Tirreno-Adriatico 2010
Mar 10 - Mar 16

Tirreno-Adriatico Dashboard

Stage 0:  Pre-Race Press Conference  Full Results and Report

Mark Cavendish's training has been set back by early season dental problems but he's now ready to go	Andy Schleck has been set back this season as well. He's recovering from a knee injury and has only raced once -- abandoning Giro del Friuli last weekend. See 9 Big Photos from Giro del Friuli 2010 — sirotti	Tirreno-Adriatico is part of Liquigas' Franco Pellizotti Giro d'Italia prep
Fabian Cancellara is probably disappointed there is no individual time-trial in this year's edition	The very best sprinters will be taking the start including Liquigas' Daniele Bennati	Last year's stage 6 and overall winner Michele Scarponi (Androni Giocattoli) has reason to be worried
Cadel Evans has the biggest Italian events on his BMC race schedule this year	Lots of questions were asked	The Big Race Photos from 2009 are much more exciting

Stage 1:  Livorno - Rosignano Solvay 148km  Full Results and Report

A sampling of the peloton and their foul weather gear. That's Stefano Garzelli in the center.	Fuga. Dmytro Grabovskyy of ISD during his early, ill-fated, solo break	Overnight snow on the ground in Tuscany
Saxo Bank's Fabian Cancellara all bundled up while descending the slick roads	FDJ's Jussi Veikkanen crashed on a descent and is favoring his arm (collarbone?). I believe he abandoned.	The peloton must have been tired from chasing because after this four man escape was caught with 1 km to go, the break again opened up a gap with Milram's Linus Gerdemann timing his sprint, from the back, to perfection
A filthy win	Unless you won today, there was nothing to smile about	All cleaned up for the award presentation. Linus Gerdemann also did well at Tirreno-Adriatico two years ago before breaking his leg during the TT stage.

Stage 2:  Montecatini Terme 165km  Full Results and Report

Sky's Mathew Hayman back visiting with the team car. The Team Sky managers travel in style; Jaguar is the official car supplier for Team Sky	Climbing the twisty, narrow roads north of Montecatini Terme	Milram at the front for race leader, Linus Gerdemann
Vincenzo Nibali and Michele Scarponi at the front during the 4 circuits in the hills northeast of Montecatini Terme	returning to the flat portion of the circuits in Montecatini Terme	Quick Step's Tom Boonen powered his way home after Liquigas provided a great leadout for Daniele Bennati (3rd behind Boonen). That's Rabobank's Paul Martens finishing strong for second.
Sabrina Ballerini, widow of Franco Ballerini, was one of the local dignitaries at the award ceremony. The scene of Ballerini's rally car accident in Larciano and the Pistoia hospital where he died were just east of today's stage. He was born in Florence to the south.	Tom Boonen gets one of his awards from Miss Bacio	Boonen is the right guy to get the party started
Milram's Linus Gerdemann gets to don the Blue Jersey again, but he's now tied on time with Boonen for the race lead.

Stage 3:  San Miniato - Monsummano Terme 159km  Full Results and Report

The local hospitality. Fabian Cancellara thanks a local baker while Leonardo Bertagnolli helps himself	A Tuscan winter panoramic	It goes with the snow on the ground, but there seems to be too much white in Filippo Pozzato's Italian national champ's kit. Looks like he's riding in his longjohns.
It was Bertagnolli's Androni Giocattoli teammate, Cameron Wurf, who was the last surviving rider in today's long break	Amets Txurruka of Euskaltel - Euskadi tried to bridge up to Wurf	The peloton working to bring it back together for a sprint finish. That's race leader Linus Gerdemann in the middle. It was bad day for his Team Milram. They lost the Blue Jersey and two of their riders to injury/illness.
After all breaks were reeled in, Liquigas, like yesterday, setup a sprint finish win for Daniele Bennati who finished it off today.	Liquigas celebrates
Alessandro Petacchi finished second showing that he is well on his way to recovering from a training crash last week	Bennati's win also gives him the race lead and the maglia azzura. He dedicated his win to Franco Ballerini -- the stage passed through his hometown today.

Stage 4:  San Gemini - Chieti 243km  Full Results and Report

Blue Sky! A nice start for the peloton after leaving San Gemini... although apparently they got some rain again somewhere along the way.	Seven riders lead by Katusha's Filippo Pozzato got away after 34 km. They spent over 200 km off the front.	A chase group consisting of Vincenzo Nibali, Michele Scarponi and Maxim Iglinsky formed at the base of the finishing climb into Chieti with about 10 km to go.
Michele Scarponi easily passed the remains of the main break on the 19% grade with 3.5 km to go and maintained his lead on the 15% section (seen here) just before the finish	Robert Gesink (7th) just ahead of Michael Rogers on the 15% grade with 500m to go. Just behind them is FDJ's Benoit Vaugrenard who would pass them and place 2nd	BMC's Cadel Evans finished 8th, 17 seconds back
Vasil Kiryienka was the last break survivor and was passed with just a few kms to go. He blew on the 15% and slid out of the top 8.	The winner by 14 seconds. Michele Scarponi sealed up his overall win last year on a similar sort of finish (6 Big Photos).	FDJ's Benoit Vaugrenard put in a great surge at the end but clearly he didn't realize he still had one more man to catch. 2nd on the day and now 2nd overall. Leonardo Bertagnolli of Androni Giocattoli and Stefano Garzelli of Acqua & Sapone are the riders just behind him
Michele Scarponi now has a 18 second overall lead heading into tomorrow's shortened stage

Stage 5:  Chieti - Colmurano 216km  Full Results and Report

A gorgeous morning for a bike ride. The Androni Giocattoli team at the front of the peloton somewhere after the start in Chieti.	The route was changed to include the difficult climb over Sasso Tetto due to road damage on the original route.	Luckily, the weather conditions were great today but clearly the area has received plenty of snow this winter at 1455m elevation
Quite a spectacular descent, but as you'll see later it wasn't enjoyed by all	The 750m long 15% hill climb before the flat 1 km finish. Astana's Enrico Gasparotto wisely started the hill climb with a head start.	He was caught near the top by Stefano Garzelli, the better climber, with Cadel Evans and Maxim Iglinskiy, in the distance, about to bridge up too
Eight seconds further back was the recently injured race leader, Michele Scarponi, and Vincenzo Nibali	Enrico Gasparotto was the best sprinter in the group so he remained calm when the climbers caught him before the flat finish. Calm, that is, until he knew he had it won.	After going winless in 2009, Gasparotto (and his teammate Maxim Iglinskiy) celebrate the end of his drought. Garzelli and Evans narrowly missed out on the win, but they moved up to 2nd and 4th on GC today and gained time on the race leader.
That was a bloody dangerous descent Jose Serpa would tell you if he spoke English. The road was damp from melt water with gravel in spots.	More of a concern was the status of Serpa's Androni Giocattoli teammate and race leader, Michele Scarponi who crashed right behind him. "It seems that nothing is broken," Scarponi told Tuttobiciweb. "But with the persistent pain, the doctor decided to have it [scaphoid] examined [x-rayed]."

Stage 6:  Montecosaro - Macerata 134km  Full Results and Report

The battered Androni Giocattoli squad at the front for their man in Blue, Michele Scarponi	BMC's Alessandro Ballan now leading the chase along the hilly, serpentine roads of the Le Marche region of Italy	Mikhail Ignatiev of Katusha attacked the 12 man break with 8 km remaining...
Flying solo up the final climb in Macerata	The Italians, Michele Scarponi and Stefano Garzelli, fighting out the GC battle while riding 2nd and 3rd up the final climb. Scarponi, for some reason, blamed Michael Rogers for his own difficulty in staying with Garzelli until the end	Robert Gesink (Rabobank) placed 4th followed at this point by Cadel Evans (BMC) and Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia)
Ignatiev wins by two seconds...	BMC's Cadel Evans put in a great surge at the end and with a better bike throw might have beat Acqua & Sapone's Stefano Garzelli. With the time bonus for 2nd, Garzelli is just 2 seconds back of Scarponi going into the last (flat) stage. Evans moves up to 3rd on GC.	Mikhail Ignatiev of Katusha celebrates his first win in three years.
For the second day in a row, Michele Scarponi's lead was shaved down by Stefano Garzelli. It's now just two seconds but it should be enough for the final (flat) stage.

Stage 7:  Civitanova Marche - San Benedetto del Tronto 164km  Full Results and Report

One more look at the scenery that makes Tirreno-Adriatico so popular with the riders and for those aspiring to cycle the great roads	A sprint finish as expected. Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen made extra sure that no one beat him at the line with this gratuitous bike throw.	He'll be looking to do the same this weekend at Milan Sanremo.
The big winner on the day was Stefano Garzelli who placed third in two intermediate sprints for two bonus seconds and wins the GC on a tiebreaker	Michele Scarponi and the rough translation: Damn. I thought this was suppose to be a ceremonial stage for the GC leader?	Edvald Boasson Hagen. This could be a common scene throughout the upcoming year.
No hard feelings on the GC podium...	Your 2010 Tirreno-Adriatico podium: 2nd Michele Scarponi (Androni Giocattoli) , 1st Stefano Garzelli (Acqua e Sapone) and 3rd Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 12 seconds.	Thanks for tuning in.