Quick-Step Floors have won the opening stage of the inaugural Adriatica Ionica race, a 23.3km-long flat team time trial between Ciclabile del Piave and Lido di Jesolo and their sprinter Elia Viviani has taken the first leader’s jersey of the race.
The Quick-Step Floors team comprising Kasper Asgreen, Alvaro Hodeg, James Knox, Davide Martinelli, Jhonatan Narvaez, Niki Terpstra and Elia Viviani, was among the early starters on the opening stage, setting the fastest time at the intermediate checkpoint – 11:36 – before turning on the gas on the second part of the course which featured a tailwind in the last five kilometres.
The Quick-Step Floors riders blasted over the finish line, stopping the clock in 25:28, after averaging a blistering 54.895 km/h, a time 14″ faster than UAE Team Emirates and a further two seconds faster than Trek-Segafredo, the two teams who rounded out the podium. Following Quick-Step Floors’ 39th UCI victory of the year, Elia Viviani donned the leader’s jersey, while neo-pro James Knox took the lead in the best young rider classification.
“We came here with a strong team, blending youth and experience, all riders in good shape who put in a big and impressive effort. The TTT was super fast, so we kept ourselves for the second part, where we went full gas, helped also by some tailwind”, Viviani said after the finish.
The 29-year-old Italian, who leads a stage race for the third time this season, continued: “It’s a beautiful way to open Adriatica Ionica, one which gives us confidence for what’s to come this week. Tomorrow’s stage to Maser isn’t exactly one for sprinters, so it remains to be seen what we can get out of it, but we are here to enjoy this beautiful race and get some more solid results. As always, we are motivayed and we’ll try to be in the mix and do something nice every time it will be possible.”
