Mark Cavendish is the first leader of the 2013 Tirreno Adriatico after his Omega Pharma-Quick Step team, world champions in the team time trial, won today's opening stage in a time of 19 minutes 24 second. Movistar finished second, 11 seconds dowm, with BMC Racing third, a further five seconds back.
The 16.9 kilometre stage from San Vincenzo to Donoratico was played out under a downpour that made conditions hazardous at times.
Cavendish, who revealed afterwards that he holidays in August on this part of the Tuscan coast – admittedly when there is better weather than today's rain – has a history of taking stage race leads in Italy after his team has won an opening time trial.
Twice, he has worn the Giro d'Italia's maglia rosa after his former HTC Highroad team prevailed on the opening day, although in the second occasion, in 2011, team mate Marco Pinotti was the first man to wear it, Cavendish taking over the jersey the following day afer picking up bonus seconds for finishing second in Stage 1 to Parma.
Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 1 result 1 Omega Pharma-Quick Step 19:24 2 Movistar Team + 0:11 3 BMC + 0:16 4 Cannondale + 0:19 5 Astana + 0:20 6 Orica-Greenedge + 0:24 7 Sky + 0:25 8 Team Saxo-Tinkoff + 0:32 9 Lampre-Merida + 0:35 10 RadioShack-Leopard + 0:36 11 Blanco + 0:37 12 NetApp-Endura + 0:39 13 Katusha + 0:44 14 Argps-Shimano + 0:51 15 Lotto-Belisol + 0:55 16 Garmin-Sharp + 0:57 17 MTN-Qhubeka + 1:00 18 FDJ + 1:02 19 Vacansoleil-DCM + 1:04 20 Ag2r-La Mondiale + 1:05 21 Vini Fantini + 1:06 22 Euskaltel-Euskadi
8 thoughts on “Tirreno Adriatico Stage 1: Mark Cavendish in race lead after Omega Pharma-Quick Step win team time trial”
hes having a good start to
hes having a good start to 2013 😀
Cav made some very pointed
Cav made some very pointed comments when interviewed by Daniel Lloyd about how great it was to be taking part in a TTT without having to overthink and analyse every detail and still win- what (or who) ever could be mean?!? 😉
Otis Bragg wrote:Cav made
I like Cav, but I wish he’d just concentrate on his own happiness and good fortune and stop bitching and whining about the past. A lot of staff and riders worked hard for him last year – some riders put aside their own goals and ambitions to support his (e.g. CJ Sutton, ’11 KBK winner, rode for Cav instead in the ’12 KBK). The more he goes on, the less respect he seems to be showing for some of those sacrifices.
He’s in a great place now, so just move on Cav.
😐
Otis Bragg wrote:Cav made
Hmm. I have not heard/ready the DL interview, but this comment seems somewhat odd from someone renowned for being extremely particular about every last detail…
Agree that he does seem to be having a great start to 2013 – delighted to see it. Fingers crossed for many more Cav victories. Hopefully another TdF green jersey
Cav channelling Liam
Cav channelling Liam Gallagher a bit in that photo.
Some Fella wrote:Cav
Nah, that’s definitely a bit of Blue Steel:
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http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/files/original/blue%20steel.jpg
It is a bit daft to assign
It is a bit daft to assign the leaders jersey to anyone after solely a TTT
I saw the interview with Dan
I saw the interview with Dan Lloyd and it was a bit of a leading question about whether some teams over-analysed it, Cav gave a brief response, and it moved quickly on. I wouldn’t make too much of it.
If anything I interpreted his reply as cheeky/mischevious rather than bitchy, and there’s a danger of blowing it out of proportion.
Yes, he’s very fussy about stuff such as bike set up etc, but he’s also said in the past he’s not 100 per cent into the whole cycling by numbers thing.
Remember Cav was at Sky primarily so he could focus on the Olympics, no-one was surprised when he moved on, and I think the one major TTT he did with them was the Giro.