongest rouleurs, such as Rohan Dennis and Stefan Kung, but they've still got some big engines. Michael Schar is one of them who did stay, along with team leader Greg Van Avermaet, who has been part of this Tirreno TTT-winning squad for the last three years, winning the overall title in 2016.

Bora continue with five in their TTT train.

The pink skinsuits of EF Education First are on the ramp. Here's who's riding for them. 

AG2R La Mondiale come towards the finish now. Vuillermoz is on the back and struggling, waving to his teammates to knock it off a little. The Frenchman is a pint-sized climber but is their leader for the Giro d'Italia and will want to try his hand for the overall title here, too. 

AG2R stop the clock on 24:26.

The French team cross the line with five riders. The time is taken when the fourth rider crosses the line, so they finished with one to spare, so to speak. 

Thibaut Pinot and his FDJ teammates get underway now. 

Pinot loves racing in Italy and, although this edition of Tirreno contains less climbing than in recent years, he could still be a candidate for the trident trophy. Kung, formerly of the all-conquering BMC TTT squad, is a get engine for the Frenchman. 

Dimension Data hit the finish with the minimum of four riders still together. They stop the clock on 23:59, so a good 30 seconds quicker than AG2R. 

Astana, who are flying this season, roll down the ramp. They're led by Jakob Fuglsang, who finished second at Strade Bianche at the weekend. Or are they led by Alexey Lutsenko, who has had an brilliant start to the season and could be an overall contender on this Tirreno route. 

Bora come to the finish now, with their remaining five riders, Majka and Gatto having been taking out by that freak crash. 

Sagan does the final turn and drags his teammates across the line. 24:22 for Bora, which is still quicker than AG2R. 

Movistar roll down the ramp now. None of their 'big three' leaders - Quintana, Valverde, Landa - are here.

Majka and Gatto were able to remount and have just finished together. They're banged up, but good to see they're able to continue in the race. 

CCC Team come across the line now. 23:37 for the men in orange, and that's the fastest time so far. 

Deceuninck-QuickStep are the next team down the ramp. The Belgian team have been so good so far this season, and they're multiple former TTT world champs. Can they win this today? 

EF come to the finish with all seven riders!

23:21 for the men in pink! That's 16 seconds faster than CCC. 

Cofidis are the next team off.

Groupama-FDJ are coming towards the finish. They had the fastest time at the turn. Have they held it on the return leg?

Pinot and the three teammates with him are all grimaces. It's going to be close...

23:23 for FDJ. They can't quite topple EF but that's a strong ride from Marc Madiot's men. 

Bardiani-CSF, one of the 'home' Pro Conti teams set off now. 

The sun has poked out from between the clouds. It has stopped raining but the roads are still wet. 

Astana are into the final few hundred metres and they are already down to the bare four riders. They're not going to set the quickest time but they are going to go..... fourth, with 23:38.

UAE Team Emirates get their ride underway.

Here is our story on the freak Bora crash. In there you can watch a video of the incident. 

QuickStep are flying. They're fastest through the intermediate checkpoint at the halfway mark, beating FDJ's benchmark by 15 seconds. Clubhouse leaders EF, by the way, seven seconds down on FDJ at that point before putting nine back in on the way back. 

Movistar come to the line with six riders and stop the clock on 23:57.

Bahrain-Merida are off the ramp. They are led by two-time Tirreno champion and last year's Milan-San Remo winner, Vincenzo Nibali. It's been a low-key start to the season for the so-called 'Shark of Messina'. What can he do this week?

QuickStep are into the final kilometre and they're going to set the fastest time for sure.

23:02!

Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM, another of the Italian second-division teams, are off now. 

Our man in Italy Stephen Farrand has spoken with some of the Bora riders at the finish. Here's what Daniel Oss had to say. 

Can anyone beat QuickStep? 

24:19 for Cofidis. That's the eighth fastest time so far, just quicker than Bora and AG2R. 

Trek, led by Brambilla and Felline, start their race. Stuyven and Pedersen are big engines for them and need to start to show some form for the Classics after a terrible opening weekend.

Alaphilippe won Strade Bianche at the weekend and has started well here. With Milan-San Remo coming up next weekend, could it be an extraordinary spell in Italy for the Frenchman? It's certainly on his mind. 

25:06 for Bardiani. That's the slowest time so far by some way. 

Jumbo-Visma are off the ramp. They're led with Roglic, who won the recent UAE Tour and looks set for a big season, with the Giro d'Italia his main goal. He can time trial, and when joined by Tony Martin and Jos van Emden, the Dutch team could well be up there. 

23:44 for UAE Emirates, which puts them into sixth place provisionally. 

Team Sky roll down the ramp, led by Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas. With Castroviejo, Ganna, Moscon, and Poels, this is a very strong squad indeed. 

Bahrain-Merida stop the clock for provisional fourth place, 33 seconds behind Deceuninck-QuickStep. 

Team Sky lose Ian Stannard and they are down to six. Jonathan Castroviejo is insanely aero within that train.

Katusha-Alpecin are the next team off the ramp and we have just four more squads to start their efforts. At the moment, QuickStep's time is standing up to the strain but there are some strong teams still to come. 

This is a great shot of the Sky team and near the back you can see the form of Spanish time trial champion Castroviejo. 

Trek-Segafredo come across the line. It's a decent, if unimpressive, time of 23:37. That's enough to put them into fifth place. 

Jumbo Visma smash the time of QuickStep, beating them by 30 seconds. This team is going very strong at the start of this season. 

Team Sky come to the line with just five riders. Geraint Thomas leads them across the line to set the third quickest time of 23:12.

Just six teams left to finish with Gazprom-Rusvelo the next due to cross the line. We also have Lotto Soudal and Team Sunweb also out on course. 

A puncture for one of the Lotto Soudal riders, it's Carl Fredrik Hagen. He won't be getting back on after a slow change. 

Gazprom set a time of 24:55, that puts them second to last just ahead of Bardiani. 

A hand out from Tom Dumoulin, it looks like he's got a problem with his saddle and he's gesturing for the team car. 

Katusha-Alpecin come along into the finishing straight. They won't be troubling the top of the leaderboard. They have all seven riders and they stop the clock on 24:03, the 13th quickest time so far. 

Lotto Soudal are already down to four riders and they still have 3km to go. 

Here come Sunweb to the half-way mark. Whatever Dumoulin's issue, it looks to have been resolved. 

Sunweb are third quickest at the intermediate, 14 seconds down on QuickStep and six seconds down on Jumbo.

23:19 for Lotto Soudal. Decent time, considering the circumstances. They're fourth, provisionally. 

Mitchelton-Scott, the last team off the ramp, have reached the intermediate checkpoint at the half-way mark and they have the second best time, two seconds down on QuickStep but six seconds up on Jumbo-Visma. 

We're not far away from the conclusion of this TTT. Israel Cycling Academy, the third last team off the ramp, come to the finish and stop the clock on 23:30, which puts them 7th provisionally. Good stuff from the Pro Conti team. 

And here come Sunweb into the final couple of kilometres. They still have all seven. 

Former world time trial champion Dumoulin drives them on.

Sunweb are into the final kilomtre now and Jumbo-Visma are nervous in the hotseats. I don't think they can topple Jumbo though. 

Now they peel off and Dumoulin has the bare three with him. 

Jumbo's time flashes by.

22:47 for Sunweb. That's second place provisionally. 

Mitchelton-Scott are the last team left out on the course and they still have seven. They could really challenge here, given their time at the checkpoint. 

Here's the Mitchelton-Scott line-up

Into the final kilometre and they're down to five

Oof! Almost a crash. And it's another pedestrian. A dog walker walks into the road and they have to swerve to go around her. What's going on here.

Here they come towards the line... it looks good...

22:25! They win it!

Mitchelton-Scott win the TTT on the opening stage of Tirreno-Adriatico

What a ride from Mitchelton-Scott, which nearly went up in flames thanks to that dog walker. They beat a gutted Jumbo-Visma by seven seconds, with Sunweb third at 22 seconds. 

Here are the final standings

Deceuninck - Quick-Step finish just outside the podium on day one of #TirrenoAdriatico, with our result being impacted by the wet roads around Lido di Camaiore.

Hepburn was the first rider across the line for Mitchelton, meaning he will pull on the first blue jersey as overall leader of the race.  

Some huge gaps have already opened on GC. Adam Yates is in a prime position, while Roglic will be perfectly happy at seven seconds. Dumoulin is at 22 seconds, Alaphilippe at 37 seconds, Thomas/Poels at 47 seconds, Pinot at 58 seconds. They're the only real GC contenders within a minute of Yates. 

General classification after stage 1

It's not too late to jump over to France for the conclusion of stage 4 of Paris-Nice. 5km to go and it's in the balance on the first hilly stage. Barry Ryan has live coverage at this link. 

Here's our report page, where you can also find results and photos.

Did the wet roads have much of an impact? It's hard to say, but QuickStep clearly feel they were hampered by the rain as early starters, compared to winners Mitchelton-Scott, who set off last with no rain and on roads that had been dried by the sun. Still, the winning margin was convincing. 

The full results are in and can be found here. 

Over in France, the breakaway stayed away on stage 4 of Paris-Nice and Magus Cort Nielsen skipped away from Thomas De Gendt to claim stage victory, while Michal Kwiatkowski moved into the overall lead. Full report, results, photos at the following link. 

That's it for our live coverage today. Join us again tomorrow for stage 2, with an uphill finish in Pomarance. In the meantime, keep an eye on Cyclingnews for all the news and reaction from today's stage, along with Paris-Nice. Bye!

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