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Giro d'Italia - Lido di Venezia (TTT)

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  1. 16:45 - Thanks for following today's stage with eurosport.yahoo.com, and join us tomorrow for more coverage of the first grand tour of the season.

  2. 16:45 - So a run-down of the top five from today's stage: 1 Team Columbia; 2 Garmin-Slipstream; 3 Astana; 4 ISD; 5 LPR Brakes.

  3. 16:43 - So there it is. Mark Cavendish becomes the first Brit to ever wear the pink jersey at the Giro.

  4. 16:42 - Astana stop the clock at 22'03", just 13 seconds off the time of Columbia, and that gives them third place for the stage.

  5. 16:42 - Astana will not match the time of Team Columbia, and Mark Cavendish will wear the pink jersey tonight!!!

  6. 16:40 - By my calculations Team Columbia have this stage more or less won, though Astana could still challenge Garmin for second place.

  7. 16:39 - Armstrong takes a long turn on the front and swings off as Astana look to challenge the top two.

  8. 16:36 - LPR Brakes cross the line in 22'12", third place as things stand with only Astana left out on the course!

  9. 16:34 - Astana are just six seconds down on LPR at the second checkpoint. The old US Postal squad was famous for riding within themselves over the first half of TTTs, then putting big time into their rivals over the finishing kilometres. Can Bruyneel conjure something again today?

  10. 16:33 - Caisse d'Epargne come through tine final right hand turn, power down the finishing straight, and clock a time of 22'48". Unspectacular, but solid enough.

  11. 16:30 - We are hearing LPR are now six seconds down on Columbia at the second checkpoint, having led at the first.

  12. 16:26 - Big Marzio Bruseghin brings Lampre through the final few turns...and they stop the clock at 22'32'. Cunego and Bruseghin should both be pretty pleased with that.

  13. 16:23 - LPR are going well early on. They have blazed through the first 6 kilometres. Can they keep their tempo up?

  14. 16:20 - The last team, Astana now roll off the start ramp. Armstrong's black and yellow helmet distinguishes him from the rest of the team.

  15. 16:20 - To be fair, ISD have a number of strong riders in their squad, particularly Giovanni Visconti, Andriy Grivko and Dario Cioni, but I didn't expect them to be challenging in the top five for this stage.

  16. 16:20 - Yikes!! ISD have just clocked a superb time of 22'17"! That puts them in third, well ahead of the likes of Liquigas and Rabobank - far more established teams.

  17. 16:16 - Just one team left to start, and that is Astana. Levi Leipheimer will look to put as much time into his big rival Ivan Basso from the start, while all other eyes will be on Lance Armstrong.

  18. 16:15 - Danilo Di Luca's LPR squad take to the course. Babriele Bosisio will help support Di Luca in his quest for a second pink jersey, while Alessandro Petacchi will take on Mark Cavendish in the battle for stage wins.

  19. 16:14 - Katusha are on track for a very pleasing time for them. They should come inside the time of Rabobank...and indeed they do! 22'25" is their time, 35 seconds behind that of Columbia, which puts them in third place as things stand.

  20. 16:11 - Caisse d'Epargne are off. They have consistently strong riders throughout their team, and watch out for Vassiliy Kirienka, who Eurosport commentator David Harmon has picked out as a potential one to watch.

  21. 16:08 - Fabian Cancellara brings his Saxo Bank team home in a time of 22'45" - 55 seconds off the pace.

  22. 16:06 - Lampre have a strong squad again this year. Marzio Bruseghin has insisted Damiano Cunego is the captain, but the former is the far more consistent rider. They roll off the ramp.

  23. 16:03 - 22'39" is Cervelo's time - a very respectable one.

  24. 16:00 - Milram are off now, another team with no rider able to threaten the big names on the GC, but very much with stage wins in sight, particularly in breaks.

  25. 15:52 - Liquigas are on track for a very respectable time...and they stop the clock at 22'30" - fourth fastest, and just outside the time of Menchov's Rabobank squad.

  26. 15:51 - Liquigas' Slovenian rider Gorazd Stangelj has fallen off the back. They are down to six now as they approach the finish.

  27. 15:50 - Team Katusha - currently on the start ramp - are another team who have had a tumultuous week with Christian Pfannberger's positive drug test. Pippo Pozzato will hope to banish those thoughts with a stage win this year.

  28. 15:49 - 23'04" is Quickstep's time.

  29. 15:46 - Saxo Bank are underway. They would have to ride out of their skings to beat Columbia's time, though don't bet against them Jason McCartney, Fabian Cancellara, Jens Voigt and Lars Ytting Bak can all turn in a mean time-trial.

  30. 15:42 - Acqua & Sapone record a time of 23'11". Stefano Garzelli is their big star, looking principally for stage wins this year.

  31. 15:41 - The Cervelo Test Team are on the start at the moment. They are led by Tour winner Carlos Sastre, while Daniel Lloyd and Jeremy Hunt are the British representatives in the team. Lloyd is a last minute replacement for Hayden Roulston, who is out with an ankle injury.

  32. 15:38 - Silence-Lotto storm down the finishing straight and stop the clock at 23'12", good enough for 8th position at the moment.

  33. 15:35 - Valerio Agnoli looks to be very much hanging on by a thread at the back of the Liquigas train.

  34. 15:30 - Liquigas and Ivan Basso are on the start ramp now, and they power away. 111 is the number on the back of Basso, who was banned for two years following the Puerto drug scandal in Spain.

  35. 15:28 - Bouygues are a bit of a mess down the home straight. They stop the clock in 22'51"

  36. 15:26 - Team Quickstep ride away now. What a tumultuous day it has been for them. They announced this morning that their big star and Belgian icon Tom Boonen tested positive for cocaine a couple of weeks ago, for the second time in two years. Tour de France organisers stopped him from riding their race last year, and he is now facing legal proceedings this time round. Bad news for Belgian cycling in general, and terrible for Boonen in particular.

  37. 15:20 - Diquigiovanni stop the clock at 22'56", fifth place as things stand at the moment.

  38. 15:19 - Ag2r are significantly off the pace. 23'35" is their time. A full minute and 45 seconds down.

  39. 15:15 - Silence-Lotto are off. Nine riders in their squad. Seven Belgians, a Swede (Jonas Ljungblad) and Britain's Charlie Wegelius.

  40. 15:14 - Will the first run of the day also be the fastest run of the day? Saxo Bank, Astana and Liquigas will be the biggest threats now.

  41. 15:12 - They're closing on the line as Zabriskie takes over...but time is slipping away...they've lost it!!!! They're six seconds outside the time of Columbia!

  42. 15:11 - Wiggins hits the front for Garmin as they look for the victory! They seem to ahve a few seconds in hand now!!!!

  43. 15:11 - Xacobeo-Galicia are next away, while Cameron Beyer has been dropped by his Garmin squad.

  44. 15:08 - 22'44" is the time for Barloworld. 54 seconds off the pace.

  45. 15:06 - Rumours have it Garmin are a little slower than Columbia at the moment, though we are yet to have any splits. meanwhile, Barloworld are closing on the finish.

  46. 15:03 - Rabobank are on the finishing straight now too, and this will be a respectable enough tiome. As expected they are outside the time of Team Columbia, and stop the clock at 22'28" - 38 seconds slower than Columbia.

  47. 15:00 - Gilberto Simoni's Diquigiovanni team are next up. The old man of the Dolomites may not be quite the force he was a few years ago, but he is still able to live with the best of them when the gradient really kicks up.

  48. 14:58 - Columbia are on the finishing straight. This will put down a big marker. Mark Cavendish is the first man across the line for them, and they stop the clock at 21'50". That gives them an average speed of - 56.335km/h.

  49. 14:55 - Ag2r are next to start. Tadej Valjavec is their leader this year. Yuriy Krivtsov and Vladimir Efimkin will look to support him as best they can.

  50. 14:52 - Columbia are into their stride well, Pinotti taking long turns at the front.

  51. 14:50 - The favourites Garmin are off now. Chock full of big, powerful men, it will take something special to stop them.

  52. 14:47 - No hills to worry about for the big man today. It'a pancake flat, and the weather's good. Perfect conditions for some fast riding.

  53. 14:45 - Barloworld are off now. Their main objective this year will be stage wins. Robbie Hunter will be targetting the sprints, with Juan Mauricio Soler well capable of going on a long solo charge in the mountains.

  54. 14:40 - Now Rabobank roll away. They're unlikely to challenge for the stage win today, but following his disappointing Tour de France last year, Denis Menchov is looking for a minimum of a top-three finish on the GC here. He is in good shape, and has trained specifically on the long 60-kilometre time trial from Sestri Levante - Riomaggiore .

  55. 14:35 - Columbia are off! Marco Pinotti and Edvald Boassen-Hagen get the chance to don their rather snazzy national time-trial champion jerseys of Italy and Norway respectively.

  56. 14:35 - The Columbia team have arrived on the start ramp and are ready to get their race underway. Anything outside the top five would be a disappointment for them today.

  57. 14:30 - Don't have eurosport at home to follow the race - don't worry. Simply follow the link to our live player: Eurosport Player

  58. 14:25 - For our preview on the favourites for this centenary edition of the Giro, please click the following link: View from the favourites

  59. 14:15 - While Italian eyes may be focussed on the return of Ivan Basso to the big stage, much attention will also be on The Astana Team. Though they finished a disappointing seventh last year, they are likely to do much better this year, with a very strong squad spearheaded by Levi Leipheimer and backed up by Lance Armstrong and Janez Brajkovic.

  60. 14:10 - Columbia are one of the teams that will look to push Garmin close, and sprinter Mark Cavendish has even suggested his team could spoil Garmin's party. Thomas Lovkvist, Marco Pinotti and Michael Rogers will be working away like trojans in their engine room, while Liquigas could also challenge, with Ivan Basso, Franco Pellizzotti and Sylvester Szmyd all strong against the clock.

  61. 14:10 - The Garmin team will be relying on the likes of British duo Bradley Wiggins and David Millar to propel them along to another win this year, though they will be more than ably supported by Dave Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde.

  62. 14:05 - Today's stage is a 20.5-kilometre team time-trial around the streets of Venice. Garmin-Slipstream were the winners of last year's opening TTT, and are favourites to take the stage again today.

  63. 14:00 - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's live text coverage of the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia.

 

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