KWIATKOWSKI CROWNS IT ALL
Dennis does it again

San Benedetto del Tronto, 13 March 2018 – Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing Team) won the conclusive individual time trial of Tirreno-Adriatico for the second year running. He bettered his performance from 2017 by four seconds on the same 10km course of San Benedetto del Tronto over the same runner-up, Jos van Emden (LottoNL-Jumbo). For the overall victory, Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) fended off Damiano Caruso (BMC Racing Team) to become the first Polish winner of Tirreno-Adriatico one year after he claimed Milan-Sanremo.

VELON DATA
Data collected by Velon’s devices on the riders’ bikes tell the detailed story of the stage: Data and an explanation guide can be downloaded here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hXlQ8zZeCakKIztOan-GVUkiPU2tKEk2SagPJSy0DFk/edit

DOWNLOADS

Stage 7 Results: https://gallery.mailchimp.com/823d3a40b51c82f60f316baa5/files/5fb7155e-d462-479a-83ff-f49a2805b94a/Comunicato_Tappa_7.pdf
Stage 7 Photo Gallery: https://giroditalia.wetransfer.com/downloads/9e6a85ce88020abc35501009903bf94120180313165029/c5320a

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1 – Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky)
2 – Damiano Caruso (BMC Racing Team) at 24″
3 – Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) at 32″

STAGE RESULT
1 – Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing Team) – 10km in 11’14”, average speed 53.412kph
2 – Jos Van Emden (Team Lotto NL – Jumbo) at 4″
3 – Jonathan Castroviejo (Team Sky) at 8″

JERSEYS

Maglia Azzurra (blue), general classification leader, sponsored by Gazprom – Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky)
Maglia Arancione (orange), sprinter classification leader, sponsored by Sportful – Jacopo Mosca (Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia)
Maglia Verde (green), King of the Mountains classification leader, sponsored by Snello Rovagnati – Nicola Bagioli (Nippo – Vini Fantini – Europa Ovini)
Maglia Bianca (white), young rider general classification leader, sponsored by FIAT – Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Overall winner Michal Kwiatkowski said: “I was very nervous when I was warming up because it was raining. I was scared that something would go wrong and I’d have to go a bit slower in the corners. But I had good feelings and that’s how I could finish it off so well. Tirreno-Adriatico is the most important stage win in my career so far. This is a beautiful race with a beautiful trophy. It’s also one of the hardest stage races to win. It’s been a difficult week for Team Sky. We had some bad luck with Geraint Thomas but, at the end of the day, we were really motivated to have a very good race. We did it. The trident trophy gives me a wonderful feeling. I’m confident in Team Sky to support me to try and win Milan-Sanremo again on Saturday.”

Stage 7 winner Rohan Dennis said in the press conference: “I wasn’t coming to Tirreno-Adriatico for GC. I was supposed to ride in support of Richie Porte and, once Richie was out, Damiano [Caruso] got called out. Today, I was hopeful that I could repeat last year or go a bit better. I went faster – it’s a good sign. My coach said it’s normal that I struggled in longer days like the Scarponi memorial stage (stage 5). I’ve had some heavy racing for two and half months. I’ll take a break now before I’ll resume racing at the Tour de Romandie ahead of the Giro d’Italia in which I won’t make a big deal of the opening time trial in Israel as I’ll look at the bigger picture.”

Second placed overall Damiano Caruso said: “It’s a very good result for me and for my team. It makes me more confident for the next races. Kwiatkowski is a very strong guy. This morning I knew it would be very difficult to beat him. I gave my best. To keep the second place over Geraint Thomas who is a specialist is good!”

Third placed Geraint Thomas said: “It was slower in the corners when I raced because of the rain. I didn’t want to crash, that was for sure. I knew the stage [win] wasn’t gonna happen but it was a matter of getting on the podium. The gap to Caruso was just too big. It’s nice to be third. On a personal note, the mechanical I had when I was leading the race cost me the race personally but at least the team was still strong enough to win.”

Points classification winner Jacopo Mosca said: “It’s incredible for me to beat Peter Sagan in the points classification that he usually wins here. I looked at his race hoping that he wouldn’t go full gas. When I saw his time split, I understood he wouldn’t make the top 7 today and I’d win. I made a big effort this week. It’s a very nice result.”

King of the Mountains Nicola Bagioli said: “At the start of Tirreno-Adriatico, I didn’t expect to make the final ceremony. But I went for the first KOM price on stage 2 and I took it from there to bring this jersey home. I hope to keep improving my cycling and reach the level of the strongest riders.”

Best young rider Tiesj Benoot said: “I gave it a 50-50 chance to keep the white jersey against Jaime Roson. With the wet conditions, it was a tricky time trial. I had to go fast but I didn’t take too many risks. I had a greater chance of winning the white jersey than moving up four places on GC. Fourth at Tirreno-Adriatico is, for me, a bigger surprise than winning Strade Bianche, especially because I lost fifty-eight seconds in the opening team time trial and the last time trial wasn’t to my advantage, so I’m really happy with my week of racing.”

Awarded as the most aggressive rider Peter Sagan said: “I have no stage win but I’m happy with how the week went. I did a good job. Every day I felt better and better. My shape is ok for this time of the year. Everything is going according to the plan. It’s nice for Kwiatkowski to win Tirreno-Adriatico. We’ll have another interesting match at Milan-Sanremo.”

STATISTICS

Michal Kwiatkowski makes Poland the twelfth nation on the record books of Tirreno-Adriatico. Before him, only one Polish rider had made the podium: Zenon Jaskula, second in 1990. Two Polish riders have won stages in the Race of the Two Seas: Lech Piasecki (two) and Czeslaw Lang (one), all time trials.
No stage win for the overall winner, like Vincenzo Nibali in 2013.
Geraint Thomas is the second British rider to make the final podium of Tirreno-Adriatico, after Chris Froome who finished second in 2013.
Damiano Caruso is the first Italian on the final podium since Vincenzo Nibali won the race in 2013.

#TirrenoAdriatico

PHOTO CREDIT: LaPresse – D’Alberto / Ferrari

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