Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) secured overall victory in Tirreno-Adriatico after a solid performance in the seventh and final stage time trial around the Adriatic coastal town of San Benedetto del Tronto. The Australian, who was last to start, completed the flat 9.3km course in a time of 11’04”, 31 seconds slower than the winning time of 10’33”, set by World champion Fabian Cancellara (Leopard Trek); more importantly though, Evans was faster than his immediate rivals in the overall standings.
Robert Gesink (Rabobank) capped a strong race with a time of 11 minutes exactly; the Dutchman, who won the young riders’ jersey, leapfrogged both Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) to take second place and push Basso off the podium. Scarponi’s time of 11’10” was good enough to see off any threat from Basso, but not to threaten Evans.
"I'm extremely pleased that I rode so well today and throughout the entire race," said Evans. "I worked very hard this winter, training alone for hours. I'm grateful to the riders and staff of the BMC Racing Team who supported and helped me to have such a strong race.
“Of course my focus remains on the Tour de France, but I always prefer to have some results beforehand."
One battle for the stage and one for the jersey
As usual there were two battles going on out on the road; the first was for the stage victory, and the other for the race leader’s blue jersey. With just 56 seconds separating the top eleven riders, the overall classification battles would be fought later on but first the day’s stage would be settled between the time trial specialists.
Olivier Kaisen (OmegaPharma-Lotto) was the first rider to start, and posted a highly beatable time of 11’47” for the 9.3km course. Just 4 minutes later Rick Flens (Rabobank) became the first rider to take the time below 11 minutes, crossing the line in 10’53”.
Flens was to stay at the top of the leaderboard for a little over half an hour before 2008 World time trial champion Bert Grabsch (HTC-Highroad), one of yesterday’s breakaway riders, came close to knocking him off with 10’55”.
Shortly afterwards Flens’ teammate Lars Boom, the first wearer of the blue leader’s jersey in the race after the Dutch team won the opening team time trial, did knock Flens off; the former World cyclocross champion lowered the best time to 10’42. Nine minutes later though, meaning that he was leaving the start area just as Boom was approaching the finish, World champion Fabian Cancellara blitzed around the course in 10’33”, which no one would come close to for the rest of the afternoon.
"Yes, of course, I'm very, very happy," said Cancellara after the last of the riders had finished and he was confirmed as the stage winner. "I'm extremely satisfied to have my first victory with Leopard Trek."
Just six riders after the World champion, Adriano Malori (Lampre-ISD) managed to push Flens off the day’s podium; his time of 10’52”, 19 seconds slower than Cancellara slotted Malori into third place, which was where he would remain at the end of the stage.
"In a way, it's not comfortable riding early," said Cancellara, who had to sit in the stage leader’s chair for more than an hour and a half. "My win might be predictable for some people, but it was never certain until the end. A time trial isn't finished until the last rider storms across the line.
“At the World Championships, when I am the last rider to go, I have a reference time. Today, I did not have that, so it became a matter of experience and of knowing what the ideal time might be. In a time trial over only 10K, you don't spare yourself."
With the stage decided the race was up for grabs
Tenth placed Marco Pinotti (HTC-Highroad) was the most accomplished time triallist of the overall contenders; dressed in the colours of Italian time trial champion, Pinotti would be the only rider in the top ten to go under 11 minutes, with his 10’57” putting him into sixth on the stage.
Pinotti’s relative superiority over Thomas Löfkvist (Team Sky), Tiago Machado (RadioShack), Philiipe Gilbert (OmegaPharma-Lotto) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) meant that he lifted himself over all four riders to put himself into sixth in the overall classification also.
Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) managed an impressive 11’13” for a non-specialist, which meant that he held off the rising Pinotti. The next man, Gesink’s time was one of the performances of the day though; his 11 minutes exactly was good enough to threaten those above him, as well as holding off riders on the rise like Pinotti.
Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) began the day just 12 and 9 seconds respectively behind race leader Evans; with neither rider specialising in time trials though, they both had more to worry about holding off Gesink than threatening the race leader.
Gesink started off just 3 seconds behind Basso and 6 behind Scarponi; with the former recording 11’16” and the latter 11’10”, the 24-year-old Dutchman overtook both to add a top-two finish to his white, young riders’ jersey.
Gesink had been 15 seconds behind Evans at the start, meaning that the Australian needed to go faster than 11’15” to avoid losing the race. Starting last, dressed in the pale blue of race leader, Evans managed to finish in 11’04, slightly slower than Gesink but not enough for the Dutchman to take the race.
Evans’ victory gives the Australian his first stage race win since the Settimana Coppi e Bartali in March 2008. His main target for the year though, as usual, is the Tour de France in July, where he will aim to become the oldest winner since World War II.
“When you can win, it's always great,” he told the post-race press conference. “It's great to have a result before the Tour also. I am a fan of the older cycling, where the riders raced from the beginning to the end of the year. I don't like how cycling has gone lately where cyclists only show up to race the tour and that's it.”