Andreas Klöden (RadioShack) continues his current hot streak of form by taking victory in the opening time trial of the Giro del Trentino between Riva del Garda and Arco. The German, who won of the recent Vuelta al Pais Vasco, flew around the pan flat, 13.4km course in a time of 15’24”, less than a second faster than Adriano Malori (Lampre-ISD) and eight seconds faster than his own RadioShack teammate Tiago Machado.
“I didn’t start too fast as I knew there was a small but steep 500 meter hill at the end,” said Klöden after his victory. “I wanted to save some forces for the last 4-5 kilometers. That plan worked out fine. Malori was better at the intermediate split time, but then I opened up my ‘turbo chargers’. [Team Director] José Azevedo guided me around the corners and gave me the split times of Machado and Malori. I knew exactly what I had to do. This is nice again. I came to Trentino to try to win this TT."
Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing) was the first rider to post a fast time; as just the ninth man to start the 2008 World road champion finished in 15’49”, which was to prove very tough to beat by the riders following him. Just over a quarter of an hour later though, Alessandro De Marchi (Androni Giocattoli) took nine seconds off Ballans time, with a new best time of 15’40”.
De Marchi’s time was to sit at the top of the standings for almost an hour before Machado finally beat it; the Portuguese rider has finished third in the Volta ao Algarve time trial in February, and ninth in the Critérium International time trial last month, so his time of 15’32” would likely be tough to beat.
Luca Ascani (D'Angelo & Antenucci-Nippo) went close to Machado’s time just a few minutes later; the 27-year-old, who won the Italian time trial championship in 2007 before being disqualified and suspended for testing positive for EPO, couldn’t quite manage it though, and finished just three seconds outside.
With the top riders about to start, more than half an hour later, Malori went seven seconds quicker than Machado, lowering the best time to 15’25”. The Italian, who won the bronze medal in last year’s national time trial championships, thought he had won it as the last few riders took the start. One of the last few riders to start though, Klöden managed to knock him off the top by just under a second.
"What a pity,” said Malori, “the only thing that makes me happy is that Kloden is a top rider for time trial. Anyway, I did my best and every time trial will help me to get to the level of the top riders".
After his time trial victory, Klöden takes the race leader’s jersey, just as he did after the time trial to Arco two years ago. “I always preferred Giro del Trentino to the Northern classics,” he said. “Here I like the good organization, the environment and excellent food…”
Tomorrow’s first road stage hits the smaller mountains of the region around Trento, between Dro and the uphill finish of Ledro Bezzecca.
"I have the leader’s jersey now. Of course we will try to keep it, but that will not be not so easy," said Klöden. "The Giro d’Italia favorites are here and I am sure they want to do some big tests here. It will be a hard stage race. But… we will defend that jersey,”
Result stage 1
1. Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack 13.4km in 15’24”
2. Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre-ISD @ 1s
3. Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack @ 8s
4. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale @ 10s
5. Luca Ascani (Ita) D'Angelo & Antenucci-Nippo @ 11s
6. Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli @ 16s
7. Scott Zwizanski (USA) Unitedhealthcare Pro Cycling @ 21s
8. Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Miche-Guerciotti @ 23s
9. Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team @ 25s
10. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) RadioShack @ 25s
Standings after stage 1
1. Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack
2. Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre-ISD @ 1s
3. Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack @ 8s
4. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale @ 10s
5. Luca Ascani (Ita) D'Angelo & Antenucci-Nippo @ 11s