Team Bahrain Victorious came to Italy’s Spring stage race, Tirreno Adriatico, with the goal of Antonio Tiberi achieving a good result in the General classification (GC) and they succeeded. The opening stage, an individual time trial, was critical in achieving that good result, with every second important for the General Classification. Antonio rode well on the first day and was only 0.28 behind double World Champion against the clock, Filippo Ganna (Ineos). Ganna took the blue jersey, with Juan Ayuso (UAE) taking white by six seconds. Having started thus, the race continued to be a constant battle between these three.
In the second day’s sprint, finishing in Follonica on the Tyrrhenian Sea, Jonathan Milan (LTK) was quickest, but that didn’t alter the GC situation.
With a good team performance the following day, Tiberi gained time and climbed two places overall into third.
Over the next two days, the Bahrain riders defended that position, until the decisive ‘Queen’ stage of this race, which finished at the Frontignano ski resort, where, with the help of Pello Bilbao and Damiano Caruso especially, Antonio rode past the blue jersey, leaving only Ayuso ahead.
Coming into the last day, Bahrains’s Italian leader led Ganna by a single second, but Sunday’s bonifications at the intermediate sprint were to be crucial.
Led out by Jonathan Milan (LTK), Ganna claimed enough bonus time to leapfrog Tiberi, but 3rd place overall in such a prestigious event was an encouraging result in itself, not to mention what his form promises as we look forward to the Giro d’Italia.
Ayuso was on top of the podium, with Ganna on the second step.
After the race, Antonio Tiberi reflected on a very positive week: “I’m super happy. This Tirreno-Adriatico went much better than last year, as has this first part of the season in general. My legs are improving day by day, especially in the past few stages, which is a great sign ahead of the Giro.
I came into today expecting a battle for second place in the GC and knew Ganna could beat me in the bonus sprint. Losing by just one second isn’t a big deal. I’m happy with the result and the incredible work of the team throughout the week. I was supported in the best possible way, and the guys were ready to react to every move.
Everything is perfect as I build up towards the Giro.”
Sports director Gorazd Štangelj summed up Antonio and the entire team’s performance over the seven days: “From the beginning, as we set out to do, we wanted to be ahead of the other General classification competitors in the time trial. This certainly pays off. But it is much easier when you have an advantage and defend it. The race was very difficult every day, the weather and the route, but in the end, it was still decided by seconds, so it was a very close race for the podium, 5 seconds between the second and fourth competitors. We suffered until the last day. I have to say that the team worked great. We had only goal, and that was the podium at the end of the race and everyone worked just for that all week. Even now, when we look at the guys, they are all very satisfied, but still very tired, which shows how difficult the race was. In the end, when you still, even today, see them with great focus, to defend that second place, which in the end was mission impossible, but they did a great job and defended it perfectly. However, it is difficult to race against competitors like Milan or Ganna, so I told them in advance that even if we lose 2nd place, we can be proud of 3rd because that is not a tragedy. But yes, we achieved the goal we set for ourselves.”
