Tirreno-Adriatico (2016) Photos March 9 - 15

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The Tirreno - Adriatico pre-race press conference in Camaiore	Peter Sagan	Rigoberto Uran: "To have changed team [from Etixx – Quick Step to Cannondale Pro Cycling Team] doesn’t change anything for me. I’m used to changing teams! My main goal for this year is the Giro. We’re working towards it and I feel good with the new team so far".
Vincenzo Nibali: "This is always a very hard race. My come-back to racing in Italy last weekend has been a pretty good one. I felt good at the Strade Bianche even if it’s not a very suitable race for me. The day after, at Larciano, I would have liked to do more but my legs were hurting. Now we’re at Tirreno-Adriatico, the competition is always very high here. There’s never one single stage that can shape the overall classification. On the two occasions I won it, I made the difference in the last two days. But the Team Time Trial on the first day is already a significant one – we need a very strong team to win this race".	Alejandro Valverde: "In 2002, this was my first and only one stage race in Italy up to date. It was quite tough; I was a neo pro. Many years have passed since and my goals now are completely different. We’ll study the course the best possible way after the Team Time Trial tomorrow. I already know that stage 2 has a tricky finale that suits Peter Sagan very much. The uphill finish [on stage 5] will be very important. The condition of my rivals seems to be excellent. It’ll be hard to beat them but I’ll race at the front as much as I can".	Alejandro Valverde
Valvarde and Nibali	Peter Sagan: "I’m not disappointed from the Strade Bianche, no, that belongs to the past. It has been a good race for me, it was only my third race of the year, excluding the Tour de San Luis which was a long time ago. I’m here to see how my condition has progressed. I’ll have to look at the road book day by day to understand what I can achieve in this race".	Esteban Chaves: "We’ve had a training camp in South Africa, after which my first race is a WorldTour event so I’m not sure of what to expect. The feeling is good but racing at this level is different than training. I never feel the pressure though, with or without being invited to the top riders' pre-race press conference. Our point is to enjoy the race! We have two options with Adam Yates for the GC and Caleb Ewan for the sprints".
Tejay van Garderen: "The Vuelta a Andalucia was a nice race against Alejandro Valverde – I came second to him. It meant a few take away points, but in the end, it was a buildup race before this WorldTour event, I just take it for what it is. We came here with fresh motivation. I haven't ridden the decisive climb of stage 5 before but we know what to expect. People from our performance team have mapped it out; we know which are the steepest sections, we’ve definitely done our homework".
Race favorites photo-op	Sagan, Nibali, Van Garderen, Valvarde, Chaves

Stage 1:  Lido di Camaiore, 22.7 km  Full Results and Report

Katusha out on course for the 22.7 km Lido Di Camaiore TTT	1st BMC 23:55	BMC
BMC finishing with a best time of 23:55	2nd Etixx Quick-Step + 2s	FDJ surprised everyone including themselves with the 3rd best time
3rd FDJ + 9s	4th Tinkoff + 11s	5th IAM Cycling + 12s
6th Astana + 15s	Your Stage 1 TTT winners, BMC
	First race leader, Italian Daniel Oss (BMC Racing)

Stage 2:  Camaiore → Pomarance, 207 km  Full Results and Report

Stage 3:  Castelnuovo Val di Cecina → Montalto di Castro, 176 km  Full Results and Report

Vincenzo Nibali	Peter Sagan	Start scene for Stage 3, Castelnuovo Val di Cecina → Montalto di Castro, 176 km
Today's break		Hilly finish
	The uphill sprint finish after the final bend; the battle of the next generation of sprinters, Caleb EWAN (ORICA GreenEDGE) vs. Fernando GAVIRIA (ETIXX - QUICK STEP). Notice how aero Evan is compared to Gaviria sprinting on the hoods.	Nonetheless, Fernando GAVIRIA (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) wins the battle of the youngsters for his first ProTour win
	Finish perspective
The World Track Cycling Omnium champ (video) hits the stage...	Your Stage 3 winner, Fernando GAVIRIA (ETIXX - QUICK STEP).
Teammate Zdnek Stybar (Etixx Quick-Step) retains the race lead		Peter Sagan hits the stage for the Red Jersey presentation

Stage 4:  Montalto di Castro → Foligno, 216 km  Full Results and Report

Alessandro Ballan was on hand for today's start in Montalto di Castro		The start scene for Stage 4 Montalto di Castro → Foligno, 216 km
		Ill-fated attack on the finishing circuits by Valerio Conti (Lampre)
The "chase"
This new break had legs	Steve Cummings (Dimension Data) biding his time and ready to make his winning move	Steve Cummings (Dimension Data) had plenty of time to celebrate his solo win in Foligno
		Runner's up salute: The bunch sprint for 2nd 13 seconds later won by Salvatore Puccio (Sky)
		Steve Cummings (Dimension Data) always seem to win in style
Your Stage 4 winner, Steve Cummings (Dimension Data)		Zdnek Stybar (Etixx Quick-Step) retains the race lead by 9s
With the cancellation of mountainous Stage 5, Stybar could also be the overall winner		Best young rider, Bob Jungels (Etixx Quick-Step)

Stage 5:  Foligno → Monte San Vicino, 178 km  Full Results and Report

Interview with race leader, Zdenek Stybar (Etixx - Quick Step) during the unscheduled Stage 5 rest day		Etixx - Quick Step rest day ride
Stage 5 was suppose to finish at Monte San Vicino. Cancelled the previous day, the Stage 5 conditions would not have been as bad as expected.

Stage 6:  Castelraimondo → Cepagatti, 210 km  Full Results and Report

The leader jersey wearers for Stage 6
	Cesare Benedetti (BORA-ARGON 18) sealed up KOM classification today before the final day TT
		The successful "all-star" break
	The Duel between Greg VAN AVERMAET (BMC RACING) and Peter SAGAN (TINKOFF), the best runner-up pro cyclists
		Greg VAN AVERMAET (BMC RACING) beats Peter SAGAN (TINKOFF) after doing little to no work in the break
"It happened in a strange way. Tinkoff went for the time bonus when we first crossed the finishing line. It was a hard circuit after that and we kept going. Etixx - Quick Step and Tinkoff rode strongly. I tried to save as much energy as possible. At the end I was up there for sprinting against Peter Sagan. I'm in good form. Since I won today, I'll go for GC tomorrow even though we were riding for Tejay van Garderen. Time trialling isn't my forte but the opportunity is there so I'll give it all".	Caleb Ewan (Orica Greenedge) won the sprint for 5th 7s later
	Michele Scarponi checks the damage after a late stage 6 crash
Your Stage 6 winner and new race leader, Greg VAN AVERMAET (BMC RACING)	The race leader headed into the final day 10 km TT: "Time trialling isn't my forte but the opportunity is there so I'll give it all"	Bob Jungels (Etixx Quick-Step), 21s back on GC, has a good chance to upgrade from the best young ride to the race win with the final Stage 7 10 km TT looming

Stage 7:  San Benedetto del Tronto, 10.1 km ITT  Full Results and Report

Just like several times in the past, Fabian Cancellara (Trek Segafredo) won the Stage 7 San Benedetto del Tronto in 10 km, this time in 11:08	2nd Johan LE BON (FDJ) + 13s	3rd Tony MARTIN (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) + 15s
4th Alex DOWSETT (MOVISTAR) + 15s	Among the GC contenders, 14th Peter SAGAN (TINKOFF) + 24s, not quite good enough to win the overall	25th Greg VAN AVERMAET (BMC RACING) + 31s for the race leader...
Good enough to win the overall by 1s over Peter Sagan	26th Bob JUNGELS (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) + 33s finished 1 spot behind VAN AVERMAET, good enough to finish 3rd overall	VAN AVERMAET celebrates his overall win
Your Stage 7 winner, Fabian CANCELLARA (TREK - SEGAFREDO)		Your overall winner, Greg VAN AVERMAET (BMC RACING)
		Your 2016 Tirreno-Adriatico podium: 2nd Peter SAGAN (TINKOFF) + 1s, 1st Greg VAN AVERMAET (BMC RACING) 20:42:22, 3rd Bob JUNGELS (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) + 23s
	3rd overall and best young rider, Bob Jungels (Etixx Quick-Step)	Red Jersey consolation for disappointed Peter Sagan
Etixx Quick-Step wins the teams competition	Post race photo-op with the race winner and his prize