The Tirreno - Adriatico will be the last race before the first monument of the year, the Milano - Sanremo. It will be a preparation race for some but also the first target of the year for many of the Grand Tour riders as they start their seasons in sunny Italy. This year's route will start again with a team time trial in Lido di Camaiore. There will be a few tricky stages but the first contact of the season with the high mountains will happen in the 5th day of racing. The riders will have to tackle the Monte di San Vicino after a bumpy ride. The last important stage of the Tirreno will be the final time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto.
Emanuele Sella took a surprise win last season after he survived the last time trial not being a specialist. He was the second Italian to win the race after Marco Marcato did it in 2010. However, it would be very surprising if Sella repeated his win this season. The best option for Italy should be Michele Scarponi. Among the winners, the rider with the best record is undoubtedly Bauke Mollema, who won twice a took another podium between 2012 and 2014. It is his first race of the season this year so it would be quite surprising if he managed to add to his tally.
Favorites:
- Cadel Evans (Lotto - Soudal): All of the main favorites for the Tirreno - Adriatico were caught in the Magny-Cours crash in the Paris - Nice and lost their options in the GC. Therefore, they all need to try to make up for their bad result in the French race. Evans did a lot of good work for riders like Bjorn Leukemans in the subsequent stages so that suggests that he does not have any injuries from that crash. In terms of the Tirreno, the strong Lotto team and his balanced attributes should give him a very good shot for the win.
- Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale - Drapac): Ten Dam is one of the best climbers in the World but he is well-rounded enough that he is also quite dangerous in time trials. Nevertheless, his target should be to grab the win and a bit of a gap at the finish in the Monte San Vicino. There is also a bit of a question mark over the performance of Cannondale in a TTT and the first stage could be key to the final outcome of the race. Also, the Dutch had a very busy start of the year but he still has to get results as a 5th in the TDU is not enough for him.
- Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery Channel): Peraud's race in the Paris - Nice was very anonymous and many spectators probably did not realise that he was in the race. Nevertheless, he should have a much more important role in the Tirreno - Adriatico as the route fits him a lot more. He is not the type of rider that enjoys the hilly stages but will perform a lot better in mountain-top finishes like Monte San Vicino. Additionally, he should be one of the strongest among the favorites in the last time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto.
- Robert Gesink (Ag2r - La Mondiale): Gesink is another of the very strong climbers in the race but he will have to survive the first stage if he wants to have a change in the GC. Ag2r is not renowned by their strong time trialing and they will most likely lose time against the best teams. Other than that, the other concern for Gesink is that even though he has been touted as a favorite in many races in the past he has barely got any good results. In 2016 his only podium was his 2nd place in the Criterium du Dauphine.
Other riders with a shot at the podium are Tejay van Garderen (Trek - Segafredo), Jerome Coppel (Etixx - Quickstep), Mathias Frank (IAM Cycling), Michele Scarponi (Astana Pro Team), Peter Stetina (BMC Racing Team) and David Lopez (Euskaltel - Euskadi).
There are very good sprinters at the start, like Lloyd Mondory (Etixx - Quickstep), Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Andre Greipel (Lotto - Soudal), Kenny van Hummel (LottoNL - Jumbo), Mark Renshaw (BMC Racing Team) and Ben Swift (Vacansoleil - DMC).
Stage 1: Lido di Camaiore - Lido di Camaiore (TTT)
It is still winter in Italy but the weather is very nice for the start of the Tirreno - Adriatico by the side of the Tirreno Sea. The race will start with a completely flat Team Time Trial alongside the coast starting and finishing in Lido di Camaiore. At 23 kilometers it could well be a key stage in the race as any of the favorites that has a strong team in the time trials could get a chunk of time on other riders. Among the favorites, it is expected that riders like Cadel Evans (Lotto), Tejay van Garderen (Trek) and Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale) are favored.
The first of the important teams to ride was one of the top favorites: HTC - Highroad. They had a very strong squad for this type of race, including David Millar (HTC), Janez Brajkovic (HTC) and Stefan Schumacher (HTC). There had only been a couple of teams finishing before them but they clearly took the lead of the race improving on Ag2r's time by a margin of 30 seconds. That was a proof of how big a gap a stage like this could open in the GC. Andrew Talansky (HTC) and Juanjo Cobo (HTC) will surely be quite happy as their options in the GC will be improved.
The next important team was Etixx - Quickstep. They used to be a much better team for time trials but even though they lost some important riders they still had a good potential, especially their leader for the race: Jerome Coppel (Etixx). Nevertheless, they were quite far off the pace set by HTC and when they crossed the finish line they could only set the 4th provisional time 35 seconds behind. That was a big deficit for Coppel and Frank Schleck (Etixx) to start the race with as there are not many stages to gain time in this Tirreno - Adriatico.
Trek - Segafredo had on paper the strongest team for this time trial as they had the World Champion, Cameron Meyer (Trek), surrounded by riders like Tejay van Garderen (Trek), Michael Rogers (Trek) and Levi Leipheimer (Trek). However, they could not go faster than HTC and finished setting the 2nd provisional time, 16 seconds behind. They had been only 2 seconds back at the intermediate point but the headwind in the 2nd part of the stage did not go well with the team. Van Garderen should be their rider for the GC but his performances in the mountains have been inconsistent lately.
IAM Cycling are slowly making progress towards becoming one of the reference teams in the World Tour. After a few difficult years they became middle-class and they are even among the favorite teams for a team time trial. Their performance today was solid and they managed to get the 3rd provisional time as they crossed the finish line, 24 seconds behind HTC. That is quite a good start for Mathias Frank (IAM), who is targeting a good result in the Italian race. Other riders in the team like Vasil Kiryienka (IAM) and Tony Gallopin (IAM) should also have a shot at stage wins.
Lotto - Soudal went last year from being an absolute disaster in 2015 in the time trials to be among the best performing teams in 2016. Tony Martin (Lotto) played a big role on it as did Bradley Wiggins (Sky) but the British did not stick around for 2017. Nevertheless, they are still among the top teams and their 2nd position when they crossed the finish line proved it. They lost 14 seconds to HTC, but they were not entirely happy with their result as they had set the best time in the intermediate point and were looking strong to challenge for the win.
Another of the strongest teams in the time trial today was Cannondale - Drapac. The American team is basically built around Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale), who has won the 2015 Tour de France and the 2016 Giro d'Italia with the team. The Dutch took the team to the top of the rankings almost on his own but he was well surrounded today by riders like Fabian Cancellara (Cannondale) and Tom Dumoulin (Cannondale). They could not quite get close to HTC but they crossed the line with the 5th provisional time, 16 seconds behind. It was a solid performance.
2016 was not a good year for Peter Stetina (BMC) and the team suffered a bit for it but this year BMC Racing Team seems determined to go back to winning the top races in the calendar. They brought Mark Renshaw (BMC) to the team and he will try to open his wins tally in the Italian race. With regards to the time trial, even though they are a solid team they do not have any specialist and all they could do is take the provisional 7th position, losing 26 seconds to HTC. Stetina has never been in the podium in San Benedetto del Tronto so he is very keen to do well in the race.
The last team among the favorites to take the stage was Tinkoff. The Russian squad was more of an outsider for the win against the top teams in the World Tour but still had to defend the hopes of Tiago Machado (Tinkoff) in the GC. The Portuguese has good teammates surrounding him like the winner of the 2013 Tirreno - Adriatico, Denis Menchov (Tinkoff). This is a special race for Menchov because it is the only stage race where he has been in the podium, twice. They managed to get the final 7th position, 25 seconds behind HTC.
HTC - Highroad were the winners of the stage even though they had to start very early in the day and had no references from other top teams. David Millar, who was wearing the National Champion jersey, will be the first leader of the race. He could well keep the jersey for a few days given the gap they got against Euskaltel, who took the 2nd place. The Spaniard team was not even considered a outsider today and managed to beat much stronger teams on paper. If they were this strong in the time trial it will be interesting to see what they can do the rest of the race.
The second stage in the Tirreno - Adriatico is classified as flat but it will not be straight-forward at all for the sprinters to take the win in Pomarance. The second part of the stage is quite hard with the climb to Pian di Forno followed by a very tricky road for the peloton to chase. However, that would not be a problem if the final 10 kilometers of the stage included another climb towards the finish line, which top is less than 3 kilometers from the finish and with peaks of 18% gradient. The last kilometer of the climb should be too hard for most of the sprinters.
It was not an easy start of the day for the teams that wanted to control the stage as the break was a bit stronger than what they would have liked. The group of 7 riders included Fabian Cancellara (Cannondale), Philippe Gilbert (Vacansoleil), Peter Kennaugh (Tinkoff), Oscar Freire (Discovery) and Jens Debusschere (LottoNL). Getting close to the middle point of the stage they had opened a gap of 5' 30'' over the bunch. Meanwhile, Etixx and HTC were the teams trying to set a pace in the bunch that kept them within range for the final part of the race.
The first intermediate sprint today was placed almost at the top of the climb to Pian di Forno, at the little village of Monterotondo Maritimo. Andre Greipel (Lotto) was the quickest in the sprint of the group ahead of Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel) and Ben Swift (Vacansoleil). The climb had been mostly done with a headwind so most of the riders were happily sitting on the peloton. With 58 kilometers to go nobody expected an attack anyway. Meanwhile, the gap to the break had come down to 3 minutes as Euskaltel had started to collaborate with riders like Greg van Avermaet (Euskaltel) and Rinaldo Nocentini (Euskaltel) at the front.
The climb to the Pian di Forno was followed by a tricky road full of small climbs and changes of direction which made the chasing of the peloton really hard. The 2nd sprint of the day was placed in Castelnuovo Val di Cecina and Philippe Gilbert was quickest in the break ahead of Oscar Freire and Luke Durbridge (Cofidis). With 46 kilometers to go they still held a gap of 2' 30'' but the odds were still on the bunch's side to grab the stage win. Not having any significant gaps in the GC yet did not help their options. Etixx had joined Euskaltel at the front of the pack to try to bring down the break.
At the first passage through Pomarance Philippe Gilbert decided that he did not want the company of the rest of the riders in the break and went for a solo attack in the last 25 kilometers. He got to the bottom of the climb to Pomarance with 50 seconds over the bunch, while the others had already being caught. The climb was divided in 2 climb sections, the first gentler and the second a tough wall of no more than 1 kilometer but with gradients above 10%. Among those leading the chase we could see Enrico Gasparotto (Etixx), Nick Nuyens (Lotto) and Tony Martin (Lotto). Gilbert was going to suffer to make it to the top but he would also force a high pace in the bunch.
Philippe Gilbert's hopes disappeared as Cadel Evans (Lotto) attacked with 8 kilometers to go and quickly closed the gap and left him behind. The Australian reached the toughest part of the climb with a gap over the bunch of 30 seconds but it did not seem quite enough even though he only had a bit more than 3 kilometers to go. Etixx was doing the job at the front during the climb mainly with Jerome Coppel (Etixx) abut also with Frank Schleck (Etixx). It was very clear already that this climb was way too hard for the sprinters and most of them were well behind the front of the group.
Cadel Evans had looked good but in the end he was caught by an attacking Emanuele Sella (Movistar) before the top of the climb in Pomarance. Sella dragged another 5 riders with him and with 1.5 kilometers to go they had opened a small gap. they were Marco Pinotti (Sky), Robert Gesink (Ag2r), Hubert Dupont (Euskaltel), Tiago Machado (Tinkoff) and Mathias Frank (IAM). They had 25 seconds over the group of the leader. There were other breaks behind and we could see Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale) and Tejay van Garderen (Trek) very badly positioned in one of those. They might lose a bit of time.
Hubert Dupont led the group over the last corner of the stage, with only 500 meters to go to the finish line in Pomarance. Tiago Machado looked like the only rider that was putting him in trouble as the rest of the group had not reacted to the final rush in the sprint. Mathias Frank was trying to make a bit of progress and was ahead of Emanuele Sella, who was facing a bit and Marco Pinotti. The group of the leader had closed the gap considerably in the last kilometer and it seemed like the gaps would be quite small if they even existed.
Hubert Dupont wins in Pomarance! The French rider did not show his face until the last kilometer of the stage and took another win for the Euskaltel - Euskadi team. The Spanish team already has 4 wins this season including this one. Nevertheless, it was not easy for Dupont to take the win as Tiago Machado was gaining on him during the sprint but run out of space to overtake. Machado proved to be very strong and he should be strong in this type of route. The third place in the stage went to Mathias Frank, ahead of Emanuele Sella and Marco Pinotti.
In the end the small gaps that appeared at the front of the bunch were closed down and a total of 79 riders were awarded the same time at the finish line. That is very few for a stage that was meant to be classified as flat. There were riders that lost quite a bit of time, including the Norwegian Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel), who lost 5 minutes only a few days after winning the Paris - Nice. It was a really entertaining stage in the last 50 kilometers. Tomorrow's stage should be a clear stage for the sprinters, their first opportunity to shine.
Laurens Ten Dam has gone a long way since he was first featured in this section. The Dutch was only starting to get results in the 2014 season and was in the process of bringing Cannondale from the bottom of the World Tour rankings into a more respectable position in the World of cycling. That season was undoubtedly the breakthrough in his career and in the closing stages of the season he got his first top 10 in a Grand Tour (9th in the Vuelta) and a podium finish in the Tour of Beijing. The Chinese race might be a low reputation race but any results that Cannondale got those days were very welcome.
The next year was going to be a bit more difficult for Ten Dam as obviously the expectations from the team had gone up considerably. He did not disappoint though. He started the season by taking the win in the Volta a Catalunya, the first stage race that he won in his career. After that he was clearly the best Grand Tour rider of the season as he took the 3rd position in the Giro d'Italia behind Peter Stetina and Jelle Vanendert and went on to win the Tour de France in his first attempt. It was not an easy win at all as he could only take over the lead of the race in the mountain time trial between Embrun and Chorges and his gap at the end of the race was barely over 1 minute over Hubert Dupont. Those results brought him very close to winning the World Tour rankings but he was only 2nd behind Jelle Vanendert.
Last season was also really good for Laurens Ten Dam but he only really shone in the Giro d'Italia, where he took the win and 4 stages. He completely destroyed a very combative David Lopez. However, the rest of his season was not that good and in the Vuelta he got a mildly disappointing 5th final position. His only other podium of 2016 came very late in the season, in the Giro di Lombardia. That was the first time that he had been a contender for a monument as Ten Dam has more or less forgotten about the Liege - Bastogne - Liege, where he does not have any results.
It is worth noting that Ten Dam has been the cornerstone of the Liquigas - Cannondale structure for the last 4 years. However, this is the last season in his contract and he is already 32 years old. Even though his performances do not suggest that he may be getting older Cannondale should start to draft a succession plan for the future. He has been accumulating most of the World Tour points that the team got in 2015 and 2016. Without his points the team would be very close to facing relegation to the Pro Continental division so they better find someone who can replace him in the future sooner rather than later.
Stage 3: Castelnuovo Val di Cecina - Montalto di Castro
The third stage is much more suitable for the sprinters, their first real chance of getting a stage win. The start of the stage will be Castelnuovo Val di Cecina, which was close to the finish yesterday and will finish in Montalto di Castro after the climbs to Scansano and Manziano, although the second one is not categorized. Nevertheless, it is expected that they are only adding to the difficulty of the stage because the climbs are in general too gentle to open any gaps. Scansano is very long at 12.7 kilometers but the gradient is only 3.3%.
It was very easy for the attackers to form the break of the day as not too many riders seemed interested. As it was only 4 of them none of the teams were worried and they soon opened a gap. The group was formed by Pablo Lastras (Movistar), Christophe Juul (Giant), Lars Bak (Cofidis) and Warren Barguil (FDJ). At the intermediate sprint in Massa Maritima, with 141 kilometers to go, they had already built a gap of 3' 30'' over the bunch. Lastras, who was only 33 seconds behind in the GC, took the points and the bonus seconds. In the peloton, it was Bernhard Eisel (LottoNL) who won the sprint.
The only categorized climb of the day was Scansano, 63 kilometers to the finish line. It was a very gentle climb so none of the riders in the bunch was having trouble keeping up with the pace. Michal Golas (HTC) was doing most of the chasing with sporadic help from Danilo di Luca (Euskaltel). However, they were going to need help if they meant to catch the break because the gap was still 3' 20'' and only decreasing slowly. Pablo Lastras took the first place in the KoM sprint and will be tied for the lead of the classification at the end of the day.
There was much help from Euskaltel and Etixx to bring back the break and with 14 kilometers to go Christophe Juul and Pablo Lastras only had 20 seconds over the bunch. It was Maarten Tjallingii (Etixx), George Hincapie (Lotto) and Danilo di Luca leading the chase at that point and the mass sprint seemed guaranteed. It would not be as easy for some of the sprinters to be in top shape because the climb to Marziano was done at a high pace and some might have suffered a bit. Also, the crosswinds might still break the peloton in these last kilometers.
Etixx was really quick to set up their sprint train once the break had been caught. They would have Enrico Gasparotto (Etixx) leading Lloyd Mondory (Etixx), while Nacer Bouhanni (Ag2r) had taken the wheel of his countryman. On the other side of the road it was Euskaltel with Elia Viviani (Euskaltel) ready to work for Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel), while Kenny van Hummel (LottoNL) was right behind. Lotto was also trying to set up their sprint train but they were really late and Andre Greipel (Lotto) was making a good effort to make progress. Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff), Ben Swift (Vacansoleil) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek) were well positioned but a bit far from the head.
The start of the sprint was a great chaos as the trains from Euskaltel and Etixx crossed each other. Enrico Gasparotto completely lost Lloyd Mondory and Elia Viviani was close to doing the same with Alexander Kristoff. That was giving the chance to the Lotto riders to make progress on the right-hand side of the road. Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) was pulling Andre Greipel up. Kenny van Hummel was another of the riders that could take advantage from all that chaos as he started his sprint from the middle of the road.
The fact that the sprinters lost their lead out man meant that those were still ahead with 600 meters to go. Elia Viviani was leading the sprint as Alexander Kristoff tried to retake his wheel and sprint for the line. The same went for Enrico Gasparotto and Lloyd Mondory, although the French was a bit behind and did not look in top shape for today's sprint. Meanwhile, Jelle Vanendert was still leading Andre Greipel and doing a great job for the German as they closed on the last meters of the stage. Among the other, Kenny van Hummel and Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) were trying to challenge the favorites but were a bit behind.
Elia Viviani wins in Montalto di Castro! That surely was a weird sprint because Viviani, who was meant to be the lead out man for Alexander Kristoff ended up winning the stage ahead of his Euskaltel teammate. The fact that Kristoff and Mondory almost tripped each other with a bit more than 1 kilometer to go surely played a big role. Also, Viviani proved that he is way too strong to be playing lead out man and Euskaltel might end up switching roles for the rest of the race. The third place ended up going for Kenny van Hummel ahead of Andre Greipel and Nacer Bouhanni.
The stage was more or less as expected and we witnessed a mass sprint in Montalto di Castro. It was an easy day for the GC riders, although the crosswinds in the latter part of the stage meant that everyone in the peloton had to do an effort to stay in touch. Tomorrow should be a different day as there are 4 small climbs in the second part of the race that might make it difficult for most of the sprinters. A solo attack might even go on to succeed at the finish line.
We have another stage classified as flat today but the sprinters will again have trouble making it to the finish line at the front group to be able to get a proper mass sprint. The route between Montalto di Castro and Foligno is scattered with climbs, especially towards the second part of the 220 kilometers long stage. The climb to Montefalco will be done twice, the last time only 15 kilometers from the finish line. It has one kilometer at the start above 10% gradient and many riders will find it difficult to survive such steep gradients for a prolonged period.
There was a bit of a fight to get the break of the day in the morning but in the end, it was solidly settled at the front at the first intermediate sprint, in Giove. The group of 5 was formed by Manuele Boaro (Astana), Alejandro Valverde (Cofidis), Joost van Leijen (Giant), Jens Debusschere (LottoNL) and Jeremy Roy (Ag2r). Boaro took the bonus seconds as he was only 49 seconds behind in the GC and it is a day when the break might be able to make it to the finish line. While the gap was 4' 45'', the peloton was rather quiet with Euskaltel, Etixx and HTC setting the pace. They still had a long way to go so they could not get crazy about chasing.
The first categorized climb of the day was a bit after the halfway point in the stage. It was the Valico della Somma, a 5 kilometers long climb. Michal Golas (HTC) was again working hard at the front of the pack but his job would be worthless if he did not get help because the gap at the top of the climb was 8' 30'' for the break. With such a gap, it would not be unthinkable that they could make it to the finish line. Meanwhile, Joost van Leijen took the first place in the KoM sprint in a stage that could give him quite a few points.
Joost van Leijen took the lead in the break at the first passage through the climb to Montefalco. He was a much better rider in the hills than the others in the break. It was a bit windy but less than earlier in the stage and it should not bother the riders too much. However, the gap for the break had started to come down quickly in the flat and was 5' 10'' at the top of the climb. The responsibility to chase in the peloton was still down to HTC, who still had Michal Golas sacrificing himself for David Millar (HTC). It will be interesting to see how many sprinters make it over the hills.
The peloton passed through Foligno for the first time and they headed to Trevi, the penultimate climb of the day. With 30 kilometers to go the gap to the break had grown to 7 minutes and David Lopez (Euskaltel) decided to take the matters into his own hands and attacked. Obviously, an attack from such an important rider triggered an immediate reaction from a few teams. Jerome Coppel (Etixx) was the first rider to take the responsibility at the front of the pack as he could not allow the Spaniard to gain time in the GC. The attack was very brave as it was far from the finish line with a couple of flat sections to deal with.
The race changed completely after the attack by David Lopez. Joost van Leijen decided that it was better to go solo at the second climb to Montefalco but the gaps behind him were shrinking rapidly. He had 1 minute over several others from the break at the top of the climb: Alejandro Valverde, Jens Debusschere and Manuele Boaro. David Lopez had cut the gap to only 2' 10'' and the peloton was trailing 2' 45'' behind Van Leijen. David Millar himself was leading the chasing group in a bid to protect his lead and the options in the GC for Andrew Talansky (HTC). With 15 kilometers to go from the top they still had time to bring it all back.
Etixx took the lead in the peloton and in the flat section after Montefalco started to catch riders back. With 6 kilometers to go it was only Joost van Leijen ahead and his gap had come down to only 20 seconds. David Lopez had not been able to sustain the lead in the flat. Jerome Coppel, Frank Schleck (Etixx) and Thibaut Pinot (Etixx) were leading the chase for the Belgian team, who was in the hunt for the stage with Lloyd Mondory (Etixx). Among the sprinters that got dropped by the bunch we could see Stefan van Dijk (Vacansoleil) and Ben Swift (Vacansoleil). Many others were badly positioned ahead of a likely sprint.
The sprint was meant to be very chaotic and Emanuele Sella (Movistar) attacked with 2 kilometers to go to try to surprise the sprinters. They were already in the streets of Foligno so the chase was not straight-forward. Among the sprinters that were close to the front of the pack we could see Lloyd Mondory, Andre Greipel (Lotto), Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek). Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel) was in the peloton but too far from the front and we could not see Elia Viviani (Euskaltel) either.
Emanuele Sella's attack did not go far and with 600 meters to go Lloyd Mondory had already overtaken him. The French had started the sprint really strong and even opened a small gap over the rest of the sprinters. He is a man that handles the chaotic sprints very well and does not gain that much on the very organized sprints in the flatter stages. Among the chasers we could see Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre), Andre Greipel (Lotto) and Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) but unless Mondory dropped down considerably they would be battling to catch Sella and fight for the second place.
Lloyd Mondory wins in Foligno! There was no discussion as to who was the strongest in the final rush in this difficult stage. Mondory clearly beat the competition to grab his 3rd win of the season. He clearly handled to hills way better than all the other sprinters and made it count. In the fight for the second place Andre Greipel was quickest, leaving Kenny van Hummel (LottoNL), Jose Joaquin Rojas and Francesco Gavazzi behind. A few of the hills riders that could sprint tried to get something from today's finish but many sprinters were still strong. We also had a change of leader as Johan Vansummeren (HTC) took over the lead due to the positions sum.
The stage was quite interesting as at some point it looked like the stage would go to the break. However, David Lopez's attack turned the race upside down and led to a very fast 30 kilometers of racing. The Spaniard might have chosen to save energies for tomorrow but he is one of the GC riders that handles best these race situations and tried to get something out of today's stage. It will be very different tomorrow as the stage finishing in Monte San Vicino will completely change the order of the GC.
