Tirreno-Adriatico 2008

The 43rd Tirreno-Adriatico runs from March 12 to 18 begining at Civitavecchia where the first stage will begin and end. The race follows a route from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Adriatic and it is a race where even sprinters can win the General Classification, such as in 2005 when Óscar Freire won. It is also a race seen by many as preparation for the first major classic of the year, Milan San Remo held on March 22. (A race Freire won in 2004 and 2007)

2007 action

2008 Route
The race begins with a mostly flat stage from Civitavecchia to Civitavecchia, followed by Civitavecchia to Gubbio over a 'lumpy' profile, but nothing too painful for the riders to climb. The mountains begin with more earnestness on stage three when the Passo de Cornello is crossed with a finish atop the Montelupone, which they climb twice.

Next day on stage four there are climbs and more climbs, but none are that evil before they close at Civitanova Marche, Stage five is a a time trial with a long gradual climb at Recanti. On stage six the hills come early and ends on top of Marche Castelfidaro (But it look benign) and finally a few hills await the riders at the start of the final stage, and then its flat out to the end at S Benedetto Del Tronto.

12 March CIVITAVECCHIA-CIVITAVECCHIA km 160
13 March CIVITAVECCHIA-GUBBIO km 203
14 March GUBBIO-MONTELUPONE km 195
15 March PORTO RECANATI-CIVITANOVA MARCHE km 167
16 March MACERATA-RECANATI (crono individuale) km 26
17 March CIVITANOVA MARCHE-CASTELFIDARDO km 196
18 March S. BENEDETTO DEL TRONTO-S.BENEDETTO DEL TRONTO km 176
Totale km 1123.

Past Winners - First won in 1966 by Dino Zandegu
2007 Andreas Klöden
2006 Thomas Dekker
2005 Óscar Freire
2004 Paolo Bettini
2003 Filippo Pozzato
2002 Erik Dekker
2001 Davide Rebellin
2000 Abraham Olano

2008 General Classification
1 Andreas Klöden Astana Team 28:31:26 50
2 Kim Kirchen T-Mobile Team + 0:04 40
3 Alexander Vinokourov Astana Team + 0:13 35
4 Stefan Schumacher Gerolsteiner + 0:23 30
5 Janez Brajkovic Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team + 0:31 25
6 Jens Voigt Team CSC + 0:34 20
7 Vasil Kiryienka Tinkoff Credit Systems + 0:55 N/A
8 Evgeni Petrov Tinkoff Credit Systems + 0:59 N/A
9 Michele Scarponi Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo + 1:00 N/A
10 Michael Boogerd Rabobank + 1:12 2

2008 Teams
The race organisers, the RCS, have selected 21 squads and in a snub to the UCI they will hold the event outside the year long Pro Tour competition, but unlike the Paris Nice it will be held under the authority of the UCI. Glaringly, 2007 winner Andreas Klöden will not start as his Astana team were not invited echoing the stance taken by the Tour.

AG2R-La Mondiale (FRA)
BARLOWORLD (GBR)
CAISSE D’EPARGNE (SPA)
COFIDIS, le credit par telephone (FRA)
CSF GROUP-NAVIGARE (IRL)
DIQUIGIOVANNI-ANDRONI (VEN)
EUSKALTEL EUSKADI (SPA)
FRANCAISE DES JEUX (FRA)
GEROLSTEINER (GER)
HIGH ROAD (USA)
LAMPRE (ITA)
LIQUIGAS (ITA)
LPR BRAKES (IRL)
QUICK STEP (BEL)
RABOBANK (OLA)
SAUNIER DUVAL-SCOTT (SPA)
SILENCE-LOTTO (BEL)
SLIPSTREAM (USA)
TEAM CSC (DAN)
TEAM MILRAM (*)
TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEM (ITA)