Individual time trial gets new race underway, American rider times departure right
Opting to start earlier than many of the other big guns due to the likelihood of winds cropping up later on, Taylor Phinney showed good tactics, fine bike handling skills and excellent form in winning the first stage of the Dubai Tour.
The BMC Racing Team rider covered the ten kilometre individual time trial in twelve minutes and three seconds, taking an early lead which was never to be surpassed by those who followed.
His British team-mate Steve Cummings went closest, finishing fourteen seconds back, while Garmin-Sharp neo pro and London 2012 gold medallist Lasse Norman Hansen was a further two seconds back in third.
The current world champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma Quick Step) did his utmost to try to win his first time trial of the 2014 season but came up short, the German taking 22 seconds longer than Phinney to complete the solo race.
He had the small consolation of beating the rider with whom he has tussled for several world time trial titles, namely Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing), who was three seconds further back.
Phinney said that his start time was crucial. “I felt really good. I felt really strong. It was kind of a fight on the way back going into a headwind. We made the tactical decision to start earlier because most of the wind reports showed the wind going up through the day,” he explained.
The riders were on standard road bikes as the Dubai Tour didn’t permit them to bring time trial machines. The same has been the case in other early-season races in the past such as the Tour of Qatar and the Tour de Langkawi.
Some rider can cope better than others with the road machines. The need to get into the most aerodynamic position possible can be a big challenge on the standard bikes, with the normal TT setup not able to be used.
Phinney clearly got that part right, and also coped very well with the technical course. He only braked twice during the effort, going flat out for the rest of the time trial.
Cummnings said he did what he could to win but the American rider had the edge. “I tried my best, but I think Taylor did an exceptional ride. He was strong,” he accepted.
“It is a great start for this team. Everyone was strong though, not just the two of us. Like Yannick (Eijssen). He weighs about 60 kilos and he was 16th. It's incredible.”
Martin wanted to win but instead had to accept fourth. “First of all I felt really good,” he said. “I made a good race. When I saw the data on the clock it was quite okay. The result at the end, I don't want to say it's the reason of circumstances, but I wish we had all started at the same time — all of the main contenders — to have a realistic result. But I had to start at the end [at the organisers’ request], so okay.
“I did my best and considering the situation I think it was really okay. Congratulations to Taylor Phinney as it was a strong race for him and he deserved the victory.”
Phinney has shown his ability against the clock on several occasions in the past, including when he was a close second to Martin in the 2012 world championships.
He got his revenge today and sent a clear signal that he means business this year.
“I put out the power that I wanted to put out. It was really a lot of watts and very strong,” he said. “I felt fine. It was really one of those courses where it was over before you know it.”
Thursday’s so-called Sport stage takes the riders 122 kilometres in all. The route passes some of the best-known sports buildings in Dubai such as the Hippodrome, the Olympic pool, the Al Qudra cycling path, the Autodrome and the Golf Club.”
The race is run by RCS Sport, organisers of the Giro d’Italia.
Dubai Tour (2.1)
Stage 1, Dubai TT:
1, Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team) 9.9 kilometres in 12 mins 3 secs
2, Steven Cummings (BMC Racing Team) at 14 secs
3, Lasse Norman Hansen (Garmin Sharp) at 16 secs
4, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 22 secs
5, Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) at 25 secs
6, Peter Sagan (Cannondale) at 31 secs
7, Adriano Malori (Movistar Team) at 32 secs
8, Maciej Bodnar (Cannondale) at 35 secs
9, Alexandr Porsev (Team Katusha)
10, Peter Velits (BMC Racing Team) at 37 secs
11, Marcel Kittel (Team Giant-Shimano) at 38 secs
12, Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida) at 40 secs
13, Dylan Van Baarle (Garmin Sharp) at 41 secs
14, Rory Sutherland (Tinkoff-Saxo) at 42 secs
15, Sergei Chernetski (Team Katusha) at mins 43 secs
16, Yannick Eijssen (BMC Racing Team)
17, Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar Team) at 44 secs
18, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Pro Team)
19, Martin Velits (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team)
20, Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin Sharp)
21, Bob Jungels (Trek Factory Racing) at 45 secs
22, Matteo Tosatto (Tinkoff-Saxo)
23, Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Team Giant-Shimano) at 46 secs
24, Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Lampre-Merida) at 47 secs
25, Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Trek Factory Racing) at 49 secs
26, Lawson Craddock (Team Giant-Shimano)
27, Julien Vermote (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 50 secs
28, Angel Vicioso Arcos (Team Katusha)
29, Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Movistar Team)
30, Wouter Poels (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 51 secs
31, Ramon Sinkeldam (Team Giant-Shimano)
32, Jesus Herrada Lopez (Movistar Team) at 52 secs
33, Ivan Rovny (Tinkoff-Saxo)
34, Sebastian Langeveld (Garmin Sharp)
35, Nelson Oliveira (Lampre-Merida) at 53 secs
36, Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Movistar Team)
37, Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 54 secs
38, Fabio Silvestre (Trek Factory Racing)
39, Alessandro Petacchi (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team)
40, Nikolay Trusov (Tinkoff-Saxo) at 56 secs
41, Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin Sharp) at 57 secs
42, Pavel Brutt (Team Katusha)
43, Michael Valgren Andersen (Tinkoff-Saxo) at 59 secs
44, Rick Zabel (BMC Racing Team) at 1 min 1 secs
45, Danilo Hondo (Trek Factory Racing) at 1 min 2 secs
46, Vladimir Gusev (Team Katusha)
47, Janez Brajkovic (Astana Pro Team) at 1 min 3 secs
48, Evan Huffman (Astana Pro Team)
49, Davide Cimolai (Lampre-Merida) at 1 min 4 secs
50, Alexandr Pliuschin (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team)
51, Alex Dowsett (Movistar Team)
52, Kristof Vandewalle (Trek Factory Racing)
53, Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Pro Team) at 1 min 5 secs
54, Damiano Caruso (Cannondale) at 1 min 7 secs
55, Klaas Lodewyck (BMC Racing Team)
56, Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) at 1 min 8 secs
57, Nikolas Maes (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 1 min 9 secs
58, Marco Marcato (Cannondale) at 1 min 10 secs
59, Jacopo Guarnieri (Astana Pro Team)
60, Francisco Mancebo (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team)
61, Luca Paolini (Team Katusha)
62, Johan Van Summeren (Garmin Sharp) at 1 min 11 secs
63, Alessandro Vanotti (Astana Pro Team) at 1 min 12 secs
64, Koen De Kort (Team Giant-Shimano)
65, Mark Renshaw (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 1 min 13 secs
66, Thor Hushovd (BMC Racing Team)
67, Alberto Losada Alguacil (Team Katusha) at 1 min 14 secs
68, Eugenio Alafaci (Trek Factory Racing) at 1 min 16 secs
69, Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff-Saxo) at 1 min 17 secs
70, Luca Dodi (Lampre-Merida) at 1 min 18 secs
71, Tyler Farrar (Garmin Sharp) at 1 min 20 secs
72, Rafael Ferreira Reis (Banco BIC Carmim)
73, Oliver Zaugg (Tinkoff-Saxo) at 1 min 23 secs
74, Edward King (Cannondale) at 1 min 26 secs
75, Rafaa Chtioui (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team)
76, Bert De Backer (Team Giant-Shimano) at 1 min 28 secs
77, Tom Veelers (Team Giant-Shimano)
78, Alessandro Malaguti (Vini-Fantini-Nippo) at 1 min 30 secs
79, Niccolò Bonifazio (Lampre-Merida)
80, Mohammed Albalooshi (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team) at 1 min 31 secs
81, Willem Jakobus Smit (Vini-Fantini-Nippo) at 1 min 32 secs
82, Daniele Ratto (Cannondale) at 1 min 33 secs
83, Bruno Manuel Sil Pires (Tinkoff-Saxo)
84, Cheng Ji (Team Giant-Shimano)
85, Diogo Nunes (Banco BIC Carmim)
86, Andrea Palini (Lampre-Merida)
87, Pier Paolo De Negri (Vini-Fantini-Nippo) at 1 min 36 secs
88, Kim Magnusson (Vini-Fantini-Nippo) at 1 min 37 secs
89, Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Team Katusha)
90, Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team) at 1 min 40 secs
91, Daniel Mestre (Banco BIC Carmim)
92, Riccardo Stacchiotti (Vini-Fantini-Nippo)
93, Sebastian Lander (BMC Racing Team) at 1 min 42 secs
94, Yousif Mirza (United Arab Emirates)
95, Fabio Sabatini (Cannondale) at 1 min 44 secs
96, Soufiane Haddi (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team) at 1 min 45 secs
97, Sun Jae Jang (RTS-Santic Racing Team) at 1 min 47 secs
98, Adil Jelloul (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team)
99, Roberto Ferrari (Lampre-Merida) at 1 min 48 secs
100, Andrea Guardini (Astana Pro Team) at 1 min 49 secs
101, Antonio Viola (Vini-Fantini-Nippo) at 1 min 51 secs
102, Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Movistar Team) at 1 min 54 secs
103, Enrique Sanz Unzue (Movistar Team) at 1 min 58 secs
104, Keon-Woo Park (RTS-Santic Racing Team) at 1 min 59 secs
105, Juraj Sagan (Cannondale) at 2 mins 1 secs
106, Manabu Ishibashi (Vini-Fantini-Nippo) at 2 mins 2 secs
107, Manuel Antunes Amaro (Banco BIC Carmim)
108, Raymond Kreder (Garmin Sharp) at 2 mins 5 secs
109, Tan Peng Yuan (RTS-Santic Racing Team) at 2 mins 6 secs
110, Mansour Thani (United Arab Emirates) at 2 mins 7 secs
111, Mohammed Almansoury (United Arab Emirates) at 2 mins 10 secs
112, Henrique Madeira Casimiro (Banco BIC Carmim) at 2 mins 11 secs
113, Valentin Iglinskiy (Astana Pro Team)
114, Nawaf Albalooshi (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team) at 2 mins 13 secs
115, Alex Coutts (RTS-Santic Racing Team) at 2 mins 15 secs
116, Joao Pereira (Banco BIC Carmim) at 2 mins 17 secs
117, Ahmed Almansoori (United Arab Emirates) at 2 mins 18 secs
118, Majid Albalooshi (United Arab Emirates)
119, Khaled Altani (United Arab Emirates) at 2 mins 19 secs
120, Takashi Miyazawa (Vini-Fantini-Nippo)
121, Bruno De Matos Sancho (Banco BIC Carmim) at 2 mins 22 secs
122, Simon Buttner (RTS-Santic Racing Team) at 2 mins 29 secs
123, Boris Shpilevsky (RTS-Santic Racing Team) at 2 mins 37 secs
124, Valter Pereira (Banco BIC Carmim) at 2 mins 43 secs
125, Ruslan Karimov (RTS-Santic Racing Team) at 2 mins 47 secs
126, Wen Chung Huang (RTS-Santic Racing Team) at 2 mins 54 secs
127, Ahmad Albalooshi (United Arab Emirates) at 3 mins 18 secs
Overall:
1, Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team) at 12 mins 3 secs
2, Steven Cummings (BMC Racing Team) at 14 secs
3, Lasse Norman Hansen (Garmin Sharp) at 16 secs
4, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 22 secs
5, Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) at 25 secs
6, Peter Sagan (Cannondale) at 31 secs
7, Adriano Malori (Movistar Team) at 32 secs
8, Maciej Bodnar (Cannondale) at 35 secs
9, Alexandr Porsev (Team Katusha)
10, Peter Velits (BMC Racing Team) at 37 secs
11, Marcel Kittel (Team Giant-Shimano) at 38 secs
12, Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida) at 40 secs
13, Dylan Van Baarle (Garmin Sharp) at 41 secs
14, Rory Sutherland (Tinkoff-Saxo) at 42 secs
15, Sergei Chernetski (Team Katusha) at 43 secs
16, Yannick Eijssen (BMC Racing Team)
17, Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar Team) at 44 secs
18, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Pro Team)
19, Martin Velits (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team)
20, Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin Sharp)
21, Bob Jungels (Trek Factory Racing) at 45 secs
22, Matteo Tosatto (Tinkoff-Saxo)
23, Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Team Giant-Shimano) at 46 secs
24, Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Lampre-Merida) at 47 secs
25, Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Trek Factory Racing) at 49 secs
26, Lawson Craddock (Team Giant-Shimano)
27, Julien Vermote (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 50 secs
28, Angel Vicioso Arcos (Team Katusha)
29, Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Movistar Team)
30, Wouter Poels (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 51 secs
31, Ramon Sinkeldam (Team Giant-Shimano)
32, Jesus Herrada Lopez (Movistar Team) at 52 secs
33, Ivan Rovny (Tinkoff-Saxo)
34, Sebastian Langeveld (Garmin Sharp)
35, Nelson Oliveira (Lampre-Merida) at 53 secs
36, Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Movistar Team)
37, Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 54 secs
38, Fabio Silvestre (Trek Factory Racing)
39, Alessandro Petacchi (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team)
40, Nikolay Trusov (Tinkoff-Saxo) at 56 secs
41, Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin Sharp) at 57 secs
42, Pavel Brutt (Team Katusha)
43, Michael Valgren Andersen (Tinkoff-Saxo) at 59 secs
44, Rick Zabel (BMC Racing Team) at 1 min 1 secs
45, Danilo Hondo (Trek Factory Racing) at 1 min 2 secs
46, Vladimir Gusev (Team Katusha)
47, Janez Brajkovic (Astana Pro Team) at 1 min 3 secs
48, Evan Huffman (Astana Pro Team)
49, Davide Cimolai (Lampre-Merida) at 1 min 4 secs
50, Alexandr Pliuschin (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team)
51, Alex Dowsett (Movistar Team)
52, Kristof Vandewalle (Trek Factory Racing)
53, Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Pro Team) at 1 min 5 secs
54, Damiano Caruso (Cannondale) at 1 min 7 secs
55, Klaas Lodewyck (BMC Racing Team)
56, Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) at 1 min 8 secs
57, Nikolas Maes (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 1 min 9 secs
58, Marco Marcato (Cannondale) at 1 min 10 secs
59, Jacopo Guarnieri (Astana Pro Team)
60, Francisco Mancebo (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team)
61, Luca Paolini (Team Katusha)
62, Johan Van Summeren (Garmin Sharp) at 1 min 11 secs
63, Alessandro Vanotti (Astana Pro Team) at 1 min 12 secs
64, Koen De Kort (Team Giant-Shimano)
65, Mark Renshaw (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 1 min 13 secs
66, Thor Hushovd (BMC Racing Team)
67, Alberto Losada Alguacil (Team Katusha) at 1 min 14 secs
68, Eugenio Alafaci (Trek Factory Racing) at 1 min 16 secs
69, Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff-Saxo) at 1 min 17 secs
70, Luca Dodi (Lampre-Merida) at 1 min 18 secs
71, Tyler Farrar (Garmin Sharp) at 1 min 20 secs
72, Rafael Ferreira Reis (Banco BIC Carmim)
73, Oliver Zaugg (Tinkoff-Saxo) at 1 min 23 secs
74, Edward King (Cannondale) at 1 min 26 secs
75, Rafaa Chtioui (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team)
76, Bert De Backer (Team Giant-Shimano) at 1 min 28 secs
77, Tom Veelers (Team Giant-Shimano)
78, Alessandro Malaguti (Vini-Fantini-Nippo) at 1 min 30 secs
79, Niccolò Bonifazio (Lampre-Merida)
80, Mohammed Albalooshi (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team) at 1 min 31 secs
81, Willem Jakobus Smit (Vini-Fantini-Nippo) at 1 min 32 secs
82, Daniele Ratto (Cannondale) at 1 min 33 secs
83, Bruno Manuel Sil Pires (Tinkoff-Saxo)
84, Cheng Ji (Team Giant-Shimano)
85, Diogo Nunes (Banco BIC Carmim)
86, Andrea Palini (Lampre-Merida)
87, Pier Paolo De Negri (Vini-Fantini-Nippo) at 1 min 36 secs
88, Kim Magnusson (Vini-Fantini-Nippo) at 1 min 37 secs
89, Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Team Katusha)
90, Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team) at 1 min 40 secs
91, Daniel Mestre (Banco BIC Carmim)
92, Riccardo Stacchiotti (Vini-Fantini-Nippo)
93, Sebastian Lander (BMC Racing Team) at 1 min 42 secs
94, Yousif Mirza (United Arab Emirates)
95, Fabio Sabatini (Cannondale) at 1 min 44 secs
96, Soufiane Haddi (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team) at 1 min 45 secs
97, Sun Jae Jang (RTS-Santic Racing Team) at 1 min 47 secs
98, Adil Jelloul (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team)
99, Roberto Ferrari (Lampre-Merida) at 1 min 48 secs
100, Andrea Guardini (Astana Pro Team) at 1 min 49 secs
101, Antonio Viola (Vini-Fantini-Nippo) at 1 min 51 secs
102, Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Movistar Team) at 1 min 54 secs
103, Enrique Sanz Unzue (Movistar Team) at 1 min 58 secs
104, Keon-Woo Park (RTS-Santic Racing Team) at 1 min 59 secs
105, Juraj Sagan (Cannondale) at 2 mins 1 secs
106, Manabu Ishibashi (Vini-Fantini-Nippo) at 2 mins 2 secs
107, Manuel Antunes Amaro (Banco BIC Carmim)
108, Raymond Kreder (Garmin Sharp) at 2 mins 5 secs
109, Tan Peng Yuan (RTS-Santic Racing Team) at 2 mins 6 secs
110, Mansour Thani (United Arab Emirates) at 2 mins 7 secs
111, Mohammed Almansoury (United Arab Emirates) at 2 mins 10 secs
112, Henrique Madeira Casimiro (Banco BIC Carmim) at 2 mins 11 secs
113, Valentin Iglinskiy (Astana Pro Team)
114, Nawaf Albalooshi (Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team) at 2 mins 13 secs
115, Alex Coutts (RTS-Santic Racing Team) at 2 mins 15 secs
116, Joao Pereira (Banco BIC Carmim) at 2 mins 17 secs
117, Ahmed Almansoori (United Arab Emirates) at 2 mins 18 secs
118, Majid Albalooshi (United Arab Emirates)
119, Khaled Altani (United Arab Emirates) at 2 mins 19 secs
120, Takashi Miyazawa (Vini-Fantini-Nippo)
121, Bruno De Matos Sancho (Banco BIC Carmim) at 2 mins 22 secs
122, Simon Buttner (RTS-Santic Racing Team) at 2 mins 29 secs
123, Boris Shpilevsky (RTS-Santic Racing Team) at 2 mins 37 secs
124, Valter Pereira (Banco BIC Carmim) at 2 mins 43 secs
125, Ruslan Karimov (RTS-Santic Racing Team) at 2 mins 47 secs
126, Wen Chung Huang (RTS-Santic Racing Team) at 2 mins 54 secs
127, Ahmad Albalooshi (United Arab Emirates) at 3 mins 18 secs
Points:
1, Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team) 20 pts
2, Steven Cummings (BMC Racing Team) 16
3, Lasse Norman Hansen (Garmin Sharp) 12
4, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team) 9
5, Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) 7
6, Peter Sagan (Cannondale) 5
7, Adriano Malori (Movistar Team) 4
8, Maciej Bodnar (Cannondale) 3
9, Alexandr Porsev (Team Katusha) 2
10, Peter Velits (BMC Racing Team) 1
Sprints:
1, Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team) 8 pts
2, Steven Cummings (BMC Racing Team) 5
3, Lasse Norman Hansen (Garmin Sharp) 3
4, Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) 1
Best young rider:
1, Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team) 12 mins 3 secs
2, Lasse Norman Hansen (Garmin Sharp) at 16 secs
3, Peter Sagan (Cannondale) at 31 secs
4, Dylan Van Baarle (Garmin Sharp) at 41 secs
5, Sergei Chernetski (Team Katusha) at 43 secs
6, Yannick Eijssen (BMC Racing Team)
7, Bob Jungels (Trek Factory Racing) at 45 secs
8, Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Team Giant-Shimano) at 46 secs
9, Lawson Craddock (Team Giant-Shimano) at 49 secs
10, Julien Vermote (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team) at 50 secs