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Tirreno-Adriatico: Klöden takes over
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It was another day of the double at Tirreno-Adriatico.
Twenty-four hours after Joaquim Rodríguez (Caisse d’Epargne) won a stage and claimed the overall leader’s jersey; it was Andreas Klöden’s turn in Sunday’s individual time trial.
The veteran Astana rider notched a commanding, 20-second victory in the 30km fifth stage featuring two short but steep hills. With his first victory of the 2009 season, he takes the overall leader’s jersey, six seconds ahead of Thomas Lövkvist (Columbia-Highroad).
“It was a nice time trial. The parcours was perfect for me, up and down, but it wasn’t too hard in the end,” said Klöden. “Today, I am lucky to have the win. We’ll see about tomorrow. Lövkvist is a good rider and he has a strong team, but tomorrow is a hard day. We’ll wait to see.”
Klöden – a winner at Tirreno in 2007 – stopped the clock in 41 minutes, 32 seconds (43.338kph) in the course between the hilltop towns of Loreto and Macerata to catapult from ninth into the leader’s jersey with two stages to go.
Not surprisingly, Rodríguez lost nearly three minutes and fell out of the top-10.
Lövkvist stopped the clock in 41:53 for third and slotted into second overall after his effort, just six seconds behind Klöden in the GC.
Lövkvist started the stage fourth, with a 15-second head start on Klöden, but the Swede couldn’t generate the speed he needed to fend off his German rival.
“(Six) seconds, well, we’ll see if we can isolate him tomorrow on the climb and get him out there alone,” said Lövkvist. “But Klöden is a strong rider, so we’ll see what we can do.”
Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Slipstream) stopped the clock in 42:58 at 1:26 slower, a performance that kept him in the top 10 in ninth at 1:26 back.
Finishing a strong second place at 20 seconds off the pace was Stijn Devolder (Quick Step). Despite not winning, the defending Tour of Flanders champion was encouraged.
“It’s really the first time all season I’ve felt good,” said Devolder, who’s struggled with knee problems during the winter. “Sure, I would have liked to have won, but the most important thing right now is to have good sensations. I am on track for the spring classics.”
Challenging TT
The 30km race against the clock offered an all-around challenge, but Kloden astutely used his superior time trial skills to his advantage versus the climbers.Michele Scarponi (Diquigiovanni) rode extremely well, stopping the clock in 41:53 for fourth, while Stefano Garzelli (Acqua e Sapone) posted a time of 42:13, both strong performances that kept alive their respective GC hopes alive.
“Tomorrow’s stage is hard, long and there’s a difficult climb before the finish,” said Garzelli. “I’m sure we’ll try something on the climb.”
The course tackled the Colle dell’Infinito at 7.9km with about 200m of vertical climbing before dropping down to a flat, 13km section to the base of the 3.85km climb to the hilltop town of Macerata.
Olympic time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) started first as the last-placed rider in GC, yet finished second after his one-minute man, Maryan Hary (FDJeux), passed him on the course.
Still recovering from a shoulder injury and suffering from a lingering cold, Cancellara isn’t close to his best and finished well back of the winners, in 118th. His last-place looks secure.
Ivan Basso (Liquigas) continued to show progression toward the Giro d’Italia in May with a decent time of 42:46.
“I’m satisfied with my performance here this week. I am not here to try to win, this is more like training for me,” said Basso. “It’s all about getting ready for the Giro. The overall sensations are good.”
GC still up for grabs
The 44th Tirreno-Adriatico continues Monday with the longest stage of the seven-day race. The 235km course begins at Civitanova Marche along the Adriatic coast and tackles the day’s main obstacle at the Cat. 1 Sasso Tetto (13.2km at 7.3%) at 42.5km from the line.If that’s not hard enough, there’s a short hump at 7.2km to go before a hilltop finish into Camerino. It’s a twisting, technical climb up the final 3km, with a narrow, 180-degree turn at 250m to go before a mad dash to the line at Piazza Cavour.
Astana will have its work cut out for them. The team lost climber Janez Brajkovic to a crash in the opening days and the Italians are expecting to go after Klöden.
Scarponi is third at just 21 seconds back with Garzelli fourth at 41 seconds back. Danilo Di Luca (LPR), a distant 17th at 2:19 back, is also expected to be on the attack because the stage ends in his hometown.
“Tomorrow is going to be very difficult,” Klöden admitted. “The team will try to protect me to the final climb and then we will see how I can do. It’s still another 40km to the finish from there. I would like to win Tirreno for a second time. It was important to win the stage today.”
Klöden, meanwhile, brushed off questions about the Tour de France and the potential battle between the team’s stars for leadership honors come July.
“The Tour is a long way from now. I have a very hard stage tomorrow, that’s what I am going to focus on,” he said, before adding. “We could talk one hour about the Tour, but I have a chance to win Tirreno again. Of course, I was second twice at the Tour. For sure, it’s a dream to be one step higher on the podium. When you have good preparation and maybe Lance isn’t strong enough, I don’t know. We wait.”
It’s going to be an interesting stage on Monday and equally interesting buildup to the Tour.
