Race report from DS Johnny Weltz

As the longest stage of the race, we expected a calm start. But it all took off right from 0 km. Steven was one of the most aggressive as he was only a few seconds down on GC and Best Young. So he was gunning for the time bonuses.

But it was Christian who joined the right moved. He was out there for more than 100 km. Then the race hit a crosswind section and it all split in to several groups. Christian’s break got caught and Steven had a shot at the bonus sprint, which he won. With that, he took over the best young jersey and moved up to third in GC.

From there, it was one long sprint where our guys did all they could to put Tyler in perfect position. He had Napolitano’s wheel in last kilometer but hesitated in the final. He finished 7th and moved to 4th overall. And the team still leads the overall GC.

Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O stage 1 results
1. Danilo Napolitano 5h10′50″
7. Tyler Farrar +00″
48. Steven Cozza +00″
51. Pat McCarty +00″
59. Dan Martin +00″
75. Lucas Euser +00″
77. Chris Sutton +46″
78. Christian Meier +46″

Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O GC
1. Ruben Plaza 5h18′14″
3. Steven Cozza +03″
4. Tyler Farrar +08″
17. Dan Martin +24″
25. Pat McCarty +28″
59. Lucas Euser +43″
73. Chris Sutton +1′05″
79. Christian Meier +1′18″

Team Garmin-Chipotle Best Young
1. Steven Cozza
2. Oleg Chuzhda
3. Dan Martin

Team GC
1. Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O 15h55′15″
2. Palmeiras Resort-Tavira +06″
3. Liberty Seguros +14″