CCC Sprandi created a major surprise when they beat big favourites Team Sky and MTN-Qhubeka in the 13.3km team time trial at the Settimana Internazional Coppi e Bartali. In the special event where each squad was divided into two separate teams, Davide Rebellin, Tomasz Kiendys, Adrian Kurek and Jaroslaw Marycz beat the best Sky team by just a single second which allowed Rebellin to take the lead on the eve of the queen stage.

CCC Sprandi may not be known as the most powerful team for time trials but the team was full of confidence for today’s team time trial and the Settimana Coppi e Bartali. With several riders who were part of the team that won the Polish championships in the discipline, they aimed at setting Davide Rebellin up for good overall result in the 13.3km test that followed on the heels of the morning stage that was won by Southeast’s Manuel Belletti.

The stage was held as a special event where each 8-rider team was divided into two 4-rider formations who did the race separately. Rebellin was joined by Polish powerhouses Tomasz Kiendys, Adrian Kurek and Jaroslaw Marycz to form the A team for the Polish squad and this turned out to be a winning combination.

The Poles had already shown their intention as their B team was the fastest among the B squads but they were quickly relegated from the top spot when the A teams started their rides. Unsurprisingly,  it was the Sky team of Ben Swift, Ian Boswell, Philip Deignan and Kanstantsin Siutsou who took the lead with a time of 14.50 and it was expected that only MTN-Qhubeka could challenge that mark.

However, CCC Sprandi had different plans and they stopped the clock in 14.49 to go just 1 second faster than the British favourites. As the major teams had all done their ride apart from MTN-Qhubeka, the Poles knew that they were heading for a podium spot but they still had to hold off the challenge from Steve Cummings, Louis Meintjes, Jaco Venter and Jacques van Rensburg.

However, the African team could only manage 14.53 to take third on the stage and as the final two teams were both far off the pace, the four CCC riders could step onto the podium to celebrate a surprise victory. As all four riders finished with the bunch in the morning stage, they are equal on time in the overall standings but due to a countback, it is Rebellin who will wear the leader’s jersey tomorrow.

He faces a stern test as tomorrow is the day of the queen stage. After a flat start, the riders will do five laps of a difficult circuit with the Monte Tiffi climb. The final passage of the top comes with 8.7km to go and they consist of a short descent and a flat run to the finish.

A flat course

After the morning stage, the Settimana Coppi e Bartali continued with a 13.3km team time trial in Gatteo. The stage was mostly flat but the final few kilometres were slightly uphill.

The first team down the ramp was the Uniero Willier team of Rino Gasparrini, Stefano Nardelli, Lorenzo Rota and Marco Tecchio and they stopped the clock in 15.38 to set an early mark. The first team to get close was the Italian national team of Gianni Moscon, Giulio Ciccone, Riccardo Donato and Luca Paccioni who only lost 1 second to the leaders.

Southeast take the lead

Moments later, however, the first professional team reached the finish and Liam Bertazzo, Giorgio Cecchinel, Francesco Gavazzi and Yonathan Monsalve stopped the clock in 15.14 to take a comfortable lead. They managed to hold off the first teams from Sky and Rusvelo who both failed to make it into the top 3.

Drapac had no luck either and instead it was the Bardiani team of Niccola Ruffoni, Andrea Piechele, Luca Chirico and Alessandro Tonelli who moved into second with a time of 15.36. However, it was CCC Sprandi who caught the attention when Christian Delle Stelle, Grega Bole, Bartlomiej Matysiak and Nikolay Mihaylov stopped the clock in 15.09 to take the lead.

Italy move into the lead

Androni, Colombia and Vini Fantini all missed out on the podium before Natnael Berhane, Johann van Zyl, Songezo Jim and Adrien Niyonshuti from MTN-Qhubeka slotted into third with 15.20. As the final two teams of the first wave were off the pace, CCC went into the second wave as the leaders.

The Dukla Praha team of Frantisek Sisr, Roman Furst, Jiri Hochmann and Vojcech Hacecky narrowly edged out MTN-Qhubeka to move into 3rd before the Italian national team of Valerio Conti, Valerio Ganoli, Davide Martinelli and Seid Lizde did an impressive ride to take the lead with a time of 15.06. Race leader Manuel Belletti and his Southeast teammates were off the pace and could only manage 15.49 to move into 17th.

Best time for Sky

Sky had now hit the course and as expected Ben Swift, Philip Deignan, Kanstantsin Siutsou and Ian Boswell took the lead with a time of 14.50. Moments later, Artem Ovechkin, Alexander Serov, Alexander Evtuchenko and Ildar Arslanov slotted into second with 15.00.

The second Drapac team could only manage 5th while Bardiani had to settle for 7th but all eyes now were on Rebellin, Kiendys, Kurek and Marycz. They powered over the course in a time of 14.49 to narrowly edge out Sky by a single second.

MTN-Qhubeka come up short

Team Idea slotted into 5th before the Androni team of Franco Pellizotti, Simone Stortoni, Marco Frapporti and Sergei Tvetcov stopped the clock in 14.57 to move into third. Team Trefor did well to move into 5th while Damiano Cunego’s Nippo-Vini Fantini could only manage 12th.

Edwin Avila, Fabio Duarte, Brayan Ramirez and Carlos Quintero had a great ride for Colombia to slot into 4th with 14.58 before Louis Meintjes, Jaco Venter, Jacques van Rensburg and Stephen Cummings stopped the clock in 14.53 for MTN-Qhubeka to take third. As the final two teams were both off the pace, CCC could step onto the podium to celebrate the win.