Tinkoff showed they have improved their team time trial ability when a team of their lesser GC riders and domestiques put four seconds in Gazprom-Rusvelo to win the long TTT in the Tour of Croatia on a very wet and dangerous circuit. Synergy Baku did a great time to keep Matija Kvasina in the GC lead, 32 seconds clear of both Jesper Hansen (Tinkoff) and Victor de la Parte (CCC).

 

We have gathered several reactions

 

Tinkoff after TTT victory: It’s no secret that Oleg Tinkov wants to be the best

After a testing day in the mountains for stage 4, where the team worked together to bring Jesper Hansen to the finish and move up the GC standings, it was another team effort in today’s Team Time Trial, as riders helped their team leader make another leap up the GC rankings to both take the stage win and propel Hansen to touching distance of the race lead. The team arrived at the finish line with the best time of 49:36, putting Hansen second in the GC.

 

The Team Time Trial started in damp conditions in Poreč. The 40.3km course ahead of the riders wouldn’t ordinarily be the most taxing challenge, but after a tough day in the mountains yesterday taking its toll, there was bound to be some difference within teams as to who was feeling fresh and who wasn’t.

 

The stage’s city start and finish slowed teams down, as they had to negotiate the urban environment, while the length of the route created additional challenges owing to the possibility for riders to lose contact with their teams. There were several crashes in these more technical areas, but once out of the cities the roads opened up and were mostly smooth and fast.

 

As the stage went on, the rain came and made the conditions in Umag treacherous. With the slippery roads ready to catch out riders, Juraj Sagan unfortunately crashed in the last few hundred metres, due to a road marking on the final bend. In the closing kilometre, Technical Co-ordinator, Ivan Basso, was keen for the team to stay safe.

 

“The guys paced it well and had to take care as the conditions were tough on the wet roads. We were trying to stay safe but in the late push for the line Juraj Sagan came down but he’s fine and doesn’t have any problems.”

 

In spite of Juraj’s crash, Tinkoff crossed the line three seconds ahead of the previous top-placed team in a time of 49:36, taking the top spot. As the team warmed down at the finish, one eye was on the clock as they waited to see how their rivals had performed. With the last team over the line and the team’s victory confirmed, Basso was thrilled with the win.

 

“It was a fantastic day – when you win a team time trial it’s a present for not only the riders, but the staff and the whole team. I’ve been saying all week how good the team spirit is here and it was a real collective effort today.”

 

Basso knew that the team’s owner, Oleg Tinkov, would be pleased with today’s result as well, and thanked him and his support staff for their contribution.

 

“I’m so happy for Oleg too as I know he loves to be the best team so when we win the team time trial it shows the collective strength. I’ve got to say thanks to Jan Valach who helped me to prepare this day.”

 

Tomorrow’s final stage will be a fast one. With a flat parcours, the 177.5km route will pose no problem for teams, and is likely to end in a sprint finish into Zagreb. With the GC still in touching distance, however, the outcome is far from certain, and the team will keep fighting until the end.

 

Strong TTT moves Tour of Austria onto provisional podium in Croatia

CCC Sprandi Polkowice finished third in the wet and slick team time trial, the penultimate stage of Tour of Croatia. Thanks to that performance Victor de la Parte moved tino the top 3 of the general classification.

 

”It was a hilly course, with lots of roundabouts and tricky turns. We tried to ride carefully, so nobody slipped and on the flat and straight roads, whenever there was chance of going full gas, we pushed harder. We stressed to the riders that they should be careful, because it was easy to take too much of risk during the race and we managed to avoid crashes. It was a very solid and stable TTT performance for our team and all of the riders gave 100% out there,” Tomasz Brożyna, sporting director of CCC Sprandi Polkowice, explained. 

 

”Now Victor de la Parte sits in 3rd in GC and has the same time as Hansen. Tomorrow we will try to get some bonus seconds at the two intermediate sprints where you can gain 3, 2 or 1 point. ”

 

The CCC Sprandi Polkowice riders found a right balance between safe but fast ride and managed to finish in third place. The team started very fast and at the first check point, the Polkowice-based squad set the best result.

 

The team recorded 49:46, which was only 10 seconds slower than the result of Tinkoff and 4 seconds than Gazprom-RusVelo who was leading the charts for a long time.

 

Synergy-Baku took fourth and helped its captain, Matija Kvasina keep his leader’s jersey. Trek-Segafredo came in 2:21 off the pace. Therefore Riccardo Zoidl dropped out of the top 3 and Victor de la Parte jumped in. Now he has the same time as Jesper Jansen (Tinkoff).

 

Impressive team time trial keeps Kvasina in the leader’s jersey in Croatia

Matija Kvasina retained his overall lead in the Tour of Croatia, as the team put in a powerful performance to finish fourth in the 41km team time trial. The Synergy Baku Cycling Project finished only 31 seconds behind stage winner WorldTour Team Tinkoff.

 

Synergy Baku was the last team off, and kept up a steady pace, with Kvasina doing much of the lead work. The roads were wet and there was heavy rain at times. Three riders dropped back, but  five went into the closing meters. The team had a scare near the finish as Kirill Pozdnyakov skidded and crashed on the wet road. He was quickly back on his bike though and crossed the finish line shortly after his teammates. The first four riders across set the team’s time of 50:07.

 

Kvasina built up his lead to 32 seconds over the second-ranked rider. In addition, Pozdnyakov moved up to eighth place overall, and the team leads the team rankings by just over four minutes.

 

“This is a dream come true. Synergy Baku has proven what our small well-played team is capable of doing,” said Kvasina. “Millions of thanks to all my teammates and to our sponsors for giving us the chance to be here. It is one winner but there was great work done by the whole team, both riders and staff.”

 

“Let’s now survive the last stage and then we can enjoy it a little bit, but with our whole focus on the Tour d’Azerbaidjan.”

 

“I really don’t have words,” said DS Andrej Hauptman. “Perfect performance, great job. I’m proud of our riders and staff.”

 

Kvasina now has good chances to win the race overall, as the closing stage is expected to end in a mass sprint. Sunday’s stage six runs 158.5km from Sveti Martin to Zagreb.

 

Great top 5 for ONE in Croatian team time trial

Following the grueling parcour of Stage 4, five members of ONE Pro Cycling rolled onto the start ramp for the team time trial. A heavy downpour just before the start meant the roads were very slippy and many riders hit the tarmac on the technical corners as a result.

 

The team were cautious leaving Porec making sure that they all passed through the first couple of kilometres safely. Once out onto the open roads they began to add more pressure to the pedals, setting a new fastest time on first time check. With rules stating that the time was taken on the 4th rider they had to ride as one unit. Having pulled several big turns and with his job done Josh Hunt dropped off the back and let the remaining four riders keep it tight to the finish.

 

Seven kilometres to go and several tricky villages were negotiated before the team hit a long straight road, hitting speeds of 72km/h as they raced towards Umag.

 

Negotiating the last few technical corners the team crossed the line 2nd fastest with seven teams remaining to finish. Once all teams were in and the results were calculated the victory went to Tinkoff with ONE Pro Cycling finishing in 5th position. Speaking after the race Head DS Matt Winston commented, “I’m really happy with the efforts of all five lads today, I thought we were sensible where we needed to be but got it all out on longer sections. We were aiming for a top 5 at the start of the week so to achieve this with only five riders is very pleasing. It has also moved Richard Handley up on GC, leaving him in 14th position going into the final stage tomorrow.”

 

Dimension Data opt for safety in wet team time trial in Croatia

Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka initially had high hopes for today's team time trial stage but when the  African Team arrived at the start town of Porec, the torrential downpour meant we had to prioritize the effort. The 40km course was fairly technical and in the wet, it became extremely dangerous.

 

The African Team rode the flat and straight sections hard but would not take any risks in the corners or roundabouts. It was still difficult to maintain a fair level of grip even at more cautious speeds. Despite the team’s best efforts, Reinardt Janse van Rensburg still slipped out and went skidding across the road in the final 500m of the stage.

 

Thankfully there were no serious injuries for Janse van Rensburg and the Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka riders crossed the line with what would be the 8th fastest time of the day, 1’19” off the win.

 

Sports director Alex Sans Vega said:

 

“We were the first team to start in full rain. It was raining for nearly our whole time trial, it was maybe only the last 10km where it was not raining but everything was still very wet. Obviously we didn't want to take any risks because we have some big goals coming up this season and there was no real point to take risks in these kind of weather conditions. So considering we got the worst of the weather and took no risks, we did a pretty decent time. Now we focus on tomorrow's final stage and it could very well be a bunch sprint so we will go for it and try to win.”

 

Solid ride by Verva-ActiveJet in Croatian team time trial

VERVA Activejet riders – Łukasz Bodnar, Paweł Franczak, Adam Stachowiak, Kamil Gradek, Jordi Simon and Jiri Polnicky – completed the course in 51:36, two minutes off the winners’ pace and took 10th place.

 

“We obviously could have done better but we were already lost two riders yesterday and Łukasz Bodnar had some technical issues during the stage. I told the riders to make safety top priority, we didn’t need any more accidents. Still, I think the boys did quite a good job and we are looking to animate the racing on the last day,” said Piotr Kosmala, the team’s directeur sportif.

 

VEVA Activejet’s Jordi Simon remains 13th and will be fighting to move up in the classification and secure a top10 position.

 

Novo Nordisk lack experience in Croatian team time trial

Team Novo Nordisk took to their Colnago K-zero time trial bikes for Saturday’s Tour of Croatia Team Time Trial. The race took place under a torrential downpour, which made the 40.3-km course, with its multiple sharp turns and roundabouts, all the more challenging.

 

Team Novo Nordisk worked together to manage the treacherous conditions, and were able to still push hard and finish safely in 52:44.

 

“I think we did a pretty good job overall,”said Team Novo Nordisk rider Kevin de Mesmaeker. “We don’t have much experience with team time trials, but nevertheless, everybody really stepped up today. Since the course was very slippery, we were very cautious on the corners, and they may have cost us some time; but we went hard where we needed to go hard. I think we can finish better in the future.”

 

Disastrous team time trial for Trek and Zoidl in Croatia

The rain started before the first team departed the start house for the 40.3-kilometer team time trial in the Tour of Croatia stage five, resulting in wet and treacherous roads that had most teams with a rider sliding on the tarmac at some point in the technical course.

 

Trek-Segafredo was not immune to the ice-like conditions, losing Julien Bernard in a downhill as he lost traction on the slick road. Later, when Giacomo Nizzolo punctured, the team was left with five riders and it was evident the team's hope for the overall podium was gone. Trek-Segafredo finished in 12th place, losing over two minutes to the top teams.

 

"It began raining a half hour before the start, so for all the teams the conditions were the same," said director Dirk Demol. "The beginning was very technical, and Riccardo (Zoidl) had so much fear that we had to slow down on every roundabout. We lost a lot of time already in the start."

 

It was a wet roundabout in the team's training camp last December that caused Riccardo Zoidl to fall suddenly despite him carefully navigating the turn. Zoidl broke his collarbone, a memory that caused him to be extra cautious through the numerous roundabouts and turns that marked the opening kilometers of the TTT, and again in the technical ending.

 

When Julien (Bernard) went down in the descent he was in third wheel and it was a miracle that the others stayed on the bike.

 

"When Julien (Bernard) went down in the descent he was in third wheel and it was a miracle that the others stayed on the bike," Demol continued. "We had to finish with five, and then Giaco had a puncture with still 24kms to go and he had to continue on his road bike, and there was no reason to wait for him. At this point, we knew we were completely out of a good time.

 

"I told the guys to finish with five and just go on to the finish, knowing we were out of the GC - we had already tomorrow in mind. It was clear after the first intermediate split time already, we had simply lost too much time in the first kilometers, so with the crash and the puncture after the second intermediate, it was over.

 

"We were so good the first four days, and just a big disaster today. We have all the reasons to be happy with three stage wins and our performance so far, but you know when you are second in the GC your ambitions are to give [the overall win] a go. But after nine kilometers we had already lost too much time."

 

Riccardo Zoidl dropped to seventh in the overall classification.

 

Tinkoff won the race against the clock in a time of 49 minutes and 36 seconds, despite losing a rider who slid out in the drenched final turns. Overall race leader Matija Kvasina successfully defended his leader's jersey as his Synergy Baku Cycling Project team crossed the line in fourth place, 31 seconds back.

 

The six-day race ends Sunday with a stage suited to a bunch sprint, and Trek-Segafredo is hoping to win its fourth stage.

 

Demol said: "Tomorrow is more or less flat and then local circuits at the end. From what I hear, from 1.3 kilometers to 500 meters to go its uphill and then flat to the line. We will see it a few times in the circuits before, and I believe we will have a chance for the win again tomorrow. We will go for it."

 

Vanotti crashes out of wet Croatian team time trial

"It was very dangerous team time trial, the road was very slippery because of rain and every roundabout and every turn was very risky. There were many occasions, where you could fall even if you went slowly and didn’t take risks," explained Dmitriy Gruzdev after the finish of 5th stage of Tour of Croatia.

 

Dmitriy Gruzdev and his teammates started the team time trial under heavy rain which started to subside only closer to the finish line.

 

"Our main goal was to go quiet and smoothly, in order to start and finish all together. But it was very difficult with ups and downs, many turns and very slippery asphalt. In the final some of our guys crashed and it was very difficult," added the Kazakh rider.

 

With only 500 meters to go Maxat Ayazbayev and Alessandro Vanotti crashed in the final turn. Vanotti suffered a thigh injury and wasn’t able to cross the finish line by himself, therefore he was forced to abandon from the race.

 

Ayazbayev crashed without any serious consequences and will start the final stage of Tour of Croatia tomorrow.