Ryder Hesjedal, Tirreno-Adriatico stage 1 A parade stage today ended up with a crazy circuit finale when a bit of rain turned the streets to glass. The first 110 km was a cruise for everyone, an hour of no pressure pedaling.

Eventually CSC set up shop, slowly bringing the speed up to a reasonable clip, and took us back down to the finish circuits on the coast. The speed slowly escalated and each 10 km lap was a bit faster.

Then all of a sudden it started to sprinkle. Roads that hadn’t seen water in quite some time glazed over. We rounded a gradual bend to suddenly see 40 guys on the ground.

With the pace already quick and the sprinters’ teams on the front, the race split to pieces behind the crash. Those ahead fought out one last sprint finish. We all kept it upright with Ryder in the lead split and him managing to move up two spots on GC!

We couldn’t ask for much more. Now for a few days of rest.

- Will

Slipstream stage 7 results
1. Francesco Chicchi 4:50′50″

12. Christopher Sutton
31. Ryder Hesjedal
44. Martijn Maaskant
67. Julian Dean
98. Will Frischkorn
102. Magnus Backstedt
139. Timmy Duggan
DNF David Zabriskie

Slipstream final GC after stage 7
1. Fabian Cancellara 28:08′21″

8. Ryder Hesjedal +01′53″
70. Timmy Duggan +23′48″
111. William Frischkorn +33′55″
118. Julian Dean +37′28″
120. Martijn Maaskant +39′05″
121. Chris Sutton +40′27″
147. Magnus Backstedt +1:08′56″