March 24, 2004 – Stage 1A Riccione-Riccione 84.8km. The 2004 edition of the Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali began today on the beautiful Adriatic coastal town of Riccione. The Navigators Insurance Cycling Team settled into one of Italy's most accommodating “Bike Hotels”, the Hotel Perla, their hosts for the past three years. It was a pleasant surprise to find the hotel being shared by a group of compatriots on vacation with CYCLE VENTURES bicycle touring company. The group from Wisconsin was enjoying several days exploring the world famous bicycle culture that has made this region one of the most popular among touring groups from all over Europe. For the team, it was a delight to hear the familiar sounds of their native tongue echoing through the halls so far from home.

Today's first stage was an 84 km circuit race through Riccione and Misano Adriatico. The peloton started slowly, but on the 4th ascent of the circuit's one climb, the action started, and the intensity increased all the way to the finish. On the eighth and final time up the 80-meter punch, a group of eight escaped including Navigators' Chris Baldwin and Ciaran Power. As the leaders shot down the descent towards the coast, and the finish line, the chase was slow to organize, and the gap approached 20 seconds. Fassa Bortolo was the first to take control of the main group, and at three km to go, the gap was 12-seconds but looking sustainable. However, several riders in the front group were less than committed, and the momentary lapse in cohesion gave the chase its needed momentum. The gap was under 10seconds at the 1km flag when De Nardi's Graziano Gasparre hit out from the lead group. Gasparre's ambitious effort was the right move and he narrowly held off the field for the win, although it was so close, that the entire group received the same finishing time. Navigators' Power was 6th, while teammates Kirk O'Bee and Baldwin were 12th and 18th respectively. With three riders in the top twenty, the American team took top team honors after the first stage.

Stage 1B Misano-Misano TTT 10.7km

The first day's afternoon stage featured a 10.7 km TTT with the 5th placed rider setting the time mark for the teams. The rolling course formed more or less of a loop, and required good coordination and awareness for the technical corners, and fluctuating coastal winds. The Fassa Bortolo team set the mark with a 12'55″ edging the Lampre squad by just 1-second, with Ceramiche Panaria rounding the podium at 13'01″. The Navigators squad rode a solid race, finishing just 20″ back of the leaders in 11th place. With the team 4000 miles from home, they could not take advantage of having their aerodynamically outfitted TT bikes, so the lads made the effort on their standard Colnago C-50 road bikes outfitted with Profile-Design 'Split Second' bars. For almost 1/2 of the race, the Navigators Team was at the top of the leader board, and in their first TTT of the season, it was a good result for the blue-train.