Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 1

The first stage of the Italian stage race came down to a race between Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Alessandro Petacchi (Team Milram), with the Rabobank rider just managing to hold of the strong Milram rider to cross the line victorious.

The sprint for the line

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After 160 km it came down to the expected mass sprint. The Milram express, led by Erik Zabel, brought captain Alessando Petacchi in position. The 34 year-old Italian lost by millimeters to Spaniard Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and finished second. Third was Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) in front of a strong Erik Zabel in fourth place.

The action in the 160 km long stage with start and finish in Civitavecchia was long dominated by the escapees Mikhail Igantiev (Tinkoff Credit Systems) and Yuriy Kirvtsov (AG2R). After the last of the day's two climbs, about 20 km before the finish, the peloton picked up the tempo, spurred on by Team Milram:

Four kilometres before the finish line the main field caught the two escapees and brought about the mass sprint.

"Catching Freire is not easy"
AFP report: Former world champion Freire, of Rabobank, will wear the leader's blue jersey in Thursday's second stage over 203km from from Civitavecchia to Gubbio.

Russian Mikhail Ignatiev of Tinkoff and Ukrainian Yuriy Krivtsov of Ag2r made a long breakaway and stayed ahead of the field for 110km gaining a maximum advantage of 7min 45sec on the peloton but they were reeled in just 4km from the finish.

Last year's first stage winner Australian Robbie McEwan made a long break for home in the finish but he couldn't hold on and eventually finished eighth.

Freire started his sprint early and although he faded at the end, he had just enough left in the tank to hold of home favourite Petacchi of Team Milram. Petacchi lamented the fact that Freire managed to start his srpint earlier. "Oscar managed to start the sprint a few seconds before me, because I was still in the (final) turn, while he had already straightened his bike," he said. "There were only 1,280-metres left and catching Freire is not easy."

1 141 FREIRE Oscar 76 ESP RAB RABOBANK
2 191 Alessandro PETACCHI 74 ITA MRM TEAM MILRAM 4:10'01 0 6
3 37 Jose GIL ROJAS 85 ESP GCE CAISSE D'EPARGNE 4:10'01 0 4
4 192 Erik ZABEL 70 GER MRM TEAM MILRAM 4:10'01 0
5 25 Baden COOKE 78 AUS BAR BARLOWORLD 4:10'01 0
6 81 Sébastien CHAVANEL 81 FRA FDJ FRANCAISE DES JEUX 4:10'01 0
7 102 Gerald CIOLEK G 86 GER THR HIGH ROAD 4:10'01 0
8 161 Robbie MCEWEN 72 AUS SIL SILENCE-LOTTO 4:10'01 0
9 187 Matti BRESCHEL G 84 DEN CSC TEAM CSC 4:10'01 0
10 55 Tiziano DALL'ANTONIA G 83 ITA CSF CSF GROUP NAVIGARE 4:10'01 0
11 77 MORENO PEREZ Ruben 81 ESP EUS EUSKATEL-EUSKADI 4:10'01 0
12 125 Murilo FISCHER Antonio 79 BRA LIQ LIQUIGAS 4:10'01 0

General Classification
1 141 FREIRE Oscar 76 ESP RAB RABOBANK 4:09'51 0
2 191 Alessandro PETACCHI 74 ITA MRM TEAM MILRAM 4:09'55 4
3 37 Jose GIL ROJAS 85 ESP GCE CAISSE D'EPARGNE 4:09'57 6
4 207 Mikhail IGNATIEV G 85 RUS TCS TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS 4:09'58 7
5 15 Yuriy KRIVTSOV 79 UKR ALM AG2R LA MONDIALE 4:09'59 8
6 92 Markus FOTHEN 81 GER GST GEROLSTEINER 4:10'00 9
7 192 Erik ZABEL 70 GER MRM TEAM MILRAM 4:10'01 10
8 25 Baden COOKE 78 AUS BAR BARLOWORLD 4:10'01 10
9 81 Sébastien CHAVANEL 81 FRA FDJ FRANCAISE DES JEUX 4:10'01 10
10 102 Gerald CIOLEK G 86 GER THR HIGH ROAD 4:10'01 10
11 161 Robbie MCEWEN 72 AUS SIL SILENCE-LOTTO 4:10'01 10