March 13, 2014 (San Vincenzo, Italy) – Two-time UCI World TTT Champion Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team powered to victory by an impressive 11-second margin on the flat, 18.5km parcours of the Tirreno-Adriatico team time trial on Mar. 12. This is the second straight year the team has won the team time trial stage.
Mark Cavendish took over on the front after Tony Martin in the final meters, helping to drag the team along the line as they beat ORICA-GreenEDGE and their previous best time of 20’24” (54.411km/h average speed) with an average speed of 54.905 kilometers per hour. Movistar was 3rd, 18″ back.
As a result of the win, Cavendish put on the Maglia Azzurra (blue jersey) as the race leader. Kwiatkowski now wears the Maglia Blanca (white jersey) for best young rider.
OPQS will defend the leader’s jersey at 166km Stage two, from San Vincenzo to Cascina, on Thursday. The earlier parts of the parcours are undulating, but the profile goes flat after 108.2, which leaves the possibility of a bunch sprint finale.
“To be fair, we went fast, we went hard, but the faster you go in the team time trial the easier it feels,” Cavendish said. “We were really smooth with the pace the whole way. You almost feel like you didn’t go fast enough when it’s like that. The team time trials where we’ve normally felt the best are when we win by a lot. We really feel OK at the end. We did the course many times yesterday and the day before.
“Specialized puts the bike in their own wind tunnel with every rider. Every rider is as aerodynamic as they can be, individually. With the aerodynamics we have the fastest bikes around. We also have a super committed team. Things like that really add up. It was really nice to get this win for the whole team and we can celebrate today.”
“I think we, at minimum, have the same quality team as last year,” UCI World TT Champion Tony Martin said. “For sure we wanted to win. On paper we had the strongest guys, we had the perfect preparation for the course as we were able to pass through it multiple times at race speed. So, the preparation was perfect and with the team being so strong and so motivated, it was actually an easy day. Not easy as in we weren’t suffering, but we were just so focused in the head we were basically calm this morning.
“We stuck to the plan. Actually I think we did almost exactly the same performance as we did in training. We just went a bit faster. Then, we have for sure the fastest bike in the Specialized Shiv. On top of that we had the correct order because it is also important you do not want to have too much difference in the speed between the strongest guys and the others. We had a really good tempo, a good average speed. It was really nice. I was never scared we could lose the race.
“I had a good feeling. As for me, the next steps are to be useful for the team and then do my best for a top result in the individual time trial. I hope I can play a good role, especially in the final stages, and for sure I want to go for my own result on the last day here.”
Results
1. Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 20:13
2. Orica GreenEdge 0:11
3. Movistar 0:18
4. Tinkoff-Saxo 0:24
5. Cannondale 0:26
6. Team Sky 0:27
7. Lotto-Belisol 0:28
8. Trek Factory Racing 0:36
9. Belkin 0:37
10. FDJ.fr 0:43
11. BMC Racing Team 0:47
12. IAM Cycling 0:50
13. Lampre-Merida 0:53
14. NetApp-Endura
15. AG2R La Mondiale
16. Astana Pro Team 1:07
17. Giant-Shimano 1:08
18. Garmin-Sharp 1:17
19. Katusha 1:19
20. Bardiani-CSF 1:30
21. MTN-Qhubeka 1:32
22. Team Europcar 1:41
GC after Stage 1
1. Mark Cavendish (Gbr) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 20:13
2. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team
3. Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team
4. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team
5. Wouter Poels (Ned) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team
6. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:02
7. Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:03
8. Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica Greenedge 0:11
9. Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica Greenedge
10. Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica Greenedge
11. Svein Tuft (Can) Orica Greenedge
12. Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica Greenedge
13. Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Orica Greenedge
14. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica Greenedge
15. Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Esp) Movistar Team 0:18
16. Adriano Malori (Ita) Movistar Team
17. Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Esp) Movistar Team
18. Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team
19. Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team
20. Alex Dowsett (Gbr) Movistar Team
21. Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar Team
22. Manuele Boaro (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:24
23. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Tinkoff-Saxo
24. Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo
25. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo
26. Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Tinkoff-Saxo
27. Alberto Contador Velasco (Esp) Tinkoff-Saxo
28. Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale 0:26
29. Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale
30. Ivan Basso (Ita) Cannondale
31. Oscar Gatto (Ita) Cannondale
32. Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale
33. Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Cannondale
34. Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale
35. Dario Cataldo (Ita) Team Sky 0:27
36. Peter Kennaugh (Gbr) Team Sky
37. Bradley Wiggins (Gbr) Team Sky
38. Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky
39. Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team Sky
40. Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Esp) Team Sky
41. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:28
42. Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Belisol
43. André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol
44. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol
45. Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol
46. Ian Stannard (Gbr) Team Sky 0:29
47. Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol 0:30
48. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Esp) Trek Factory Racing 0:36
49. Stijn Devolder (Bel) Trek Factory Racing
50. Julian David Arredondo Moreno (Col) Trek Factory Racing
51. Fabian Cancellara (Sui) Trek Factory Racing
52. Jesse Sergent (Nzl) Trek Factory Racing
53. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Trek Factory Racing
54. Hayden Roulston (Nzl) Trek Factory Racing
55. Jens Mouris (Ned) Orica Greenedge 0:37
56. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
57. Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
58. Marc Goos (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
59. Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
60. Bram Tankink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
61. Robert Wagner (Ger) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
62. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Trek Factory Racing 0:38
63. Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:43
64. Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ.fr
65. Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr
66. Yoann Offredo (Fra) FDJ.fr
67. David Boucher (Fra) FDJ.fr
68. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr
69. Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:45
70. Michael Schär (Sui) BMC Racing Team 0:47
71. Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team
72. Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team
73. Steve Morabito (Sui) BMC Racing Team
74. Dominik Nerz (Ger) BMC Racing Team
75. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
76. Danilo Wyss (Sui) BMC Racing Team
77. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
78. Martin Elmiger (Sui) IAM Cycling 0:50
79. Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) IAM Cycling
80. Marcel Wyss (Sui) IAM Cycling
81. Dominic Klemme (Ger) IAM Cycling
82. Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling
83. Roger Kluge (Ger) IAM Cycling
84. Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling
85. Davide Appollonio (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:53
86. Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
87. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
88. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
89. Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
90. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
91. Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Team NetApp-Endura
92. Sam Bennett (Irl) Team NetApp-Endura
93. Tiago Machado (Por) Team NetApp-Endura
94. David De La Cruz Melgarejo (Esp) Team NetApp-Endura
95. Iker Camano Ortuzar (Esp) Team NetApp-Endura
96. Paul Voss (Ger) Team NetApp-Endura
97. Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Team NetApp-Endura
98. Bartosz Huzarski (Pol) Team NetApp-Endura
99. Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida
100. Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida
101. Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida
102. Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida
103. Christopher Horner (USA) Lampre-Merida
104. Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Lampre-Merida
105. Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 0:54
106. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
107. Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team
108. Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
109. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
110. Tom Veelers (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano 0:55
111. Marcel Kittel (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano
112. Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano
113. Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Shimano
114. Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano
115. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano
116. Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team 0:56
117. Damien Gaudin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
118. Patrick Gretsch (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale
119. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:57
120. Benjamin King (USA) Garmin Sharp 1:04
121. Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin Sharp
122. Jack Bauer (Nzl) Garmin Sharp
123. Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin Sharp
124. Thomas Dekker (Ned) Garmin Sharp
125. Nick Nuyens (Bel) Garmin Sharp
126. Angel Vicioso Arcos (Esp) Team Katusha 1:06
127. Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Esp) Team Katusha
128. Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team Katusha
129. Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team Katusha
130. Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Team Katusha
131. Maxim Belkov (Rus) Team Katusha
132. Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus) Team Katusha
133. Luca Paolini (Ita) Team Katusha
134. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 1:07
135. Thomas Leezer (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 1:11
136. Frederik Willems (Bel) Lotto Belisol 1:12
137. William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ.fr 1:16
138. Marco Coledan (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 1:17
139. Nicola Boem (Ita) Bardiani-CSF
140. Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani-CSF
141. Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani-CSF
142. Marco Canola (Ita) Bardiani-CSF
143. Filippo Fortin (Ita) Bardiani-CSF
144. Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Sky
145. Jaco Venter (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka 1:19
146. Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka
147. Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) MTN-Qhubeka
148. Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Esp) MTN-Qhubeka
149. Gerald Ciolek (Ger) MTN-Qhubeka
150. Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) MTN-Qhubeka
151. Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) MTN-Qhubeka
152. Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani-CSF
153. David Millar (Gbr) Garmin Sharp 1:25
154. Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Team Europcar 1:31
155. Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar
156. Bjorn Thurau (Ger) Team Europcar
157. Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar
158. Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar
159. Romain Sicard (Fra) Team Europcar
160. Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar
161. Igor Anton Hernandez (Esp) Movistar Team 1:40
162. Tony Hurel (Fra) Team Europcar 1:54
163. Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano 1:57
164. Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 2:05
165. Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida 2:07
166. Michael Morkov (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 2:12
167. Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Belisol 2:13
168. Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) IAM Cycling 2:26
169. Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 3:05
170. Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Cannondale 3:14
171. Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 3:26
172. Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Astana Pro Team 3:28
173. Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) FDJ.fr 3:29
174. Andreas Stauff (Ger) MTN-Qhubeka 4:43
175. Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano 4:45
176. Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin Sharp 5:29