Rabobank takes their 12th win of the season with a Time Trial victory today on the opening stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. Clocking a time of 18 minutes and 8 seconds over the 16.8km course they bested Garmin-Cervelo by 9seconds and HTC-Highroad by 10 seconds.
While Boom crossed the line first and wears the leaders blue jersey, the real winner may be Robert Gesink, whose form has been incredible at this early stage in the season as displayed during his victories in Oman.
Gesink received substantial time gains over his rivals for the overall; 22 seconds on Ivan Basso who has announced his intention to win the race, 29 seconds over Andy Schleck, 39 seconds over Michele Scarponi and 47 seconds over last years winner, Stefano Garzelli.
While frequently seen as a tune up for Milan San Remo, the Team Time Trial and final Time Trial leave only two true sprinter’s stages. Look for Greipel, Bennati, Farrar, Cavendish and Hushovd to ride the sprint trains in Arezzo at the conclusion of tomorrow’s stage.
Stage 1 Team Time Trial Results
1 Rabobank 0:18:08
2 Garmin-Cervelo0:00:09
3 HTC-Highroad0:00:10
4 Saxo Bank-SunGard0:00:11
5 Liquigas-Cannondale0:00:22
6 BMC0:00:26
7 Leopard-Trek0:00:29
8 RadioShack0:00:30
9 Sky0:00:33
10 Lampre-ISD0:00:39
Overall Leader, Lars Boom.