While Paris-Nice started on Sunday, the 58th edition of Tirreno-Adriatico got underway on Monday. As often in recent years, everything started with the Lido di Camaiore time trial. Linear as usual, the course was however a little shorter than in 2022 since it was designed over 11.5 kilometres. Above all, the day’s main factor was the poor weather which really offered different race conditions according to the start time. A provisional leader for a long time thanks to a mark of 13’25 achieved in stormy rain, Bruno Armirail eventually slipped to 19th position at the end of the event won by Filippo Ganna.
On the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea, the weather was therefore not the most welcoming on Monday for the start of Tirreno-Adriatico. The traditional Lido di Camaiore individual time trial, drawn over 11.5 kilometres this year rather than 13.9 like last season, was held for the most part under dark clouds, frequently under showers and even exceptionally under hail. Bruno Armirail, the discipline’s French champion, was the first Groupama-FDJ rider called to the launch pad, at 1:08 p.m. The rider from Occitanie did not enjoy good conditions to say the least, but he still set the best time when he reached the finish line, in 13 minutes and 25 seconds. He then settled into the “hot seat”, and he stayed there for almost an hour and a half before Magnus Sheffield arrived and beat him by twenty-five seconds. From then on, many riders achieved good performances, and Bruno Armirail gradually slipped back. He eventually finished nineteenth in this opening day, fifty-seven seconds behind the Italian Filippo Ganna, who benefited from much more favourable conditions.
“Bruno is obviously frustrated”, Thierry Bricaud
“I think I did a good time trial”, said Bruno. “Unfortunately, we didn’t all have the same weather conditions, but that’s the risk. My goal was much higher than just finishing nineteenth”. “We have mixed feelings”, confirmed Thierry Bricaud. “We made choices taking into account the weather which was uncertain. We took the risk of having Bruno start early. In his time slot, he set the best time, by far. On the other hand, the conditions improved over the last hour and a half of racing, and some specialists beat him. With the weather he had, he really set a very good time, but he is obviously frustrated tonight because he could have done a top-10 without problem with conditions similar to the others. That’s cycling, unfortunately. He experienced very difficult conditions”. Thibaut Pinot, the last team rider to start, was luckier from this point of view. “He was able to set a very decent time”, added Thierry. “He limits his losses rather well and finds himself next to riders like Yates, who we know is very offensive. It will also be up to us to be aggressive in the next stages.”
Thirty-fifth of the day, 1’10 behind Filippo Ganna, Thibaut Pinot completed the course nine seconds faster than Valentin Madouas. The French climber will however remain discreet in the next couple of days which are made for sprinters, and where Jake Stewart will try to show himself.
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