He’s just nineteen years of age but Josef Cerny, one of the youngest riders in pro cycling took over race leadership in the Giro del Trentino this afternoon on the basis of his CCC Polsat-Polkowice squad’s performance in the team time trial.
The Czech rider had finished second to Frenchman Maxime Bouet in this morning’s opening road stage after he, Bouet and Michael Rodriguez (Colombia) got clear of an eight man break and disputed the stage win between them.
Bouet and his Ag2r la Mondiale team had hoped to hold onto the race lead in the afternoon team time trial but over the 14.1 kilometre distance they could only finish fifteenth out of the eighteen teams. Cerney’s CCC Polsat Polkowice went thirteen seconds faster to clock up twelfth place, with the time gained moving the young rider to the top of the overall standings. Rodriguez’ Colombia squad was sixteenth, fourteen seconds behind that of Cerney.
Fastest again the clock was the Sky Procycling team of Bradley Wiggins, the 2012 Tour de France winner. That was a welcome success for the team, but still leaves him with an awful lot of work to do. He and the rest of the bunch lost almost seven minutes this morning, and while he gained 52 seconds on the new race leader, he is still six minutes and three seconds back with three stages to go.
“The most important thing is that I had good feelings,” said Wiggins, who is riding the race as part of his build-up for the Giro d’Italia. “I feel ok and confident. Tomorrow’s test to Vetriolo will be really tough, but we are here to see where we can get, hopefully as high as possible.”
His Sky team beat Astana by thirteen seconds and Lampre Merida by sixteen. Netapp Endura had a solid ride in fourth while Bardiani Valvole CSF Inox and Team Europcar ensured that there were three Pro Continental teams in the top six.
“This was a very good result for us,” said Astana team manager Giuseppe Martinelli. “All of our riders finished together and we have only begun to narrow down our selection for the Giro d'Italia. Sky's riders at the Giro del Trentino are 99 percent already confirmed for May.”
He added that there were clear reasons why the team lost time. “We still have to work on smoothing out the tempo, and making more of a transition from one rider to the next. I think we were close today in accomplishing this, but I also think we are well on our way.”
The 2.HC race continues tomorrow with the first of three mountain stages, a 224.8 kilometre leg from Sillian to Vetriolo Terme.
Giro del Trentino (2.HC)
Stage 1b, Lienz team time trial:
1, Sky Procycling 14.1 kilometres in 15 mins 20 secs
2, Astana Pro Team at 13 secs
3, Lampre – Merida, at 16 secs
4, Team NetApp-Endura, at 24 secs
5, Bardiani-CSF Inox, at 35 secs
6, Europcar, same time
7, Vini Fantini Selle Italia, at 39 secs
8, Androni Giocattoli Venezuela, at 44 secs
9, BMC Racing Team, at 49 secs
10, Cannondale Pro Cycling, same time
Overall classification after two stages:
1, Josef Cerny (CCC Polsat-Polkowice)
2, Maxime Bouet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) at 11 secs
3, Michael Rodriguez (Colombia) at 16 secs
4, Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (MTN Qhubeka) at 44 secs
5, Pavel Kochetkov (Rusvelo) at 49 secs
6, Enzo Moyano (Caja Rural) at 50 secs
7, Nicola Dal (Ceramica Flaminia Fondriest) at 59 secs
8, Gang Xu (Champion System) at 2 mins 5 secs
9, Peter Kennaugh (Sky) at 6 mins 3 secs
10, Christian Knees (Sky) same time