Dutch rider Robert Gesink has named those who he considers to be his major rivals in the battle to take Tirreno-Adriatico. The Rabobank rider grabbed the race lead yesterday when he finished sixth on the hard finish at Chieti, twelve seconds behind the solo winner Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD). He ended the day ten seconds ahead of Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) and twelve up on Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale).
Prior to studying the results, he named the world’s strongest time trialist as a rival he featured. “Cancellara,” he said, thinking about the nine kilometre race against the clock on Tuesday’s concluding stage. “First we have to see the time in the GC. Of course, it's the guys right behind me [who are dangerous], those like Scarponi. He will be there for sure, as will Evans.”
Scarponi is 15 seconds back, while Cancellara paid the price for his aggressive riding before the final climb when he dropped to 55 seconds behind Gesink. However as the Rabobank rider knows well, the Swiss rider cannot be ruled out, and is very capable of going on the attack in the days ahead and trying to reduce his deficit before the final test.
Cancellara is keen to notch up the first stage race win for Leopard Trek, and also to build his form in advance of Milan-Sanremo.
Gesink was a little frustrated to lose time to riders like Scarponi. He said that it was due to being over-cautious in the finale. “The day was difficult for me,” he said, explaining how things evolved. “I wasn't feeling good in the beginning, that's why the team was not working at first. When the final stared, I was waiting and waiting to see how far I could get.”
However, as the climb showed, he was going better than he expected. “I was a little stupid not to trust myself, because I was good in the end. I should have had more confidence. It will be different in the next few days. The team gave me this jersey, thanks to the team time trial. The next few days, we will have to fight to keep it.”
Gesink showed unexpected strength against the clock in Oman when he won the final time trial. It was a tough course and that played to his climbing strengths, but he does nevertheless appear to have improved a lot since losing out in last year’s Tour de Suisse.
His climbing ability is clear, and so improving his time trial is a major plus in being a Grand Tour contender. He’s determined to try to improve on the sixth places he’s taken in the Tour and the Vuelta.
“I think I've improved over the winter and I think, for the the Tour, I feel I can improve from what I did last year,” he stated. “I will do my best to be in shape there.”
Before then, though, he’ll do his utmost to win Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy.