Israel – Premier Tech got off to a good start in Tirreno Adriatico as Alex Dowsett finished fifth on stage 1 after sitting in the hot-seat as the leading rider for the majority of the day.
Dowsett was the first IPT rider to take the start and already at the intermediate check point, it was clear to see that the 33-year-old Brit was on a good day. Dowsett stormed across the finishing line in 15:42 minutes, leaving him as the best rider for hours to come.
Ultimately, the world champion Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) won the stage but Dowsett still managed to make Top-5 on the day with his best time trial performance in a while.
“I didn’t expect this”, Dowsett explained after the stage. “I’ve taken a much more relaxed approach to time trialing over the winter as I haven’t really been on my TT bike except from that one day in UAE Tour. I’m really happy with the result today. I trusted my abilities to pace a TT more on feeling than looking at numbers.”
“Also, we have made some significant gains in terms of our equipment with Factor and Black Inc wheels. I was running the new disc wheel today, which was really good. I think we can be rather happy with this.”
On Tuesday, Tirreno Adriatico continues with a day for the sprinters where IPT will be looking to set up Giacomo Nizzolo for the final.
