Tirreno-Adriatico 2018 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE – Team Time Trial]

March 07, 2018

Tirreno-Adriatico 2018 – Stage 1 – Lido di Camaiore (TTT) : 21,5 km

The 2018 Tirreno–Adriatico is a road cycling stage race that is scheduled to take place between 7 and 13 March 2018 in Italy. It will be the 53rd edition of the Tirreno–Adriatico and the seventh event of the 2018 UCI World Tour.

BMC Racing won the opening team time trial at Tirreno-Adriatico in Lido di Camaiore on Wednesday, clocking a time of 22:19 over the 21.5km course and beating Mitchelton-Scott by four seconds and Team Sky by nine seconds.

Damiano Caruso was the first to cross the line for his BMC Racing team and will wear the first leader’s jersey of the seven-day race.

BMC are without their main general classification contender, as Richie Porte was forced to skip the race due to illness. Caruso knows it will be an uphill battle to defend the race lead.

“Without Richie it is more difficult for us. We take it easy day by day and we see what will happen,” he said. When asked if he would be the team’s GC leader, Caruso said he did not know. “We have Greg Van Avermaet with us for the stages. I want to try and fight for the GC, but [we will take it] day by day.”

How it unfolded

The opening team time trial set the stage for the seven-day race with a completely flat parcours. The teams raced along coastal roads before making the turn-around at Forte dei Marmi and crossing the intermediate time check at 10.7km on the way back to Lido di Camaiore.

Teams set off the starting ramp in five-minute intervals beginning with Mikel Landa’s Movistar squad. The team was third last year but couldn’t manage to pull off a top-10 this time around, finishing further down in 12th place.

Team Sky followed in hopes of a better performance than last year where they finished 18th after two riders suffered from wheel failures. And in almost a reversal of last year, compared to Movistar, they passed the time check at 11:19, already 18 seconds faster than the Spanish outfit. They ended up in third place on the day, setting up their team leader Chris Froome ahead of the mountain stages.

Dimension Data suffered a major blow on the return stretch to Lido di Camaiore when Mark Cavendish hit a pothole and crashed. He sustained lacerations to his face and road rash on his right arm and leg. He got back on his bike and finished the stage, but was later taken to the hospital. The full extent of his injuries is not known, but despite finishing, he missed the time cut and will not be able to start the stage. It was his first race back after suffering a concussion in a crash at the Abu Dhabi Tour, and he was hoping to do well in the sprints this week.

Mitchelton-Scott, with a powerful team that included time trial specialists Jack Bauer, Luke Durbridge and Michael Hepburn was marked as one of the favourite teams. Although they rode third fastest at the intermediate checkpoint, they upped the speed on the way back and finished, with only five riders, to set a new benchmark for the fastest time of 22:23.

Mitchelton-Scott’s time didn’t hold as BMC came storming through four seconds faster with the winning time. The American outfit has won the opening team time trial in the previous two editions but wasn’t necessarily marked as the outright favourites for the stage this year, missing GC man Richie Porte who is out with an illness.

Crossing the line first, Italy’s Caruso has the honour of wearing the leader’s jersey on home soil. “This is my favourite race because we are in Italy and that is always a pleasure to race here,” Caruso said.

“I think [the wind] was hard for every team. We just kept pushing until the finish a bloc, and we are happy. I don’t know if it was less windy in the final. For sure, it was a strong ride by team BMC.”

Last off the starting ramp were team time trial world champions Sunweb. The squad line-up with individual time trial world champion Tom Dumoulin, however, the Dutchman said he was feeling ill ahead of the race. The team rolled through the finish with the fifth fastest time, losing 25 seconds to the BMC.

Results :
1 BMC Racing 0:22:19
2 Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:04
3 Team Sky 0:00:09
4 Quick-Step Floors 0:00:15
5 Team Sunweb 0:00:25
6 Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:29
7 Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:30
8 Trek-Segafredo 0:00:39
9 UAE Team Emirates 0:00:45
10 EF Education First-Drapac
11 Bahrain-Merida 0:00:49
12 Movistar Team 0:00:50
13 LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:51
14 Astana Pro Team 0:00:53
15 Groupama-FDJ 0:00:54
16 Lotto Soudal 0:00:58
17 AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:04
18 Dimension Data 0:01:16
19 Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:01:25
20 Wilier-Selle Italia 0:01:34
21 Israel Cycling Academy 0:01:47
22 Nippo-Vini-Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:01:57

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:22:19
2 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
3 Patrick Bevin (NZl) BMC Racing Team
4 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
5 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:04
6 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott
7 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
8 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
9 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:09
10 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Sky
11 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky
12 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky
13 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
14 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
15 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:15
16 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
17 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors
18 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors
19 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:21
20 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:00:25
21 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb
22 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb
23 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb
24 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
25 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:28
26 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin
27 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
28 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
29 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
30 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:30
31 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
32 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
33 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
34 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:34
35 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:39
36 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
37 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
38 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
39 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
40 Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:45
41 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
42 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
43 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
44 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
45 Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
46 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
47 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
48 Daniel Moreno (Spa) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
49 Filippo Ganna (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:48
50 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:49
51 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
52 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
53 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
54 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:00:50
55 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
56 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team
57 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
58 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team
59 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team
60 Jaime Roson (Spa) Movistar Team
61 Jos van Emden (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:51
62 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo
63 Robert Wagner (Ger) LottoNL-Jumbo
64 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo
65 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Bahrain-Merida
66 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:53
67 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
68 Andrey Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
69 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Astana Pro Team
70 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team
71 Steve Morabito (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
72 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
73 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
74 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
75 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:54
76 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:55
77 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:00:58
78 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
79 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal
80 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
81 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:04
82 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
83 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
84 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
85 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
86 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky 0:01:06
87 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
88 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:01:08
89 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:14
90 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:16
91 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
92 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data
93 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data
94 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data
95 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:21
96 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:01:25
97 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
98 Alexander Foliforov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
99 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
100 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:01:31
101 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:01:34
102 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
103 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
104 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
105 Matteo Busato (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
106 Liam Bertazzo (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
107 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:36
108 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:37
109 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:01:38
110 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:40
111 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:01:42
112 Marco Coledan (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:01:45
113 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Cycling Academy 0:01:47
114 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
115 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy
116 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
117 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:01:48
118 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:01:50
119 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:01:54
120 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:01:57
121 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
122 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
123 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
124 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
125 Simone Ponzi (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
126 Leopold Konig (Cze) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:12
127 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:13
128 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
129 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:14
130 Eduard Grosu (Rom) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:02:17
131 August Jensen (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy 0:02:18
132 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:19
133 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:30
134 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:36
135 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Groupama-FDJ
136 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:37
137 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:02:41
138 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
139 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:48
140 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:54
141 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:03:15
142 Stepan Kuriyanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:03:29
143 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:33
144 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:03:41
145 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:04:02
146 Dennis van Winden (Ned) Israel Cycling Academy 0:04:06
147 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:04:12
148 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Bahrain-Merida 0:04:21
149 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:04:37
150 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:04:43
151 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 0:04:52
152 Danny van Poppel (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:04:55
153 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:05:13
OTL Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:07:18