2001 Results Stages Preview Start list Past winners
Last year's Tirreno-Adriatico winner Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) will have his work cut out this year to defend his title in the "Race of Two Seas". The Italian who is nicknamed "TinTin" will face opposition from all quarters, in particular the very strong Fassa Bortolo team led by Michele Bartoli and Fabio Baldato. Bartoli beat Rebellin in the Tour of the Med, and has the strongest team on paper, including Francesco Casagrande.
Contenders include Saeco's Danilo Di Luca, who showed good form in the Tour of Murcia. "I feel in great form for Tirreno-Adriatico. I haven't had any problems so far this season and I've been able to train really well without worrying about anything, in fact I've been able to quickly get the results I wanted," said Di Luca.
"I consider Tirreno-Adriatico one of my main objectives in the first part of my season. I especially want to win a stage and if I get the chance I'll also have a go at winning the overall classification."
The stage 4 time trial in Rieti could present a problem, but Di Luca is confident that he can hold his own there, although he is not a noted time trialist.
Others to look for are Rabobank's Erik Dekker and Michael Boogerd, and US Postal's George Hincapie, eager for some more race fitness before the classics.
The sprinters Erik Zabel (Telekom), Mario Cipollini (Acqua e Sapone), Ivan Quaranta (Alexia), Paolo Bettini and Oscar Freire (Mapei) should enjoy the Tirreno-Adriatico parcours, which is a lot less hilly than its French counterpart Paris-Nice.
Gerolsteiner Acqua e Sapone
1 Davide Rebellin (Ita) 11 Mario Cipollini (Ita)
2 Nicolay Bo Larsen (Den) 12 Gabriele Colombo (Ita)
3 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) 13 Giovanni Lombardi (Ita)
4 Torsten Schmidt (Ger) 14 Mario Scirea (Ita)
5 Ronny Scholz (Ger) 15 Guido Trenti (USA)
6 Georg Totschnig (Aut) 16 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa)
7 Marcel Strauss (Swi) 17 Cristian Gasperoni (Ita)
8 Gianni Faresin (Ita) 18 Massimiliano Gentili (Ita)
Alessio Index-Alexia
21 Stefano Casagranda (Ita) 31 Alberto Elli (Ita)
22 Davide Casarotto (Ita) 32 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita)
23 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) 33 Bo Hamburger (Den)
24 Raffaele Ferrara (Ita) 34 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita)
25 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) 35 Antonio Salomone (Ita)
26 Endrio Leoni (Ita) 36 Giuseppe Di Grande (Ita)
27 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) 37 Mario Manzoni (Ita)
28 Dario Pieri (Ita) 38 Mauro Zinetti (Ita)
Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo Cofidis
41 Giuliano Figueras (Ita) 51 Daniel Atienza Urendez (Spa)
42 Stefano Guerrini (Ita) 52 Médéric Clain (Fra)
43 Sergiy Matveyev (Ukr) 53 Peter Farazijn (Bel)
44 Nathan O'Neill (Aus) 54 Dmitri Fofonov (Kaz)
45 Antonio Varriale (Ita) 55 Massimiliano Lelli (Ita)
46 Nicola Chesini (Ita) 56 Angelo Lopeboselli (Ita)
47 Enrico Degano (Ita) 57 Robert Sassone (Fra)
48 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) 58 Guido Trentin (Ita)
Credit Agricole Domo-Farm Frites
61 Yoann Charpenteau (Fra) 71 Enrico Cassani (Ita)
62 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) 72 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel)
63 Anthony Langella (Fra) 73 Tomas Konecny (Cze)
64 Florent Brard (Fra) 74 Marco Milesi (Ita)
65 Ludovic Martin (Fra) 75 Johan Museeuw (Bel)
66 Cédric Herve (Fra) 76 Fred Rodriguez (USA)
67 Yan Tournier (Fra) 77 Bram Tankink (Ned)
68 Jonathan Vaughters (USA) 78 Piotr Wadecki (Pol)
Fassa Bortolo iBanesto.com
81 Fabio Baldato (Ita) 91 Dariusz Baranowski (Pol)
82 Michele Bartoli (Ita) 92 Thomas Brozyna (Pol)
83 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) 93 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa)
84 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) 94 Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa)
85 Dmitri Konyshev (Rus) 95 Eladio Jimenez Sanchez (Spa)
86 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) 96 David Latasa Lasa (Spa)
87 Roberto Petito (Ita) 97 Ruben Plaza (Spa)
88 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) 98 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa)
Kelme Lampre-Daikin
101 Francisco Cabello Luque (Spa) 111 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi)
102 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) 112 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita)
103 Constantino Zaballa Gutierrez (Spa) 113 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel)
104 David Muñoz (Spa) 114 Gabriele Missaglia (Ita)
105 Isaac Galvez Lopez (Spa) 115 Maximilian Sciandri (GBr)
106 Joaquim Lopez Torrella (Spa) 116 Marco Serpellini (Ita)
107 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) 117 Zbigniew Spruch (Pol)
118 Jan Svorada (Cze)
Lotto-Adecco Mapei-Quick Step
121 Andrei Tchmil (Bel) 131 Paolo Bettini (Ita)
122 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) 132 Davide Bramati (Ita)
123 Tom Stremersch (Bel) 133 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa)
124 Thierry Marichal (Bel) 134 Stefano Garzelli (Ita)
125 Christophe Brandt (Bel) 135 Daniele Nardello (Ita)
126 Ief Verbrugghe (Bel) 136 Luca Paolini (Ita)
127 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) 137 David Cañada Gracia (Spa)
128 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) 138 Stefano Zanini (Ita)
Mercatone Uno Mobilvetta Design-Formaggi Trentini
141 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) 151 Moreno Di Biase (Ita)
142 Fabiano Fontanelli (Ita) 152 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita)
143 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) 153 Saza Gajicic (Yug)
144 Roberto Sgambelluri (Ita) 154 Antonio Rizzi (Ita)
145 Francesco Secchiari (Ita) 155 Denis Bondarenko (Rus)
146 Gian Mario Ortenzi (Ita) 156 Domenico Gualdi (Ita)
147 Simone Borgheresi (Ita) 157 Uros Murn (Slo)
148 Roberto Savoldi (Ita) 158 Alessandro Brendolin (Ita)
ONCE-Eroski Phonak Hearing Systems
161 René Andrle (Cze) 171 Denis Bertolini (Ita)
162 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) 172 Marco Fertonani (Ita)
163 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) 173 Bert Grabsch (Ger)
164 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) 174 Massimo Strazzer (Ita)
165 Igor Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) 175 Alexandre Usov (Blr)
166 Jan Hruska (Cze) 176 David Derepas (Fra)
167 Jörg Jaksche (Ger) 177 Oscar Camenzind (Swi)
168 Abraham Olano Manzano (Spa) 178 Roger Beuchat (Swi)
Rabobank Saeco-Longoni Sport
181 Erik Dekker (Ned) 191 Danilo Di Luca (Ita)
182 Michael Boogerd (Ned) 192 Igor Astarloa (Spa)
183 Markus Zberg (Swi) 193 Mirko Celestino (Ita)
184 Beat Zberg (Swi) 194 Salvatore Commesso (Ita)
185 Jan Boven (Ned) 195 Igor Pugaci (Mda)
186 Marc Lotz (Ned) 196 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita)
187 Karsten Kroon (Ned) 197 Cristian Pepoli (Ita)
188 Marc Wauters (Bel) 198 Fabio Sacchi (Ita)
Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola Team Coast
201 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) 211 Angel Luis Casero Moreno (Spa)
202 Nicola Minali (Ita) 212 Bekim Christensen (Den)
203 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) 213 Frank Hoj (Den)
204 Pietro Zucconi (Swi) 214 André Korff (Ger)
205 Andrej Hauptman (Slo) 215 Francisco José Lara Ruiz (Spa)
206 Massimo Donati (Ita) 216 Lars Michaelsen (Den)
207 Mauro Radaelli (Ita) 217 David Plaza Romero (Spa)
208 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) 218 Raphael Schweda (Ger)
CSC-Tiscali Team Telekom
221 Thomas Bruun Eriksen (Den) 231 Rolf Aldag (Ger)
222 Marcelino Garcia Alonso (Spa) 232 Robert Bartko (Ger)
223 Michael Blaudzun (Den) 233 Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita)
224 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) 234 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger)
225 Andrea Peron (Ita) 235 Andreas Klier (Ger)
226 Jakob Piil (Den) 236 Jan Schaffrath (Ger)
227 Michael Rasmussen (Den) 237 Steffen Wesemann (Ger)
238 Erik Zabel (Ger)
US Postal Service
241 David Clinger (USA)
243 Benoît Joachim (Lux)
244 Floyd Landis (USA)
245 Gianpaolo Mondini (Ita)
246 Pavel Padrnos (Cze)
247 Christian Vandevelde (USA)
248 Matthew White (Aus)
2001 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Liquigas 2000 Abraham Olano (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 1999 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Mapei 1998 Rolf Jaermann (Swi) Casino 1997 Roberto Petito (Ita) 1996 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) 1995 Stefano Colage (Ita) 1994 Giorgio Furlan (Ita) 1993 Maurizio Fondriest (Ita) 1992 Rolf Sörensen (Den) 1991 Herminio Diaz-Zabala (Spa) 1990 Tony Rominger (Swi) 1989 Tony Rominger (Swi) 1988 Erich Maechler (Swi) 1987 Rolf Sörensen (Den) 1986 Luciano Rabottoni (Ita) 1985 Joop Zoetemelk (Ned) 1984 Tommy Prim (Swe) 1983 Roberto Visentini (Ita) 1982 Giuseppe Saronni (Ita) 1981 Francesco Moser (Ita) 1980 Francesco Moser (Ita) 1979 Knut Knudsen (Nor) 1978 Giuseppe Saronni (Ita) 1977 Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel) 1976 Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel) 1975 Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel) 1974 Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel) 1973 Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel) 1972 Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel) 1971 Italo Zilioli (Ita) 1970 Antoine Houbrechts (Bel) 1969 Carlo Chiappano (Ita) 1968 Giovanni Micheletto (Ita) 1967 Franco Bitossi (Ita) 1966 Dino Zandegu (Ita) Past winners by Mario Stiehl, Berlin