BEST OF CYCLING AT THE 53rd TIRRENO-ADRIATICO
Sagan, Nibali, Froome, Dumoulin and Aru have spoken about their expectations on the eve of the first stage. Uran, Bardet, Landa, Lopez, Adam Yates, Dennis, Thomas, Van Avermaet, Kwiatkowski, Gilbert, Ulissi, Boasson Hagen, Gaviria, Cavendish, Ewan – and plenty of other big names at the start.
Attached is the start list and the starting order of the Team Time Trial.

Camaiore, 6 March 2018 – On the eve of the start of the 53rd Tirreno-Adriatico NamedSport, the race organised by RCS Sport / La Gazzetta dello Sport from 7 to 13 March, five of the biggest names in racing spoke about their ambitions and expectations: Peter Sagan (three time UCI World Champion), Chris Froome (winner of 2017 Tour de France and Vuelta a España), Tom Dumoulin (winner of the 2017 Giro d’Italia and UCI ITT World Champion), Vincenzo Nibali (multi-Grand Tour winner, third at the Giro and second at the Vuelta last year) and Fabio Aru (overall winner of the 2015 Vuelta a España and reigning Italian National Road Race Champion). The Corsa dei Due Mari (Race of the Two Seas) starts tomorrow with the Team Time Trial at Lido di Camaiore (21.5km).

Tirreno-Adriatico NamedSport 2018 Starters List
Tirreno-Adriatico NamedSport 2018 Roadbook
Tirreno-Adriatico NamedSport 2018 Maps
TTT Start Order
Photo Gallery Press Conference
QUOTES AND STATISTICS
Peter Sagan (Bora–Hansgrohe) said: “For sure it will be a different Tirreno-Adriatico for me. In the past, I used to race more before coming here, including in Qatar, Oman or Argentina and the opening weekend in Belgium. My schedule has changed: now this race is the real beginning of my season. I’ve won the points classification four times [in the past four years] and I’d like to win another jersey. Winning here at Tirreno-Adriatico would be an excellent way to arrive at the Milan-Sanremo, a race I care about a lot.”

Since 2012, Peter Sagan has taken part in every edition of the Tirreno-Adriatico, making this his seventh consecutive Race of the Two Seas. In 2012 he finished second in the overall General Classification, just one second behind the winner, Greg Van Avermaet.
UCI World Champion Sagan has won a total of seven stages. He is just one stage win away from Alessandro Petacchi, Moreno Argentin and Giuseppe Saronni, who jointly hold the all-time third position (of eight victories), behind Roger de Vlaeminck (15) and Oscar Freire (11).

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team) said: “It’s always pretty much the same before Tirreno-Adriatico: we’re always a bit in the unknown. I don’t exactly good know how my condition is coming into this as a problem at the beginning of the season has delayed my start. I’m on my toes but I don’t have huge ambitions – we’ll take it day by day and see what I can look for. Our team is going well – we’re working the best we can – and we’ve a good group with [Domenico] Pozzovivo who is here for GC.”

From 2007 to date, Vincenzo Nibali has raced nine editions of the Tirreno-Adriatico, winning the General Classification in 2012 and 2013.
Only two Italian riders have won the General Classification of the Tirreno-Adriatico in this decade: Stefano Garzelli (2010), and Vincenzo Nibali (2012-2013).
Nibali is the only Italian rider to win on an uphill finish in the last 10 editions of the Tirreno-Adriatico: on Prati di Tivo, in 2012. It is his only stage victory to date in the Race of the Two Seas.

Chris Froome (Team Sky) said: “It’s been a long time since I last raced in Italy [the UCI World Championships in Florence, 2013]. Obviously, I’ve had a different program building up to the Tour de France, which has been my main objective over the past few years. I didn’t come back to Tirreno-Adriatico after I came second to Vincenzo [Nibali, also in 2013] but I started my pro career in Italy with Barloworld. Italy has a deep connection with cycling and a deep history. You can see how much passion there is about the race, the Giro and everything. It’s great to be back here. We have a really strong team for Tirreno-Adriatico – we’re here to race for GC, that’s for sure. We have a very good team on paper for the team time trial and different options to target the GC. We’ll do our best tomorrow and take it from there.”

Chris Froome has participated only once in the Tirreno-Adriatico, in the 2013 edition, winning at Prati di Tivo, beating Mauro Santambrogio and Vincenzo Nibali. He finished second in the General Classification behind Nibali.
The 2013 win at Prati di Tivo is Froome’s only professional victory on Italian soil (as an amateur he won a stage of the Tour of the Regions in Montepulciano, 2007).

Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) said: “I’m not at 100%: I got a bit of a flu before the Strade Bianche and racing on Saturday with the cold and the rain didn’t make my condition any better. But I hope I’ll be fine for the uphill finishes as Tirreno-Adriatico is one of my favourite races in the Spring. I always love to come back. Last year was the first time I did pretty well, sixth overall. I was hoping to improve this result but we’ll see in the next few days if this is going to be possible.”

Tom Dumoulin has participated in three editions of the Tirreno-Adriatico: 2013, 2014, and 2017: his best placement in the General Classification is last year’s 6th.
Dumoulin finished on the podium in the Pomarance stage last year: second behind Geraint Thomas and ahead of Peter Sagan. Last year Dumoulin finished three stages in the top 10 (he was also 5th in the Individual Time Trial of San Benedetto del Tronto and 7th in Fermo).

Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emitates) said: “Tirreno-Adriatico is an important race for me leading up to the Giro. I did it for the first time last year and it didn’t go as I wanted: I had to withdraw due to health problems. But together with the team, we’ve always wanted to come back and I’m happy to be here. I went to train in Sicily last week. It’s good to train on the Etna because the Giro will go there. I felt at home.”

Fabio Aru has taken part in just one edition of the Tirreno-Adriatico: 2017, retiring on the Fermo stage. Aru is still looking for his first top-10 finish at the Race of the Two Seas.

Stage 1 of the Tirreno-Adriatico NamedSport International TV Schedule available here.

and Vincenzo Nibali with the four leaders‘ jersey made by Sportful: the Maglia Azzurra (blue), for the leader of the general classification – sponsored by Gazprom; the Maglia Arancione (orange), for the leader of the sprint classification – sponsored by Sportful; the Maglia Verde (green), for the King of the Mountains classification leader – sponsored by Snello Rovagnati, and the Maglia Bianca (white), for the leader of the young rider general classification – sponsored by FIAT.

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PHOTO CREDIT: LaPresse – D’Alberto / Ferrari

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