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Stage one Tirreno-Adriatico: Cavendish, Evans take early advantages

BMC's Cadel Evans of Australia, negotiates a curve (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
Expert
6th March, 2013
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Omega Pharma-Quick Step have aquaplaned their way to victory in the team time trial on a wet opening day at Tirreno-Adriatico.

Driven hard by world time trial champion Tony Martin, the Belgian team was led across the line by star recruit, Mark Cavendish, who should now hold the maglia azzurra (blue leaders’ jersey) until the race hits the hills in stage four.

Movistar set the early pace but finished 11 seconds down in second place, while the highly fancied BMC rounded out the podium at 16 seconds.

Australia’s Orica-GreenEdge, victors in the corresponding stage last year, finished 24 seconds down in sixth position.

But the big winner on the day was Cadel Evans.

His team was the best placed of those chasing the general classification, rewarding him with a small time gap over his most fierce rivals.

Vincenzo Nibali, Chris Froome and Alberto Contador now trail the Australian by four, nine and 13 seconds respectively while Joaquim Rodriguez is 28 seconds down after a mediocre performance by Katusha.

Much attention surrounded the WorldTour race debut of African squad MTN-Qhubeka. Upgraded to pro-continental status for 2013, the popular team were a minute off the pace over the 16.9 km circuit.

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Their 17th position was still better than established WorldTour squads FDJ (18th), Vacansoleil-DMC (19th), Ag2r-La Mondiale (20th) and last placed Euskaltel-Euskadi (22nd).

The wet and windy conditions provided plenty of drama for the teams with crashes and tentative cornering producing slower times than what were recorded over this same course at last year’s event.

Nibali, Astana’s leader and the race’s reigning champion, was lucky to escape a tangle with team mate Dmitriy Gruzdev who was brought down after a gust of wind caused a touch of wheels. Astana recovered well to finish fifth, losing only 20 seconds to the leading team.

Contador’s Saxo-Tinkoff looked headed for disaster when only four men came out of the last corner. Manuele Boaro had lost contact, but recovered quickly to provide the all important, clock stopping, fifth rider. They minimised their losses and finished eighth, 29 seconds down.

But the biggest news and perhaps the biggest drama belonged to RadioShack-Leopard.

Not only did Danilo Hondo puncture before the race even got under way (although a quick wheel change saw him on the starting ramp with the rest of the boys), but a struggling and bedraggled Andy Schleck was dropped by his team with two kilometres to go.

He finished almost a minute behind his team mates, who, down to their last five, managed tenth at 36 seconds.

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The day though belonged to Omega Pharma-Quick Step. While Cavendish took the glory, he was quick to give credit to the man who piloted the team to victory.

“Two words, one name: Tony Martin,” he said simply.

Tomorrow’s stage sees the peloton take to the roads and begin their long journey towards Italy’s opposite shore. Heading east to the inland town of Indicatore, the 232 km stage should end in a bunch sprint.

Cavendish will resume hostilities with Andre Greipel while Peter Sagan, Matthew Goss and John Degenkolb will be snapping at their wheels hoping for their own share of the glory.

Stage one results –

1 – Omega Pharma-Quick Step 19′ 24”
2 – Movistar @ 0′ 11”
3 – BMC @ 0′ 16”
4 – Cannondale @ 0′ 19”
5 – Astana @ 0′ 20”
6 – Orica-GreenEdge @ 0′ 24”
7 – Sky @ 0′ 25”
8 – Saxo-Tinkoff @ 0′ 29”
9 – Lampre-Merida @ 0′ 35”
10-RadioShack-Leopard @ 0′ 36”
11-Blanco @ 0′ 37”
12-NetApp-Endura @ 0′ 39”
13-Katusha @ 0′ 44”
14-Argos-Shimano @ 0′ 51”
15-Lotto Belisol @ 0′ 54”
16-Garmin-Sharp @ 0′ 57”
17-MTN-Qhubeka @ 1′ 00”
18-FDJ @ 1′ 02”
19-Vaconsoleil-DCM @ 1′ 04”
20-Ag2r La Mondiale @ 1′ 05”
21-Vini Fantini-Selle Italia @ 1′ 06”
22-Euskaltel-Euskadi @ 1′ 06”

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