HERNING, Denmark - Taylor Phinney revived BMC's poor start to the 2012 season with an impressive nine second victory in the opening time trial of the Giro d'Italia.
Phinney pulled on the pink jersey after destroying his rivals in the 8.7km time trial in Herning, Denmark, a guest stop for the Italian tour. Team Sky's Geraint Thomas was second and the Dane Alex Rasmussen was third a further four seconds back for Garmin-Barracuda.
Geraint Thomas said: “I think I measured it pretty well. I tried to carry my speed through the corners, one or two I could have gone a bit faster but losing by nine seconds I can’t blame it on a couple of corners. Coming from the track, there’s a temptation to try and sprint fast out of those corners but that would obviously take a lot out of me so it was all about judging it correctly which I think I did.
“I definitely tried to keep a bit back for the last 3k and that headwind and then I emptied the tank all the way to the line. It didn’t feel amazing but I was obviously going okay and am happy to have been up there. There are now another 20 stages to go and at the end of the day it’s about the bigger picture – I’ll be there in the sprints for Cav and then hopefully finish this race well which will set me up nicely for the Olympics.”
Steven de Jongh, Team Sky Sports Director: "G produced a really good display and did his best – unfortunately Phinney was faster on the day. The first part of the course was very technical, with a lot of corners, and then after 5km they were much bigger and more straightforward roads.
"After the intermediate check G had a long headwind section and he kept the speed going really going through it, he judged it well throughout. That headwind was particularly strong for the likes of Peter Kennaugh, Cav and Flecha who all set good times and looked really strong so it was a good day for us."
0 Comments