Tirreno-Adriatico – It’s Time for the Time Trial (English & עברית)

Tirreno-Adriatico in September took some time getting used to, but the race has fulfilled its purpose of checking out the Israel Start-Up Nation sprint train and sprinters in preparation of the upcoming Giro d’Italia. Rick Zabel‘s third place in the second stage was the team highlight.

The race ended today with its traditional 10km individual time trial along the Adriatic beachfront. Our best finisher was Austrian time trial champion Matthias Brandle who ended in 15th place.

“Overall we are happy with this race,” said Sport Director Nicki Sorensen. “We came with a plan of contending in the three sprint stages, and that worked out well.”

Daniel Navarro was our man for the mountain stages and we saw his form improve as the race went along. He was the top finisher in the final GC, at 26th place.

Our designated sprinter was Davide Cimolai, who finished fifth and six in the first two stages. “In general, the team is showing some real strength, a good overview of situations and consistency in these sprint finals,” Sorensen said.

“We very much look forward to more of these sprints in the Giro.”

It was the first race back for Israeli Guy Sagiv after a minor knee injury. “He did fine considering his preparations were not ideal,” Sorensen said. “He rode at a very consistent level during the whole race, even thought it was very, very hard.”

״האמת שקצת הפתעתי את עצמי, בעיקר בימים הראשוני. עברתי תקופה לא פשוטה לפני פיזית, וגם הגעתי קצת  עם חוסר וודאות. היה מרוץ ארוך וקשה כצפוי ושמח שהצלחתי לעזור לקבוצה. באופן אישי המירוץ שימש לי הכנה מעולה לקראת הג’ירו. עכשיו נשאר להתאושש כמה ימים, עוד בלוק אחד טוב של אימונים ויאללה לג’ירו דה איטליה השני שלי״!