The 2015 Tirreno – Adriatico ended with an individual time trial on Tuesday and now Katusha prepares for the first big monument of the season on Sunday, Milano – Sanremo. Coming into the final stage, Team Katusha’s leader Joaquim Rodriguez held eighth place on the classification, but slipped to 13th in the final.

"“Purito” is not a TT rider so we knew it would be hard for him to keep his top ten placing, especially on a flat course with no climbs at all. It’s up to a specialist on this type of parcours.   He gave his maximum but it was not enough to keep him in the first 10 riders. What we come away with from Tirreno – Adriatico is very important and it’s that we see Joaquim Rodriguez still has power in his legs. Before this race he felt some doubt but these past two months have shown him the good feelings on the bike again. Our big goals are still ahead and I am optimistic about the future. In addition, all of the team was at a very good level. Caruso and Losada were always with him in the mountains. Moreno had an early crash but he also was there with “Purito”. Then in the sprints the team worked very well for Porsev and Tsatevich. All through these early races the team has been on a good level. We are ready for a step up now and I am optimistic we will see this," said team director José Azevedo. 

The past two days of rain and snow were gone by today, leaving dry roads for the riders on the 10 km course in San Benedetto del Tronto. Trek Factory Racing’s Fabian Cancellara set the best time of 11.23 on the perfectly flat course and remained in the hot seat until the very end, finally winning by 4-seconds to Adriano Malori (Movistar) and nine seconds to Vasil Kiryienka of Sky. Colombian Nairo Quintana (Movistar) mounted a defense to protect his race lead, winning the 2015 Tirreno – Adriatico by 18 seconds to Bauke Mollema (Trek Factory Racing) and 31-seconds to Rigoberto Uran (Etixx – Quick Step).

The next Team Katusha race is the one day GP Nobili Rubinetterie (1.HC UCI) on Thursday, then followed by Alexander Kristoff’s defense of his title at Milano – Sanremo on Sunday. It’s the first big monument of the year and an important goal for the team.