Belkin may be a past winner of the Tirreno-Adriatico team time trial but the days when the team can compete with the best in the discipline are over. Yesterday they finished 9th in the first stage of Tirreno-Adriatico and kept their options for GC leaders Bauke Mollema and Robert Gesink open.

The Belkin Pro Cycling Teamfinished where they planned in the opening stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race. In the team time trial, 18.5 kilometres on the Tuscan coast, it placed ninth.

"It was really hard," Bauke Mollema said at the finish. "A TTT is always about suffering from the start to finish. This one was no exception. It was fast. We had a good speed. Eight strong guys and it was a good team for today."

All eight riders worked together from Donoratico to San Vincenzo. Sep Vanmarcke and Tom Leezer only sat up in the last kilometres when the team had the finish line in sight.

"I don't really know the differences with the first five teams," Mollema added. Belkin placed 37 seconds down on stage winner Omega Pharma-Quick Step. "We didn't lose too much time so it's a good start for the GC fight ahead."

Sports Director Nico Verhoeven followed in the team car. He explained that the plan was to propel Mollema and the team's second GC rider, Robert Gesink, to the line.

"Sep was going well but we were going so quickly that towards the line that he sat up," Verhoeven said. "Tom came to the front with one kilometre to go, did a hard pull and sat up. We went fast, but it was not fast enough for the win. Six at the finish and a ninth place for the day is what we expected.”

Belkin face two sprint stages ahead of this weekend's mountain stages. Though Robert Wagner could place in the top 10, Verhoeven explained that the green and black will rally around its GC men in the sprints. He said, "It's important that we protect our two leaders tomorrow and the day after."

"Can we win this race? Who knows," Mollema added. "I want to win but this Tirreno is like a Tour de France when you look at all the riders here. Robert and I will both go for GC in the weekend stages. We will see who goes better in the first uphill finish and work from there for the win." 

You can read our preview of stage 2 here.