Taylor Phinney has taken the first leader’s jersey in the Giro del Trentino, with his BMC Racing squad winning the team time trial today.
The American WorldTour squad covered the 14.3 kilometre distance in a time of 15 minutes 50.54 seconds. This was ten seconds faster than the 16 minutes 0.59 seconds clocked up by the Astana team and a further three seconds up on the mark set by the Pro Continental Colnago CSF Bardiani squad.
Two other Pro Conti teams took fourth and fifth, namely Androni-Giocattoli and Acqua e Sapone.
The leader’s jersey is the first Italian success for Phinney, who has led other international stage races but, until Milan-Sanremo, had never competed in the country.
Last year he won the prologue of the Eneco Tour and also held the race lead. He finished up fourth overall in the race.
"The whole team worked well together and we were really strong," he said afterwards. "There wasn't really a plan at the finish line on who would be first to finish. I just wanted to help give us the best time."
The Giro del Trentino continues with three tough mountain stages. Tomorrow’s race is to the summit of the Sant'Orsola Terme Val dei Mòche, and will see the climbing specialists try to make up the time they conceded today.
Phinney is not known for his uphill abilities and accepted that today. "The stages here are full of climbing and really difficult, and I'm not exactly a climber," he admitted. "But I'll do everything I can to help keep the jersey within the team."
He is using the race primarily as preparation for his first participation in the Giro d'Italia. He is aiming to take a time trial victory there.
BMC Racing Team Assistant Director Rik Verbrugghe said that the team had prepared specifically for the test, undergoing three days of team time trial training and also checking out the course.
"You need to have strong riders, but everything also has to be perfect. All the small details are important,” he said.
So too the efforts of riders like Phinney, Marco Pinotti and Alessandro Ballan, who he said drove the pace and helped ensure that fast time. "The last three kilometers those guys did a lot of work and that made the difference," he said. "Phinney did the last 600 or 700 meters by himself. He was really strong."
One clear winner in Chrono clash:
First of the teams to start the flat, fast race against the clock was the Colombia Coldeportes squad. Comprised mainly of climbers, it was aiming to limit its loses against the other teams.
The squad covered the route in 16 minutes 52 seconds, a time which was quickly bettered by the next team off, the UnitedHealthcare squad, which went thirteen seconds faster.
Lampre ISD was the third squad to start and was quicker again, completing the test in 16 minutes 12 seconds. This would stand for some time, with the next six squads being between 25 and 32 seconds adrift.
However it was unable to withstand the superb 15 minutes 50 seconds of the ninth outfit to start, the BMC Racing team. With Phinney, multiple Italian TT champion Marco Pinotti, former world champion Alessandro Ballan, Mathias Frank, Mauro Santambrogio, Ivan Santaromita, Johan Tschopp and Danilo Wyss rode very well together and were the only team to post a time under sixteen minutes.
The next team off, Astana, would be closest of the rest but was still ten seconds back. From that point on, the margins would be bigger.
NetApp was the last team to start and tried to repeat its victory in the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, but was unable to do better than eighth.
Directeur sportif Enrico Poitschke explained that things were going well until seven kilometres into the test. After that, bad luck struck. “Then we had two incidents of tire damage with Andreas Dietziker and Matthias Brändle. That was the deciding point in the race,” he said. “Brändle in particular is a good time trial rider and we had set our hopes on him today. The two breakdowns cost us a place on the podium. “
The Farnese Vini Selle Italia team were also blighted, with Roberto De Patre, Leonardo Giordani and Rafel Andriato suffering serious stomach upset. “The three athletes, already in the immediate post-race have revealed the typical symptoms of an intestinal virus that, probably, will affect the performance in view of next stages,” the team said.
Giro del Trentino:
Stage 1, Riva del Garda to Arco TTT:
1, BMC Racing Team, 14.3 kilometres in15:50
2, Astana, 16:00
3, Colnago CDF Bardini, 16:03
4, Androni-Giocattoli, 16:05
5, Acqua e Sapone, 16:06
6, Liquigas-Cannondale,16:09
7, Lampre-ISD, 16:12
8, Team NetApp, 16.13
9, Utensilnord Named, 16:27
10, Spidertech, 16:33
11, Europcar, 16:37
12, UnitedHealthcare, 16:39
13, Champion System, 16:42
14, AG2R-La Mondiale, 16:42
15, Farnese Vini –Selle Italia, 16:39
16, Team Idea, 16:44
17, Colombia-Coldeportes, 16:52